ltsn generic centre ltsn.ac.uk/genericcentre

1. QAA: Champion for constructive alignment ltsn generic centre www.ltsn.ac.uk/genericcentre

2. Working towards more favourable conditions for constructive alignment 1. pre-90s CNAA concern for course design 2. early 1990s Employment Department initiatives 3. early-mid 1990s modularisation of HE curriculum 4. 1995-97 HEQC Graduate Attributes 5. 1997 Dearing - Programme Specifications, Subject Benchmarking and Progress Files 6. 1997-2000 QAA - development of policies 7. 2000 HEIs/teachers learning how to work with policy 8. 2002 LTSN Curriculum work

3. Educational rationale underlying QAA policy 1 focusing attention on what students are learning 2 promoting a consistent language to discuss students’ learning 3 seeking alignment between what students are intended to learn, the means by which learning is promoted and the criteria on which achievement is judged 4 encouraging students to understand how, when, what and why they are learning

4. Three levels of policy intervention 3 Students personal development planning programme specification assessment criteria transcripts 1 Teachers intended learning learning process learning achieved Subject communities: benchmark outcomes & performance criteria 2 Subject communities subject benchmark outcomes limited information in most benchmark statements subject benchmark performance criteria

5. Role of QAA policies in constructive alignment reference points design tools and curriculum representations Programme Specification * Learning Outcome * Teaching, learning and assessment processes that enable intended outcomes to be achieved and demonstrated * Curriculum structure (may include curriculum maps) Module specifications subject benchmark statements requirements of professional and statutory bodies institutional policies teaching system what the teacher does learning system what the student does what is actually taught and learnt

6. Implicit in programme specification -the need to show how/where learning outcomes are achieved 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 etc curriculum building blocks Bench marks programme outcomes A B C D E F G H 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 etc TPA TPA P TPA P TPA TPA TPA TPA TPA P TPA TPA P TPA TPA TPA TPA PA TPA PA TPA TPA TPA TPA P P T=taught P= developed through practise A=assessed

7. Non-aligned assessment models! Current undgrad. model Normative rather than criterion referenced. Grading scale (100pt) culturally aligned to 5 bands of honours system Standards represent a configuration of learning characteristics in which compensation and trade-offs are a normal occurrence (Sadler 1987) We want to view learning and performance holistically QAA Benchmarking model Criterion referenced Two or three grading bands. Relationship to grading scales and honours classification open to interpretation Standards represent achievement evidenced against specified criteria. Outcomes must be satisfied in full. Compensation not permitted? Requires two stage decision making and judgements about satisfying all minimum criteria

8. Subject benchmarking provides new opportunities for professional learning but this is unlikely to be fully exploited if it is perceived as a regulatory device rather than a spur for deeper learning about matters of educational substance within and across disciplines. Introduction to QAA Subject Benchmarking special issue Quality Assurance in Education July 2002