Although I'll be looking at other sources for Ultraversity researchers' perspectives on the use of learning sets in their Action Enquiry reports and in the online communities, the original data would be confidential. I noticed that some comments had been published on blogs, so have collected them here. Most of the comments show a positive experience, although this might be skewed because a blog is public so less positive experiences might not be recorded. The one disappointed researcher here identified lack of participation by all members of a learning set as a drawback.

Mike blogs: interaction with team is tremendous, all supporting each other right to the end. E-mails between has gone passed the 70 mark! I really enjoy reading my peer’s work it helps me put my own ae in to perspective yet I can see clear links in our thinking and ideas

Mike listed some of the activities of his set:

Supporting each other

Giving critical feedback on assignments

Organising an ICQ conference

Plus general comments on Ultra

"Have taken part in ICQ conversations with other members of my peer group. Enjoying the interaction and most importantly my team is supporting me in my quest to complete the latest ae2, their comments have been very useful during a very stressful time, they pointed out some areas which needed boosting or cutting down the wqrds."

Viv blogs: The learning set is active and things are going well.

Bev blogs: For our next Action Enquiry module we have been asked to form learning sets. I received messages from three other researchers who would like to join together to make a set. I think that this is a great idea and that we will all be able to help each other. I am looking forward to this new experience I felt a little nervous at the thoughts of actually forming our own sets. However, I now feel excited at this new challenge.

Tonight I joined the other members of my learning group for a private chat and I really enjoyed myself. This is a great way to work together as a group. I think that i am really going to enjoy this exprience. I think that we will make a good group who will help each other along the way.

...we have worked together really well and just seemed to 'click'. I have found the support of the other three members really made the experience enjoyable and that my confidence in giving constructive criticism has risen.

Jenny blogs: "Had another meeting with my learning set tonight - went really well - we will meet again on Wed. 15th June. This will give me more time to get stuck in to my AE and I will have more to report on. I'm looking forward to getting some of the write ups done for the individual sections. Once this module is done that's it for the summer - can't wait!!"

"Have managed to put together the first document for my AE on Preparation and Ethics. I sent that to my learning set for peer review and have already had some really useful feedback.
We, the learning set, had our first online meeting/chat on Monday of this week and it was great. I can see that this is going to work well being a smaller group - it's not quite as intimidating as the whole community can be at times."

I missed the chat with the learning set last night because I had unexpected guests. They were kind enough to send me a copy of the conversation. I feel very lucky to be working with such a fantastic learning set. We have all agreed from the start how well suited we are - that's an understatement! We all have a similar way of working and are always prepared to support each other. It is really great and the major contributory factor to me getting through this module with some sanity.
So a BIG THANK YOU to my fellow researchers in the learning set - I hope everyone has been this lucky!

Ali started with optimism, "I am hoping the Learning sets are now more or less sorted, it will be a learning experience in itself to work more closely with others in the "community," and good to see others approaches and ideas. I feel that the idea of positive critical feedback is just that, critical feedback of the work/situation we have presented, nothing personal, and designed to be taken in a positive light and worked with. It is positive in that it is meant to help us look for a way forward, to consider other methods next time or in a future cycle of the same action. I feel it is important to stand back and digest comments and remember that they are an important aid of our reflections. I know that sometimes this is easier said then done, but if I am to benefit I personally feel strongly that I must try to detach my "personal" self and allow my focus to be on the "collaborative learning" which peer review should enable through the positive experience of critical feedback." but at the end of the module she blogs:The peer review process has not been as good as I expected. There are 3 of us but only 2 of us seem to be 'involved' in the team. The other one is very quiet. I am worried right now because I want to write up my peer review section and my reflection but I really want as much peer review stuff to work with as possible.

Penny blogs: I got into such a state about AE.Oh i completed the physicial side of it and did all the research but when it came to writing it up,my mind went blank. I did complete 3 parts of it and gave it to my advocate and to the members of my learning set,then had a total panic attack... both A and M thought that it was good. something for my peer review,their comments inspired me so much that i believed that it was good and that i did have the ability to finish it. and i am nearly there.

For the Action Enquiry module, the Cohort 2 Learning Facilitators decided to go ahead with introducing Learning Sets. We were able to build on the Ultraversity Cohort 1 experience and will review our experiences next week. A team decision was to encourage researchers to form learning sets of 3 to 5 people with a shared research interest or on any other basis. Editable documents were provided to help the groups to form.

What did I do?
As the researchers negotiated learning sets and notified the online communities, I kept some back up copies of the sets in case of accidental deletion. I recorded the sets for my group so that I could help with those who had not found a learning set.

researcher	number in set	notes
Alpha	3	assigned to set
Beta	4	self-selected set, shared research theme
Gamma	4	self-selected set, shared research theme and similar work setting
Delta	3	self-selected set, friendship group
Epsilon	4	self-selected set, similar work setting
Zeta	3	self-selected set
Eta	3	self-selected set
Theta	3	self-selected set, shared research theme
Iota	4	self-selected set, shared research theme
Kappa	3	assigned to set
Lambda	4	self-selected set, friendship group
Mu	3	self-selected set, shared research theme and similar work setting
Nu	3	assigned to set

Alpha, Kappa and Nu had not found themselves a learning set, so I suggested that they form one set and this was accepted. Most researchers formed self-selected sets (11/14), one of which grew large so I recommended that they split into two groups, based on my experience of the demands placed on individuals in larger groups and on literature which suggests that learning sets should be kept to a manageable size. The sets were formed from across Cohort 2 and apart from the assigned set more than one facilitator was involved in each set.

With the Independent Learning Module, I sent interim feedback on targets and had some surprising reactions. The assignments had all been handed in, but we were at the stage between preliminary marking and stndardisation. One thing which doesn't change much is in identifying key targets from the assignments and at this stage the facilitators often provide a mix of general and individual feedback. For this module, I decided to send individuals the actual targets as these are often used with future modules - but before moderation it isn't possible to send marks. Targets without marks provoked a variety of responses which were much more detailed than for previous modules.



The focus was on what I'd written and the I concluded that the actual mark is a kind of distraction from the feedback. I'm not sure if I would provide the targets in this way again as it may appear to be too challenging without the reassurance of a mark and the other comments which focus on what has been achieved. If I add more, I may as well leave it to the release of the complete feedback.