Pollyanna Williams
Lecturer Business & EAP
Qualifications:
- Module Leader for Business Environment
- Joined QA in 2020
- Teaching approach
Biography:
My current role is as Module Leader for Business Environment within the Business and Management Pathway at Solent University. This module is one of two business modules on the International Foundation Programme (IFP) which is a 20-week course with two intakes per academic year (October and January). Since qualifying to Teach English as a Second Language in 2008, my main focus has been teaching students who have a business or professional background or those who wish to enter the field of commerce. Throughout my 3-year employment with QA, I have taught and created content and assessments for both business modules.
During my time with Solent/QA, I have had to adapt from traditional teaching on campus to teaching entirely online to international students in different time zones during the Covid-19 pandemic. The rapid transition to teaching remotely entailed quickly realigning the material so that it could be taught using the flipped learning approach whereby students were required to engage with course content before attending the online sessions. Upon return to campus, I then had to learn how to engage with students in a hybrid situation with students in the classroom and online as they needed to be in isolation upon entering the country.
The above changing teaching environment has led me to focus on breaking down barriers to learning and helping students to develop the skills required to become autonomous learners. Cultural, language and wrongly acquired preconceived expectations have proved to be some of the obstacles which have needed to be constantly overcome. I believe it is important for learners to be clear as to what is expected of them, and it is for us, as facilitators, to ensure that they have the best environment (digital and traditional) and course content for them to attain their goals.
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