Teaching Resources

Tips for Recording Audio on Phones

Posted by Dr Kristopher Lovell on February 25, 2021
Posted in: Academic Writing, Teaching Resources. Leave a comment
Infographic on how to record audio. A list of top five tips in purple presented over the top of a monochrome picture of media tech
Please see list below for text version of tips

With many courses now offering a new range of digital assessments that include audio recordings and podcasts – here are some quick tips on how to get the best out of your phone-

  • Always do a dry run and test your equipment before recording any long sessions – nothing worse than recording a 10 minute take only to discover the sound was distorted or didn’t work
  • Turn off all alerts – and easy step to miss and whilst you might not notice the vibrations when you are recording, it will be very noticeable when you are listening back to it
  • Try to keep a stable distance from your recorder. This will help avoid your listening having to increased and decrease the volume.
  • Keep the phone on a soft surface – a pad of paper for example – rather than directly on the hard table top otherwise your phone will record every minor movement!
  • Always listen back to your recording before submitting your assignment! Make sure it can be heard easily.
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Media Appearance: Dan Snow’s The Night The War Came Home

Posted by Dr Kristopher Lovell on December 4, 2020
Posted in: Teaching Resources, Videos. Leave a comment

I had the wonderful opportunity of appearing on Dan Snow’s History Hit documentary about the bombing of Coventry Cathedral in which I discussed the impact of the bombing on the city and the wider war itself. The whole documentary can be found here at History Hit: https://tv.historyhit.com/watch/37337727#=

Preparing a Literature Review for an Undergraduate History Dissertation

Posted by Dr Kristopher Lovell on November 11, 2020
Posted in: Teaching Resources. Leave a comment

This may or may not be helpful, but I’ve put together a quick and basic guide on producing a literature review and gutting sources for history dissertations. I’m still getting used to being on camera so please bear with my awkward camera techniques, but hopefully this video will help give you an idea of how to progress with your literature review if you are a little uncertain. Please remember, these are just my suggestions.

The key things to remember are:-

-a literature review is not just a list of books. Don’t list every single source one at a time

– try to synthesis and summarise the key arguments. – try to get into the habit of “gutting” texts. You can’t read every source cover to cover.

I’ve attached a Word document with a template to help you think about some of the sorts of notes you should be taking. These are just my suggestions for the sort of questions you want to be answering as you gut a book. This template is just intended to be a starting point. Add your own questions and develop your own style as much as possible.

note-taking-template-literature-reviewDownload

Here is David Lavery’s article on ‘How to Gut a Book’:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/41399968?seq=1

How to Pick a History Dissertation Topic

Posted by Dr Kristopher Lovell on September 20, 2020
Posted in: Academic Writing, Teaching Resources. Leave a comment

This is just a quick video offering some advice on how to pick a History dissertation topic for any final year students. These are just my tips. There are many like them. But these ones are just mine. Other people might have other suggestions or preferences – please feel free to add down below any tips you have that differ from mine.

Description of Video: Kristopher (me!) talks to the camera with the following timecodes appearing on screen as headings:

00:00 – 00:57 Introduction
00:58 – 03:18 Tip 1: Pick A Topic You Love
03:19 – 05:27 Tip 2: Consider Your Sources
05:28 – 06:25 Tip 3: Which Lecturers Can Help?
06:26 – 07:09 Tip 4: Originality – Make It Yours
07:10 – 08:21 Tip 5: Be Focused, Not Broad
08:22 – 09:38 Tip 6: Be Flexible
09:40 – 10:58: Summary