[George Mark Onyango]

in reply to: Module 3, Session 3 (MU) #4574

Opening Dinner is on Monday at 7pm to 9pm

Cocktail is Friday at 6pm for one hour

[George Mark Onyango]

in reply to: Module 3, Session 3 (MU) #4573

The best option is to have an Opening dinner and a closing Cocktail since this will be a one week program. This is to allow for informal conversations by the participants and trainers

[George Mark Onyango]

in reply to: Module 3, Session 2 (MU) #4554

FACILITIES
SUPPORT TEAM
How many people do you think you need?
About 6 to 10 people. Our staff members will be handling the Summer School on top of their regular duties

Can you think of any services we don’t offer our students yet as a team which are definitely needed in your case?
Students need support services to use certain computer applications

Is it possible to deal sustainably with the amenities students receive when entering their accommodation (such as blankets, pots, pans etc.)?
We don’t anticipate to provide such amenities

Will you have shared rooms or just individual rooms?
It is preferable to have individual rooms given the diversity of our anticipated clientele

Will you mix gender in the different housing options?
We anticipate to use the teaching hotel-Kisumu Hotel- and the hotel rules apply

What would the big advantages and disadvantages be of arranging housing for your students?
Since our proposed training site is in Kisumu City we can provide options with details of what is offered for various budgets. That way we do not have to worry about the actual services. The advantage of using Kisumu Hotel for accommodation is that the training venue is the same.

What are the options currently offered by your university and could they be used by summer school students?
The student hostels are located in Maseno township which is 30km away and not easily accessible at all time. They may not be comfortable for mature students.

The lecture rooms and labs can however be used for the summer school when campus is in recess. The hotel rooms have to be booked in advance to ensure availability

Visa
Visa application is an individual responsibility. It can be obtained online or on arrival at the port of entry for foreign students. The requirement would be an introductory letter to the Immigration Department. There is an application fee payable online.

Catering
Food is provided by Kisumu hotel if we use its facilities. The Kisumu Campus also has a cafeteria which provides food. In both cases these must be booked in advance. Since the training venue is within the Central Business District there are a number of catering facilities that have reasonable costs.

Transport
Kisumu is accessible by road and air. Local transport is provided by shared taxix (matatu), Motorbike taxis and three wheeler “Tuk Tuk”. However one can also use “Bolt” taxis by downloading the service app. This is the safest mode for foreign students.

Internet/IT
The University has WiFi which is available to the learners.
The LMS (Moodle) provides opportunity for all students to register if the course was to be offered online

The LMS is housed in the eCampus with a team providing Learner Support services.

We intend to have applications online on the LMS platform and link it to any fee payment.

Learners would take care of their health insurance.

The Program Coordinator would continue to be the contact person for students during their engagement with the university

[George Mark Onyango]

in reply to: Module 2, Session 3 (MU) #4553

What icebreaker would you like to include in your summer school? Please explain what goal your icebreaker will serve and how the icebreaker will be facilitated.

Which Learning Activities from the Conversational Framework are the most relevant for your summer school?
From the conventional framework the following learning activities are most relevant for our one week program
Acquisition
Discussion
Practice
Collaboration
Production

There may be inadequate time for investigation hence we would use experiences and reflective learning

How will you make these Learning Activities interactive?
The learning activities will be anchored to interactive tools such as Kahoots! or Metimeter. This is due to their ease of use by learners and allows for immediate feedback. They have inbuilt visual effects that makes then easy to use to present results of activities.

Prepare an interactive learning activity (Starting the Course)
Click this link and use the code provided to engage in this activity:
https://www.menti.com/zbdykua8a2
Code: 1522421

How can you use gamification in your summer school to make your summer school more engaging and fun?
In both online and offline modes; Gamification would be used to encourage learners to keep on trying the activities and enabling successful learners feel appreciated. Gamification will be used as part of the activities in investigation, practice and collaboration and occasionally production. The immediate feedback allows for active engagement

[George Mark Onyango]

in reply to: Module 2, Session 4 (MU) #4551

That was one long video by Prof Zweekhorst! (With a lot of information)

What is the level and experience of students who will participate in the summer course?
We expect a mix of participants from CSO, Government and private sector with varying years of experience (for the one week courses) since these are specialised courses building specific skills. They may have different education levels. Most important is the opportunity of having community members as co-learners thus providing opportunity for effective feedback on the Community Service Learning (CSL)

What are the possibilities with respect to community partnerships?
There are a number of Civil Society Organizations in the country/county who would be more that willing to partner in such summer courses. That allows for productive community partnership.

What is the ‘service’ needed? (and how can it be addressed? Disciplinairy SL/ problem/ project based CSL)
The service(s) needed range from knowledge skills on day to day life/survival skills to more complex one of infrastructure development. Addressing them will depend on the partnerships forged with CSO and Government. The tendence is for Project Based CSL since the learners would find it easy to relate to such projects and they would allow for more effective multi-disciplinary approach

What reflection tools suit this context?
Working as buzz-groups learners would be able to present their thoughts/experiences; self reflection allows asking questions and providing a deeper understanding of self and situation. It also strengthens the transdisciplinary nature of our courses
An empathy map would help identify needs and the disconnections between what we say and what we do
Learning journals would help track the reflective learning during the week based on the course content and gives a clear picture at the end of the week to see if there has been achievement of learning outcome

[George Mark Onyango]

in reply to: Module 2, Session 2: Assignment (MU) #4550

1. In what way may the foreseen summer school or educational course differ from a regular course in terms of duration, distribution and frequency of course sessions, diversity and potential motivation of participants, delivery methods and other factors you can think off?

This will be best developed as a one week course (five days of conatct/8 hours per day). Because of the short duration and intensity there will be need for team facilitation bringing in specialised skills during the sessions from both academia and practice. Awarding a certificate would be a motivator especially with the University Logo and top management endorsement. Delivery methods will vary to ensure different perspectives of learning and testing but also to reinforce the knowledge imparted. Team work and practical activities would help keep the learners motivated

2 How may such diverging factors influence course design?

The course design should allow for introduction of new knowledge through lectures, activities and assessment. The Evaluation needs to be inbuilt to link it with with feedback mechanism for continuous improvement. Since such courses will have diverse participants in terms of age, experience and background, the initial sessions should focus on scoping to determine the level of pitching of the course delivery.

3 To what extent does the foreseen course support research?

It would be important to remember that as we develop the course we appreciate that research occurs in three domains: academia, policy players and private sector. The intensity and focus is what differs and that should be taken advantage of during the course design and implementation. So when we say the course supports research what is stated above should be our guide.

4 Define the intended learning outcomes for the foreseen course and describe the learning activities and the assessment methods that you plan to develop.

Learning Outcomes: Learners will have mastered the skills and demonstrate capacity to apply the skills
Learning Activities: Buzz Groups, Use of PLA Tools for various assignments
Assessment Method: Presentations in groups and plenary

[George Mark Onyango]

in reply to: Module 1, Session 4 (MU) #4522

puting a table on this forum :-)

[George Mark Onyango]

in reply to: Module 1, Session 4 (MU) #4521

If we were to do the one week course on Participatory Budgeting
Summer School Course budget 1 week

Income # amount Totals
University subsidy 1 20000 20000
Course fees 30 0 0
Additional support
Sponsors 30 15000 450000
Grants 0
Other
Accomodation (rental income) 0
Totals 470000

Expenses Fixed(f)/Variable(v) # amount Totals
Staff
Lecturers f 3 10000 30000
Guest speakers f 1 20000 20000
Tutors f 2 5000 10000
Facilities
Venues f 1 3000 3000
IT f 2 3000 6000
Material Dev f 2 20000 40000
Materials Prod v 120 100 12000
Copying v 600 3 1800
Field visits. v 1 6000 6000
Catering v 30 6000 180000
Accommodation v 2 17500 35000
Publicity f 2 12000 12000
Contingencies
… 1 50000 50000
405800

[George Mark Onyango]

in reply to: Module 1: Session 3 (MU) #4501

There are two Options: ACADEMIC SUMMER TERM and ONE WEEK SUMMER SCHOOL

We should look at the format most applicable for implementation at Maseno.
ACADEMIC SUMMER TERM
Month 1: Identify the courses in the School that will be offered (Courses approved by Senate) and how they will contribute to Credit Hours. Select the Lecturers for the courses. Criteria includes willingness to develop online content.
Month 2-6: Approval by School Board, Deans Committee and Senate
Month 7. Advertisement for students who want to take the courses
a) Courses will be offered through Blended Learning for students who are on campus
b) There will option for Full Online in the eCampus Platform for students who may not want or are not able to be on campus
c) Provision will be made for phasing to full on campus as the COVID19 pandemic eases. This will be during the long holidays

Month 8: Selection of students who meet criteria. Registration of students for the courses

Month 9-11: Offer the course. Exams and CAT marks to be uploaded to the exam portal to add to Credit Hours (Exam Marks)

Note: Lecturers for the courses will be the existing staff. The Summer Course will considered as an extra load and staff will be compensated as per the University Regulations on extra hours teaching and course development through the external support funding. The Course will use the existing physical facilities in the university and the eCampus platform. 15% of the Summer Course support will be provided to meet administrative costs

ONE WEEK SUMMER SCHOOL
Month 1: Identify the school that will host the course. Identify lecturers with skills and capacity to develop and facilitate the course on “Participatory Budgeting”

Month 2: Develop admission criteria and Advertise to local Civil Society Organizations and Government staff interested in the course. Select participants who meet the selection criteria on first come first served basis for a maximum of 30 slots. Registration will be done online.

Month 3: Offer the one week course. Use facilities at Kisumu Hotel for face-to-face sessions. Online material will also be provided as follow-up support. Certificates will be provided for successful participants by the Dean of the hosting school.

Note: Funding for the cost of hosting the course will be by an external agency. The cost will meet the logistic of the course including the venue.

[George Mark Onyango]

in reply to: Module 5, Session 3: When Things Go Wrong #3224

As universities grow in size so do the numbers of students. This causes complexities in management of examination processes. The decentralisation of issues such as dispatch of thesis to examiners to the School/Faculty level would reduce such errors caused by the Registrar. The School/Faculty would identify such anomalies as what occurred in this case and make corrections. Remember the Registrar is an administrator and may not know the examiners being proposed by the Faculty.

So when we find that Protocol is followed but lends itself to error then they need to be reviewed.

[George Mark Onyango]

in reply to: Module 3: Writing Development and the Provision of Feedback #2861

These videos take me back to my student days. Analogue still seems to bear a pivotal position in reading. I remember us using colored cards. We would write the reference details on one side and a summary of key points on the flip side. And the end we would file these alphabetically based on the author of the theme. As we go digital this still works and I urge students to keep such journals. They thus avoid the nightmare of not knowing where they got the material.

I agree that the best way to write is ‘write’. Editing can come later once the idea has been concretized. But I guess continuos writing is the best way to learn. So if we can get students to write for seminars, workshop and so on they will become more confident and get into the culture of the discipline.

[George Mark Onyango]

in reply to: Module 2, Session 2: Scholarly community of practice #2510

Collaborative co-productive research is a major first step in getting actively involved in the academic community. It allows one to interact with different disciplines, persons, institutions etc and thus takes one out of the comfort zone of own institution. Being able to share the results of the research in peer conferences/workshops allows for critics to evaluate the veracity of the research and hence enhance continuos improvement. If one has students in the research project they are then able to be part of this engagement. They learn how to talk ‘research’ and address feedback and begin the journey of being scholars and members of the academic community.

As we interact with this academic community we shall come across people who are jealous of what we do. That is good because one cannot be jealous of nothing. I would take is as a positive feedback that I am doing something. It would be important to expose the student to such jealousies so that they learn early how to handle it and not let it be a negative driver in their academic career.

In my mother tongue they say “we gossip about the Elephant when it has turned its back to you”. So let us be elephants and those jealousies will slide over our back as we grow.

[George Mark Onyango]

in reply to: Module 2, Session 1: Library resources and support #2509

The presentation addresses a number of issues I have been grappling with over the years. The most important one is getting the students to be immersed in the culture of reading. The tendency is on minimalist approaches that just gets one by. This may make one survive in the coursework but research stage is more demanding.

Data management is one area that I feel needs a lot of strengthening not only from the students side but also building the capacity of the supervisors; they get it wrong and so do the students.

Our Librarians are the most under-utilized human resource. We need to reposition them at the core of academics and not just a frontier post we send our students to when they need to begin their research. I know for a fact that at Maseno University the management pays a lot of money annually to allow access to hundreds of data bases which are hardly used. This is part a a National network of Public University Libraries that champions information literacy. Both staff and students do not know their existence.

I am inspired by this video to reflect on what next steps to take

[George Mark Onyango]

in reply to: Module 1, Session 4: Key national and institutional documents #2064

The main agency with the mandate for funding research nationally is the National Research Fund. It also partners with the German agency DAAD in funding a number of postgraduate programs.

) NRF is a statutory body under the Ministry of Education established through
the Science, Technology and Innovation ST&I Act No. 28, Section 32, of
2013.The Mandate of the Fund is to facilitate research for the advancement of
Science, Technology and Innovation as provided in Section 33 of the ST&I Act,
2013.
c) The function of NRF is to mobilize, allocate and manage financial resources to
facilitate an effective National Innovation System that would create required
knowledge and innovations in all fields of Science and Technology for the
growing economy.
d) In respect to the above, the NRF operates a number of strategic funding
schemes, some which are competitive grant awards comprising of training
scholarships, postgraduate research fellowships, multidisciplinary research,
institutional support grants and support

Types of Grants available from NRF
The Fund has consolidated its funding programmes under the following schemes:
a) Research Partnership Funding Programme in collaboration with major
institutional partners such as the National Commission for Science,
Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI), Kenya National Innovation Agency
(KENIA) and Commission for Higher Education (CUE) among others innovation
actors. b) Competitive Research Granting Programme comprising of training
scholarships, postgraduate research fellowships, multidisciplinary research
grants and institutional support grants all aimed at strengthening the national
research capacity in the key sectors of the economy. Support of
c) Conferences and symposia to enhance sharing of knowledge and linkages is
also an important programme.

d) Bilateral Funding Programme in partnership with international funding
agencies for areas of mutual interest to strengthen technical cooperation in
Science, Technology and Innovation. e) Strategic Research Funding Programme is provided to resource special
research activities considered to be of priority to the developmental needs of
the country.
f) Research Priming Grants are provided as development grants to aid in proof of
concept activities to enable researchers prepare make evidence based
applications.
g) Contract research: to enhance private sector funding of research through NRF. This is funds for targeted research to address a specific issue in a
sector/industry.

 The applicants must be in possession of at least a Master’s degree or its
equivalent in a relevant area

[George Mark Onyango]

in reply to: Module 1, Session 3: Models of supervision #2036

The videos are quite enlightening.

Co-supervision is best achieved in a cohort scenario. The focus is often the weak and strong students. But supervisors can also be weak in an area say statistical methods. Working as a team provides an avenue for the student to benefit from other expertise and the supervisor also learns!

I feel we should promote cohort supervision if we are to enhance the completion rates especially at PhD level.

Today I heard a panelist in a Viva say ‘It should not be easy…let her go back to the field”. I was shocked but on reflection I remember that the examiner went through a very insensitive panel in her Viva. The things we do as examiners/supervisors determine what we create as academics. Cohorts would militate against such negative experiences

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