Ensuring Progression in Learning Development

Dr Amanda Tinker and Dr Pat Hill18 April

Liverpool John Moores Universityembed@hud.ac.uk

University of Huddersfield - Rationale

Embedding Skills Project, 2010-12

– Academic and employability skills assessed at Intermediate level but rarely taught

– Skills ‘front-loaded’ at foundation level

– All new courses are now required to consider progressive skills development as part of validation process

Our Web Site

http://embeddingskills.hud.ac.uk

Rationale: Academic Skills Statistics, 2010-11

44%

19%

37% 43%

19%

38%

Foundation

Intermediate

Honours

Taught Sessions

27%

14%

59%64%9%

27%

School of Art, Design and Architecture

School of Music, Humanities and Media

One-to-One Tutorials

‘Second Year Blues: Developing Interactive Resources for Progressive Curriculum Design’, 2012-13

• To develop new and innovative strategies that might better embed progressive learning across the curriculum and, in particular, at intermediate level.

• To analyse relevant case studies (of three degree programmes in Schools of ADA and MHM), to further implement and embed clearly identifiable ‘progression points’ into curricula design.

• To develop further resources for Embedding Skills Website, as a national resource with Association for Learning Development in HE.

Focus Group Workshops:Academic Staff

• Staff-student expectations

• Assessment and feedback

• Nature of curriculum• Different working

environments• External factors• Pastoral care• PDP

Focus Group Workshop:Learner Developers

Expectations•What do you think academic staff expect from students at years 1, 2 and 3?•What do you think students expect from years 1, 2 and 3?

Experiences•What are your experience of learning development issues at years 1, 2 and 3?•What learning development initiatives have you undertaken for years 1, 2, and 3?

Evolution•What changes need to be made to ensure progression?•How can we help students make the most of the 2nd year?

What Next?

Engage with staff in 3 case studies to investigate and establish progression:

• Examine QAA benchmarks, skills mapping exercise• Assessment tasks, learning outcomes and assessment criteria• Identify current good practice • Capture student experiences through focus groups• Make available all findings and resources on the Embedding

Skills website for staff to view • Run staff development workshops