In response to a series of enquiries from nursing students, I ran a workshop on referencing. I planned the lesson to cover the essentials, address what seemed to be the main issues I’d been helping with, and show the students where they could find guidance and support. As it went on, I found myself being asked a lot of questions. Some were on what I was about to cover, some were looking for more detail about what I had already covered. Some were questions about particular instances of referencing. The group was small enough that I could stop and go into that detail for them.
One thing I picked up from the questions was a recurring issue around identifying the provenance of a report or piece of research. This isn’t a referencing issue as such, but it is related. I was able to cover this and tie it in with the lesson’s theme. But it also gave me an idea for another short workshop.
A small example, but not the worst, of the benefits of listening to the learners’ needs.
Stirge Country 