Blayne is Head of Talent Development at Pearson College London. Leading our Workfit Programme, Guaranteed Internship Scheme and MBM Executive Coaching Programme. Alongside his leadership role Blayne teaches People Management and Leadership to Undergraduate Students at the college.

In this podcast we discuss the best way to find and benefit from internships.  The growing role of Linked in and the awkward questions about money when it comes to internships.  

Back by popular demand, Piers Veness returns to the virtual studio bring with him Richard Allen.  Piers and Richard are both part of the study skills team at Pearson College.  

In this episode we talk a lot about the reasons WHY academic writing sounds the way it does.  Since understanding the reasons behind the rules can help us know when to bend them.  

Dave Farley  is co-author of the Jolt-award wining book - "Continuous Delivery", and more recently "Modern Software Engineering".  He is the host of the Continuous Delivery YouTube channel and an all round clever bloke.  

In this episode Dave talks about how some of the ideas he has promoted in software engineering can be applied more generally in any projects that are dealing with complexity at scale.  Covering topics like electric cars, Napoleonic warfare and balancing broom handles.  

You can find more from Dave on his YouTube Channel and on his website.

Dr Roxanne Stockwell is the Principal of Pearson College London (PCL), and responsible for its strategic direction and academic leadership.  Originally a graduate of the University of Sydney, she has worked as a corporate lawyer, in theatre management, and for the past 20 years in Higher Education. She was previously a director at BPP, with responsibility for its teaching, learning and innovation before taking up the role at Pearson.

Roxanne (known at PCL as "Dr Rox") has recently completed an award-winning doctorate at the University of Bath on the lived experience of university-to-work transition, with implications for work integrated learning.  In this episode she talks about her research and findings.  As well as giving general advice about how to get your head around large complex research topics.

We cover everything from whether you should lie in interviews, to working out niches in academic research, to naked cycling.  It's an interesting one.

Chris Wares is the librarian at Pearson College.  In this conversation we cover what to read, how to find things to read, and how to get the most from your reading.  

Professor Newton is the Director of Learning and Teaching for the Swansea University Medical School.

Phil teaches Neuroscience across a variety of programmes. But he also teaches on evidence-based education as part of an online MSc in Medical Education.  This gives him a unique perspective on learning from the inside out. 

In this episode we talk about how you can take the latest findings about evidence based learning and use them to help improve your own study techniques.  It turns out there is a lot more you can do than just re-read your notes!

Iro Konstantinou heads up research at Pearson College, as well as being heavily involved in research herself.  Personally she is also one of the people who helped me when I made the shift from business to teaching.  She is a master of research methods.  

Since a lot of students will be taking on big projects this term, we talk about how best to start, how to pick a topic and how to get loads of marks in projects where you choose the subject matter yourself.

Links

At the start you hear me ask for feedback on the podcast so far.  Please give feedback here: http://pearsoncollegecode.com/htglom 

If you want to see the sort of work Iro is doing (along with previous podcast guest Elizabeth Miller).  You can do so here: https://wonkhe.com/blogs/reflection-will-help-students-navigate-a-post-covid-future/ and here : https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/HESWBL-05-2020-0112/full/html

I also mention a previous episode where some ex-students talk about their final project.  You can find that here: https://anchor.fm/chris-jones92/episodes/Ep-05-Barney-Wallis-and-Oliver-Latta-ekgt1c/a-a3e20l5

If you want to watch the video about the trolly problem where they have to evaluate people before doing experiments.  You can watch that here: https://www.youtube.com/watch/1sl5KJ69qiA

Carl Clare is a full time Senior Lecturer and Course Leader at Leeds Beckett University.  However he marks papers at Pearson College and is ALSO an external examiner for Ulster, Liverpool Hope, Salford and Manchester Met.  

So if anyone knows about marking papers...it's Carl Clare.  

We chat about the things that we look for when marking, and crucially the rational behind our thinking on these matters.  Since learning the rules is never as good as understanding the reasons why the rules exist.

Links

We mention a Harmoni standing desk at one point.  While we are not sponsored by Harmoni and have no official links with them, you can find out more details here https://harmoni.design/products/harmoni-stand

I also quote Einstein at one point.  It turned out I was wrong, but the matter is quite complicated. https://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/05/22/solve/ 

Since we are halfway though a term in a very "interesting" year, we probably could all do with some tips for dealing with being anxious or overwhelmed.  Chavi does not disappoint, In this episode we discuss some of the reasons that you don't have to worry about baking sourdough bread, excellent practical tips for coping with anxiety and some road safety tips for when you want to perform an awesome power slide.  

Chavi Sufrin is a Student Counsellor, and offers free, confidential support to students at Pearson College London. 

If you are a Pearson student you can book a chat with Chavi though the 121 booking system (the one you use for tutor meetings) or you can access the counselling services via the MyPCL section of the university portal. 

During the conversation we mention these mindfulness apps:

Headspace - https://www.headspace.com/ 

Waking Up - https://wakingup.com/

Resources for looking after your mental health during the current pandemic can be found here:

https://www.studentminds.org.uk/coronavirus.html

https://www.psychologytools.com/assets/covid-19/guide_to_living_with_worry_and_anxiety_amidst_global_uncertainty_en-gb.pdf

https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-staying-at-home-tips/

Back by popular demand, Piers Veness returns to the virtual studio to share some tips.  In this episode we try to stay fairly focused on techniques for starting assessments.  However we also cover some points around learning from feedback and not getting paralysed by self inflicted pressure.  

Piers is the study skills tutor at Pearson College London.  He also teaches on the self managed learning courses and is involved in marking essays. Oh, and he's a successful artist to boot!