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Delivering HE within an FE Environment

Delivering HE within an FE Environment. Work in progress at Westminster Kingsway College. JISC North Cluster Group meeting 16 th May 2005. Current Context of HE within FE. 2002 Govt White paper on Future of HE: ‘Widening Participation’ Agenda

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Delivering HE within an FE Environment

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  1. Delivering HE within an FE Environment Work in progress at Westminster Kingsway College JISC North Cluster Group meeting 16th May 2005

  2. Current Context of HE within FE • 2002 Govt White paper on Future of HE: ‘Widening Participation’ Agenda • 2003/4 DfES research and reports on FDs-how existing provision is meeting need for Higher level skills • Financial imperatives and constraints e.g.: agreements within FD consortia on direct funding as opposed to university franchise top-slicing • Smaller groups, individual tutoring, non-traditional students • Economics imposing casualisation of lecturing • HEI/FEI collaboration seen as pre-requisite for growth

  3. Key Issues (1) • Demand driven but often smaller student cohorts. Fewer FEIs have a critical mass of students. (ref.Boterill and Haven, 2002, Sheehan, 2004) • Smaller numbers of full-time staff are involved in the management and delivery of HE programmes. Rarely are such staff ‘exclusive’ to HE teaching • Provision of Staff Development opportunities congruent with HE offer • FE Lecturer contracts make little provision for demands of HE level work

  4. Key Issues (2) • Programmes often dependent on the use of part-time lecturers to address specialist areas • Different and often difficult arrangements regarding access to learning resources at HE (FdA) partner institutions • Resources, such as books, videos and IT software presented challenges to FEI budgets particularly in the case of smaller cohorts

  5. First impressions “Totally disappointed, the mature student wasn’t valued….we were the oddballs” Enrollment and Induction “Do you need to stand there for four hours, with the queue going round and round the building?” Student experiences 2002 Personal support “I saw him (personal tutor) once at the beginning of the year and he was a bit, oh there’s no reason why I should tutor you unless you’ve like, got like, you’re dying or something.” Paving the Way Project Report UCAS May 2002 Supporting higher education in further eSusan Hayday Curriculum Manager AoC 1 April 2003

  6. First impressions “The tutor interviewing spent a whole hour with me, assessing my needs and talking over the course-she seemed so interested just in me that I just could’nt walk away ” Enrollment and Induction “Enrolling by post was a good idea although I did wait several weeks for my student number” Student experiences 2005 Personal support “I have a one to one with my tutor every few weeks and she is so generous with her time – she is always ready to listen, advise and if I bring problems to our meeting, I always leave with a sense that they can be resolved” Sheehan, C.A. (2004) ‘Hospitality Foundation Degrees: Aligning delivery models with the Widening Participation Agenda’ HE Academy research project

  7. HEFCE Perspectives and WKC Reality in 2005 What do we do well?: • Student academic and tutorial support reported as ‘commendable’ (ref. ILPs) • Teaching and learning • Access to specialist equipment and facilities e.g. Kitchen/Restaurant RWE • Specialist guidance workers and counsellors • Working in partnership • Evidence of endorsement of HE in FE by HEFCE • Provision of ‘showcases’ for quality HE in FE • HEFCE (2003):‘Supporting higher education in further education colleges: a guide for tutors and lecturers” April 2003/ Issue15 and Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) , (2003), Report 039 Review of Foundation Degrees, Pub. QAA.

  8. and not so well (but improving?) • WBL: consistency in the achievement of related outcomes • Provision of Information and development for employers to help them to contribute effectively to FDs • Implementation of rigorous assessment practices within consortia and in the workplace • Programme approval, monitoring and review, emphasis on assuring equivalence of experience across all sites of learning in a consortium. • Systems for the accreditation of prior experience and learning, particularly to accommodate previous work experience.

  9. And More !? • Programme design : appropriate balance of student achievement between practical/ vocational skills and the acquisition of higher-level intellectual, cognitive, analytical and reflective outcomes. • Progression from part time FD s to full time honours degrees • Staff development and physical resourcing of programmes

  10. FE/HE Interface at Westminster Kingsway College ESOL ESL Customised Training/ Outreach Multimedia Higher Education HND FDA BA (Hons.) GCSE/Alevel Professional Short Courses AVCE Culinary Arts (NVQ) BTEC Nationals Access HE FTE numbers 2004-5 (Hosp.Travel/Tourism/Business/BIT): 220

  11. HE Academy FdA Research Project:Aligning Delivery Models with the Widening Participation Agenda Aims • Identify good practice in FD Hospitality delivery models which address specific learner needs and the widening participation imperative • Recommend how content and emphasis of pedagogical development programmes within institutions/consortia need to develop • Suggest improvements in the learning environment to facilitate learning outcomes using ‘blended’ and other learning delivery modes. • Propose appropriate and realistic employer involvement in the enrichment of student learning

  12. Aligning Delivery Models with the Widening Participation Agenda Approach • Initial mapping of current Foundation Degree Hospitality and Hospitality related provision • Secondary research: an investigation and review of relevant web based and conventional sources • Questionnaires to Hospitality Foundation degree providers and employers • Follow up telephone interviews to a 20% sample of respondents • Student focus groups • Direct classroom and ‘Virtual learning environment’ based observation of foundation degree students

  13. Project findings: Key Issues • Recruitment and retention • Teaching and learning methods • Hospitality foundation degree delivery models • Widening participation • Course content and design • Work-based learning • Employer involvement • Intra-consortium collaboration • Development needs

  14. Ways Forward • Revisit assumptions about ‘non-traditional’ learner needs and redesign pedagogical approaches and curriculum content and delivery accordingly • Formalise the process of establishing a two-way dialogue between the HE Academy and its HE subject communities and the staff of FEIs involved in the delivery of a substantial HE portfolio • Identify the needs of FE staff and identify and disseminate examples of good practice in peer assessed priority areas of learning and teaching for HE in FE

  15. Ways Forward? • FdF and/or HE Academy to spearhead review of the role of validating HEIs in franchise arrangements in subjects not already present in HEI portfolio (to be addressed in conjunction with professional bodies and subjectassociations) • Continue with support for lobby for negotiations with FEmanagement on staff hours and recognition for HE work • Establish more formalised employer networks • Adapt existing models of employer involvement in summative assessment across a wider range of modules

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