It’s the shortest month (although May is only 3 letters).
The Roman month Februarius was named after the Latin term februum, which means “purification”, via the purification ritual Februa. The Anglo-Saxon period of the year was known as Solmōnaþ (modern English: month of the hearthcakes), which saw a time of offering tributes, in the form of hearthcakes, to the gods.
Different types of rituals and attitudes to purification may be in place this February, but our scenarios for this month explore different experiences of feeling ‘squeezed’.
Scenario 1
Anya and Myles are both housemates and studying the same Sciences undergraduate degree. They are both in the third year of their respective degrees.
A lot of the time they have discussed upcoming assessments and over the last three years have found it useful bouncing ideas off each other and explaining some of the more challenging concepts on the programme. More recently Anya has had a lot of other pressures and commitments and will often use Gen-AI to summarise course information and prioritise tasks for her learning. Myles has always felt reluctant to do this, and has increasingly spent time in the Library, taking more notes and spending more time reading course materials.
When they both start to prepare for completing their next assessment, they both find it difficult to resume their previous study relationship and subsequently feel reluctant to discuss the assessment with each other.
Anya reflected that: ‘I follow all of the university guidance on this – so I have no worries in that respect. I’m really efficient with how I use my time – summarising details and choosing prompting questions helps to focus my understanding in a really precise way. The last two years have felt a lot like doing things in an ‘extra’ way and I just feel I don’t have that luxury anymore.’
Myles’ reflection on this scenario was: ‘I’m not against using AI. I just feel like, personally, I have to immerse myself in my studies, looking at the reading and writing up my own notes on it. I’ve always studied in this way, and it’s worked for me so far. I’m sorry that Anya and I don’t discuss assessments anymore, but I feel a bit like I might end up being her ‘safety net’ and I don’t think that’s fair.’
Scenario 2
Darren is an academic lecturer who has been working at the University for two years. He enjoys his lectures and seminars and regularly takes an interest in the scholarship of teaching and learning.
Sometimes Darren is able to develop his teaching repertoire by trying out new technologies or adapting the design and content of his lectures with the intention of making students’ experiences interesting and compelling.
Despite this, Darren often feels pressure to keep innovating and make his teaching even more ‘exciting’. In a recent reflection, Darren commented that: ‘I do often get a buzz out of students’ engagement with the way I’ve been teaching them and the positive reaction to things I’ve tried. It’s great talking to colleagues about what they are doing and hearing those ideas, but at the same time I think about that phrase ‘you can’t pour from an empty cup’. When I look back at some of the early things I taught, I think I probably thought about the ‘what’ I taught, rather than the ‘how’. I feel a bit like I’m in an ongoing tension between those two aspects.’
We’re looking for colleagues and students to contribute their thoughts to these two scenarios. Think you can provide some advice for Darren, Anya and Myles? Get in touch if you’ve got a longer response or leave a short comment below…
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