Support of WBL & Employer Engagement

Prof Mark Stiles, Richard Benefer, Fleur Corfield

Staffordshire University Regional Federation

Summary• Background to SURF• Background to FDs in Surf• Supply vs Demand• Models of WBL in FDs• Issues of WBL development • Mentoring• FE Tutors and Liaison• Patterns of Delivery• Genesis of WBL-Way• The Approach and Progress of SURF WBL-Way• What we want from you!

About SURF

SURF and Foundation Degrees

• HEFCE recognised funding consortium formed in 2000

• University-led with 11 FE colleges in Staffordshire and Shropshire

• 2,500 students on HNC, HND, Foundation Year, Foundation Degree, PGCE, Cert Ed

• Management Board, Management Committee, Quality Committee and others

The History of FD’s

2001/02 1 title 90 students

2002/03 1 title 100 students

2003/04 4 titles 290 students

2004/05 10 titles 600 students

2005/06 14 titles 780 students

2006/07 20 titles 895 students

2007/08 30 titles 1400 students

Supply vs Demand in FD Development

• Fd Applied Technology meets a local demand for highly skilled engineers

• Fd Early Years meets the government’s demand for high level skills in the sector

• Fd Telecommunications meets the demands of a national employer

Some Models of FD Development

• Local employer ‘bespoke award’

• Pathways

• National employer

Issues of WBL Development and Delivery

• Knowledge and awareness• Cost – time and money• Relevance to the business• Work-based learning and mentoring• Speed of response and validation• Is the Fd a business solution?

Issues of Supporting WBL Development and Delivery

• College or University-led

• Award leader and Link Tutor

• College, University, Workplace delivery

• Workbased learning

• Approval and Quality processes

• Supporting Employer engagement

Mentoring WBL

THE key role? -• Linking WBL to the academic

experience• Reflection• Finding and Training Mentors• Mentors, Tutors and Learners• Mentoring and Appraisal• Barriers• “Real Projects”

FE Tutors and Liaison

• More about the Link Tutor

• HE as part of the total FE curriculum

• FE tutors as Mentors

Patterns of delivery

• “Traditional” classroom-based

• Entirely on-site at employers’ premises

• Mixture

Genesis of WBL-Way

CourseDescription

Portal and Services

SURF WBL-Way

SURF X4L

SURF WBL

COVARM

SUNIWE

XCRi

Reuse &Repurposing

Generic WBLResources

Validation Issues

Work Based Learning Personalised Access Point

Partners• Main Project Partners

– Staffordshire University– Shrewsbury College of Arts and Technology– Burton Upon Trent College– Stoke On Trent College

• Supporting Partners– Foundation Degree Forward– AimHigher West Midlands– Harvest Road– Foundation Direct CETL– Engineering Council– Portsmouth University– SEMTA

Issues from SURF WBL

• Employers / mentors have no online access to information on employee learning

• No easy reference to generic support materials

• No centralised information about WBL across SURF

SURF WBL Outputs• Over 80 Learning objects covering:

– Mentoring– Negotiated Learning– AP(E)L– Key Skills– Health and Safety– Communication in WBL– Ethics– Study Skills– Curriculum Management

• A Study of Policy & Organisational Implications of Resourcing and Supporting WBL in a Consortium– Based on project experiences from partner colleges

Project Approach

• Use Case Driven• Drawing on experience and tools

from previous projects– SURF WBL & X4L– SUNIWE

• Access for all involved in WBL

Tasks• Identify stakeholders• Interview stakeholders• Write scenarios for stakeholders• Create use cases and storyboards for

stakeholders based on scenarios• Review portal software• Review institutions systems and data• Develop related portlets, linking to

institutional systems• Create missing materials to support

scenarios

Where we are

• Work with college partners, employers, FDF and SURF started

• Links built on existing project work• Scenarios been written and use

cases and storyboards started• Blog created by each project partner• Reviews of institutional systems and

data taking place• Missing materials being identified

Stakeholders

Employers

Engaged

Un-Engaged

Employees

Learners

Mentors

Human Resources

Institutional Staff

Course Developers

Course Deliverers

Course Managers

Unengaged employee

Comments from Employers

• Requests for– Up to date course descriptors & start dates– Progression for Work Based Learning– Case Studies– Learner Progress information– Advice for potential learners and

employers– Information on short courses that can be

built on– Links to Personnel

WBL Training Opportunities

Yes

No

Need more support

Are you aware of training opportunities within local colleges that include Work Based Learning ?

AimHigher West Midlands 2007

Understanding progression routes

Yes

No

Not completely

Are you aware what the progression routes for your learners beyond foundation degrees are?

AimHigher West Midlands 2007

Scenarios

• I am an employer with employees on different courses, I want to see what stage they are at and what they can progress to

• I am an employer interested in foundation degrees but don’t know who to contact and how much of my time it would involved

Use Cases

• Employer view:– Employee learner status & course details– Contact details for colleges delivering

foundation degrees– Support documents for foundation

degrees– WBL courses linked to the company

sector– College events related to employers

If I was a HR Manager...

What we want from you…

– Does this fit with your experiences?

– Have you found other requirements? What are they?

– How would you meet those requirements?

Thank you

• Contact Information– Fleur Corfield f.m.corfield@staffs.ac.uk– Mark Stiles m.j.stiles@staffs.ac.uk– Richard Benefer

• Project Websites– http://www.staffs.ac.uk/COSE/WBLWAY– http://surfwblway.blogspot.com/