Domi Duff
Hi everyone! My name is Domi and I’m the new student fellow focusing on the ‘Active and Authentic Teaching, Learning, and Assessment’ theme at BILT. I’m in the third and final year of my Psychology BSc with an eye on (eventually) going into Clinical Psychology. I spend most of my time on Netflix (just kidding- my watchlist is getting stupidly long but I never seem to get around to it!). I actually spend a lot of time working. My other jobs include support work with adults who have severe learning difficulties, working on a national helpline, and as a Royal Navy Reservist. I guess that’s why the Netflix queue never gets shorter!
I was drawn to working on the authentic teaching project because I want to promote teaching methods that are creative, innovative, and reflective of the world of work we’ll all be entering soon. There is some great stuff happening in pockets of the university (like this engineering unit) and I want to make sure that all students on all courses benefit from inspiring teaching.
Active and authentic assessment methods are key in building transferable skills, and increasing students’ confidence in their abilities. I want to support a positive assessment experience that moves away from the traditional mind-numbing memorization followed by an immediate, post-exam information dump on your way to drown your sorrows in ice cream. I will continue the work done in previous years (see here!) to highlight student voices regarding assessment. One of my goals is to listen to how students prefer to be assessed on different topics and ensure that staff have the resources available to be more creative with their units.
I also want to make sure that active and authentic teaching and assessment methods are accessible for all students, including those with a disability, part-time students, international students, and students who have additional commitments to work or family. It’s really important to me that everyone gets an equal chance to learn at Bristol and enjoy all areas of student life.
I’ve lived in Bristol for two years now and previously lived in Portsmouth, Plymouth and Dartmouth. Despite spending most of my adult life in the south of England I am actually from Manchester originally and still haven’t got used to Bristol prices! That said, I’m a huge fan of the green spaces and bakeries here- if you ever want me to talk your ear off about active learning then you’d be quite likely to find me wandering round the Downs, with a croissant in hand, petting every dog I see!