Plymouth University Curriculum Enrichment Project 2013 – 2015 T&L Forum July 2013

1. Study With Plymouth is a conversation – it’s much more than a lecture Plymouth University Curriculum Enrichment Project 2013 – 2015 T&L Forum July 2013 Pauline Kneale

2. Plymouth University Curriculum Enrichment Project 2013 - 2015 Aim • Provide an ‘excellent learning and stimulating student experience’ • Strengthen the reputation of the University • Support all our students consistently with curricula and co-curricular opportunities across a 30 week, semester-based, learning year • 40 credits achieved before Christmas in year 1 • Provide opportunities for all students for in-term placements, performance and field visits • Minimise our use of assessments that require MAP (modified assessment provision) so that all our students are treated as equally as possible in all aspects of their programme • Increase action research and professional practice research in all years. Students doing … • Summer resits without travelling to Plymouth • Credit for best 4 modules at Level 4, in degree classification

3. Consultation Phase • 23 consultation meetings to date, 8 further meetings in the diary • Written feedback from most Schools and individuals, over 60 items. Project Office is collating the material • Suite of support workshops arranged by ED and ASTI • ED and ASTI staff contributing to School T&L events particularly on assessment matters.

4. Drivers for Change • Academic Review • More consistent student experience (everything proposed is already happening in Plymouth) • Delivering a stronger student experience • 30-week value • NSS and SPQ feedback (student voice) • Pressure on the time table – increase block teaching • Assessment issues

5. Why Semesters? • International student opportunities • Opportunities for co-curricular development in specific weeks (0, 14, 15 29,30)and current evenings and weekends • Half-year placements are more possible • Evidentially closer to ‘30 weeks of student activity’

6. Timetable • Moving teaching sessions consistently to 2-hrs or longer blocks: • Adds 10-15 minutes activity time to each session (9.55-10.05 start and stop time) • Allows more ‘activity time’, (eg: 20 minute lecture; discussion; activity; mini lecture; reflection) • Students more engaged - enthused • Staff prep and attend one session rather than two (saves set up, travel etc time) • Fits a flipped classroom, active learning, students ‘doing’ approach • ‘having a lecture at 10 and nothing until 12 is a real waste of my time’ • ‘Travelling in for two lectures on one day and one on the next with gaps between that are not long enough to get other stuff done, ’ (SPQ comments 2013 : All Faculties)

7. Assessment issues • NSS, SPQ shows a lack of consistent support and student dissatisfaction • Running multiple assessments for different types of students, in some parts of the University. • Effectively no MAP issues in one Faculty • Huge dependence on hand written examinations (19th century business skill) • 10 credit modules taught in the autumn and assessed the following June • In class tests without MAP provision

8. Assessment and feedbackNSS results 2012 Q5 the criteria used in marking have been clear in advance Q6 Assessment arrangements and marking have been fair Q7 Feedback on my work has been prompt Q8 I have received detailed comments on my work Q9 feedback on my work has helped me clarify things I did not understand Science and Technology

9. Arts and Humanities HESS PBS

10. Major Minor Level 1

11. Teaching in Years 2 and 3

13. Excellent Learning ?

14. Excellent Learning ? Difficulty Challenge

15. What are we trying to achieve in our teaching? ‘A radically unknowable world’ Barnett 2004 Enquiring Engaged Ethical Enterprising SupercomplexityRiskSpeedUncertaintyContestability

16. What students like • Activity based learning • Practitioner based learning • Interaction • Group presentations • Continual formative assessment with feedback • Individualised assessment • Variety in learning activities • Enquiry based learning • Flexible learning spaces • Working in small groups • Enquiry based learning • Opportunities to apply knowledge • Learning through managing others • Directed study activities to be recognised in formative assessment • Relevance to career opportunities (Blackwood and Brown 2011)

17. What students need • Hands on learning • Technology enhanced learning • Multimedia learning • Collaboration • Blended learning • Networking to facilitate learning • Interactive classroom sessions • Variety of tasks • Simulation • Personalisedlearning Schonfieldand Honore (2009)

18. Plymouth Students Productive, enterprising and creative global citizens Self-esteem Self-efficacy Self-confidence Reflection and Evaluation Degree subject Knowledge, Skills and Understanding Generic Skills Career Development Learning Experience (Work and Life) Emotional Intelligence After Dacre Pool and Sewell, 2007

19. Generation Y strengths and weaknesses, from Schofield and Honore (2009) Generation Y strengths - green; weaknesses – pink; mixture of strengths and weaknesses varying within the generation Y population- orange. The critical times for skill development are indicated on the top row.

20. Research - Scholarship Informed Teaching STUDENT-FOCUSED STUDENTS AS PARTICIPANTS Research-tutored Curriculum emphasises learning focused on students writing and discussing essays and papers Research-based curriculum emphasises students undertaking inquiry-based learning EMPHASIS ON RESEARCH CONTENT EMPHASIS ON RESEARCH PROCESSES AND PROBLEMS Research-led Curriculum is structured around teaching current subject content Research-oriented Curriculum emphasises teaching processes of knowledge construction in the subject TEACHER-FOCUSED STUDENTS AS AUDIENCE Griffiths, 2004; Healey and Jenkins 2006

21. Low CHALLENGE High Students likely to feel Interested and apprehensive about learning successful students Anxiety Flow Apathy Boredom Students likely to feel Work may appear to be apathetic towards learning of little relevance and boring Low SKILLS High After Csikszentmihalyi, 2009

22. Plymouth Pedagogic Ethos Research and scholarship informed teaching and learning (PedRIO) Research and scholarship informed teaching and learning (PedRIO) Students in the ‘flow’, action learners; students as research partners Authentic curricula and assessments Excited students tackling real research and practice problems in partnership with academic staff

23. How do we inculcate excellence? • I have paid £9,000+ living costs … you teach me • I want you to enjoy research and learn And that means doing your own thinking

24. The lecturer brings knowledge but that is arguably not the most valuable element. The job of the lecturer is to understand how knowledge is developed in this discipline, and to give people time to practice small elements of it. Give students the opportunity to try stuff, try difficult stuff, fail and then succeed. The trick is to know how to animate large classes, not just to transmit. Passionate Arriving on time Being up-to-date Breathing life into the ideas Putting notes on TULIP People who give you the tools to learn Being relaxed involved in doing stuff with us rather than watching us Lots of opportunities to ask questions Being consistent

25. Year 1, Level 4 Sequential, immersive modules

26. Year 2 , Level 5 parallel modules in two semesters

27. Year 3, Level 6 parallel modules in two semesters

28. Assessment – everyone working to the same agenda and challenges Improved Performance

29. Assessment for Learning 2013 – 2015 Project Authentic learning and assessment in Plymouth programmes Everyone working to the same agenda and challenges Ambition is ‘enhancement for every student through assignments that fairly evaluate the students ability to meet module and programme learning outcomes’ • Programme design should give students every opportunity to work with and demonstrate their ability to perform discipline contextualised tasks, and tasks they will encounter when they graduate • Activities and assignments should be characterised by meaningful tasks that replicate real world challenges. • Create a level and equal assignment playing field so that all students have a comparable, supported experience • 12% of students are registered with a disability. • We have some students with worryingly inequitable MAP experiences • We already set hundreds of alternative MAP assessments, which could be available to everyone.

30. Win-Win • No MAPs • Or give students assessment choice in modules MAP and MAP-free • Create assessments that can be taken at any time, anywhere (ODL friendly) • Make 2013 the last year with Plymouth-based summer resit examinations • Broaden use of instant resits

31. Introducing Plymouth Plus Modules Stepping outside your discipline • The opportunity to step outside your programme • Cross-disciplinary student groups explore issues that matter in the 21st century, matters of current concern, exciting issues in other disciplines, develop a current skill or start a new language. • Modules taught by academics from different schools and faculties to let students understand topics from different perspectives. • Assessed through in-module activities. • Interdisciplinaritythe critical workplace skill? We know that good teams have people with lots of different skills and expertise. One trick is to help students to know how to lead interdisciplinary teams. • HEAR recognition, and should be an employability ‘bonus’.

32. Co-curricular activities for all students Sessions timetabled in specific weeks and evening and weekend slots through the year. Arranging mid-year co-curricular activities in separate weeks for levels 4, 5 and 6 should help to manage demand, reduce class sizes, and allow finalists to attend focused career sessions • Level 4will have ‘light touch’, introductory sessions in week 0, and in weeks 18, 29 and 30. • Level 5 will have sessions in weeks 0, 15, 29 and 30. • Level 6 will have sessions in weeks 0, 14, 15 (shared with level 5), 29 and 30. • Activities already in progress include: • Leadership • Business start-up • Career and employability support activities, including competitions • IT support initiatives, to include independent online training • Library research activities • UPSU student rep training and leadership development programs • Language options

33. Project management Admin Support • Curriculum Enrichment Project Implementation Group • Pauline Kneale, Steph Driscoll, ADTLs, Debby Cotton, School Reps, UPSU reps and others • Curriculum Enrichment Project Steering Group • David Coslett, Pauline Kneale, Steph Driscoll, Richard Stephenson, ADTLs, Neil Witt, Pat Wilde and ? • Co Curricular Programme • Maureen Powers • Student Experience Group, • R&I reps, Business Rep, Careers Reps, ASTI reps • Science and Environment • HEAR Implementation • Academic Lead, TIS Lead • School Reps • Arts and Humanities • PSMD • Assessment for Learning Project • Pauline Kneale, Jane Collings, ED team • Plymouth Plus • Academic Lead • School Reps, Student reps • TIS rep • Timetable • Jim Griffiths, Annette Devine • TIS rep, Julie Lakey, FBMs, FRs Support and Development Workshops Debby Cotton, ED reps, ASTI reps, John Hilsdon • Business • Digital Learning Environment • Pauline Kneale, Neil Witt, • ASTI team, School Reps, Student Reps, • Curriculum Design and Approval SEEDPOD • Neil Witt, Simon Payne, Pat Wilde, Pauline Kneale, Anne McDermott • Regulations Revision Group • Mel Joyner, Pat Wilde, Claire Oldfield, Pauline Kneale, Sue Gregory, FR • Health and Human Sciences Induction End-duction Group Academic Lead ED rep, School Reps, Student Reps, ASTI rep, Annette Devine,

34. Challenges and OpportunitiesStudents Staff • ‘30 week’ value for money learning experience • Two first year modules ‘passed’ before Christmas, increased confidence and encouragement • Credit for best 4 modules at Level 4, in degree classification • Instant resits and summer resits without travel to Plymouth • Regular and early feedback • Space for co-curricular activity in term time • Opportunities for ‘breadth’ through Plymouth Plus • Opportunities from level 4 for all students for in-term placements, performance and field visits • Equal opportunities in assessment so that all our students are treated as equally as possible in all aspects of their programme • Increase in action research and professional practice research in all years. Students doing … • Engaged students • Focused teaching periods • Spread of assessment across the year • Reduce – eliminate need for MAPS, inclusive assignments will reduce marking complexity • Accredited modules involving field work, field class, performance and other off campus activities can be timetabled in the 30 week year • Opportunity for cross faculty research- teaching in Plymouth Plus • Research activity at level 4 supporting levels 5 and 6 research • Increased retention • International half year placements and exchanges facilitated

35. References Barnett, R. 2004 Learning for an unknown future, Higher Education Research & Development, 23, 3, 247-260 CBI (2011) Working towards your future: making the most of your time in higher education. London: CBI http://aces.shu.ac.uk/employability/resources/CBI_NUS_Employability%20report_May%202011.pdf Cousin, G. 2010 Neither teacher-centred nor student-centred: threshold concepts and research partnerships, Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education , 2, http://www.aldinhe.ac.uk/ojs/index.php?journal=jldhe&page=article&op=viewFile&path%5B%5D=64&path%5B%5D=41 DacrePool, L. and Sewell, P. (2007) The Key to Employability. Developing a practical model of graduate employability. Education and Training. 49 (4), pp277- 289 http://www.uclan.ac.uk/information/uclan/employability/careeredge.php Golding, C. 2011 Educating for critical thinking: thought encouraging questions in a community of enquiry, Higher Education Research and Development, 30, 3, 357- 370 Griffiths, R. 2004, Knowledge production and the research-teaching nexus: the case of the built environment disciplines, Studies in Higher Education 29 (6): 709-26 Healey, M. and Jenkins, A. 2006, ‘Strengthening the teaching-research linkage in undergraduate courses and programmes' in C. Kreber (ed.), Exploring research-based teaching, San Francisco: 45-55 Media Awareness Network (2010) Digital Literacy in Canada: From Inclusion to Transformation. http://mediasmarts.ca/sites/default/files/pdfs/publication-report/full/digitalliteracypaper.pdf Meyer, J.H.F. and Land, R. (eds.) (2006) Overcoming barriers to student understanding: threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge. Abingdon: Routledge. Nakamura, J., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2009). Flow theory and research. In C. R. Snyder & S. J. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 195-206). Oxford: Oxford University Press Pegg, A., Waldock, J., Hendy-Isaac, S. and Lawton, R. 2012 Pedagogy for employability, http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/employability/pedagogy_for_employability_update_2012.pdf Shulman, L. 2005 Signature pedagogies in the professions, Daedalus, 134, 3, 52-59a

36. Teaching in Years 2 and 3 Would it be possible to have short, intensive modules in Level 5 and 6? YES

37. Teaching in Years 2 and 3 • Attracting sufficient number to small modules • Can we teach less popular modules every 2 years to double the class size and increase choice to students? YES Taught to year 2 and 3 together in alternate years.

38. Two Subject Degrees Year 1 Level 4 • Joint delivery of early modules? Ideally to make discipline pairings real. • Languages – no. These need to match many programmes Taught by staff from X and Y Integrative project

39. Optional modules • Do we have too many options ? • Can you reduce the options and increase your research time?

40. 40 credit Dissertation in Level 6? • In these patterns dissertations are submitted in April /early May. • Parallel pattern leads to week 29 hand in. Ok, but pushes exam meetings back

41. Rules for Classification Year 2 30% Year 3 70% 10% 30% 60% 10% 40% 50% Pass 100cr to progress Pass module overall (ie not every sub-element).

42. Postgrads • 6 hrs a week for Research Council students, averaged across the year. We generally apply the rule to all. • Total hours for demo shouldn’t change but will get concentrated

43. Assessment for Learning Disabled students working towards different assessments miss opportunities for group support and are treated as ‘other’. The same learning, support and inclusive assessment opportunities (MAP-free assignments) would provide a common, collegiate, level playing field for all our students, would streamline many processes and be transparently fair.

44. Examples of 1 year inclusive assessment -20 credits MAP-free • 3 ( 1 per week ) x 300 word piece of critical writing 1 group presentation of a poster and individual reflection • ‘Multiple Choice Questions’ – open time frame or 40 questions in a maximum of 3 hours over a 48 hour period and Practical Lab: work and report • Group video/ podcast and 500- 1000 word reflective commentary (what I know now as a result of the module)

45. Examples of 1st term assessment -20 credits MAP-free • 4 x Problem Based Learning activities – 4 x 500 words with a reflective commentary / e-commentary (what I know now as a result of the module) • Field work, field work notebook or report with a reflective commentary (what I know now as a result of the module) • Mini project ‘product’ / performance and commentary .

46. Instant Resits Level 4 • Giving students the opportunity to get work up to standard (meet LOs) • Re-submitting to meet the LOs • No resubmission of work that has passed Level 4: first three modules can resubmit more than once. Revise and resubmit

47. Support workshops: Curriculum Enrichment and Assessment for Learning • Assessment for Learning • Designing great first modules • PBL – action learning – case study learning • Flipped classroom • New e-assessment possibilities • Plymouth Plus • Group work • Getting students reflecting (PebblePad updates and other approaches) • Programme LOs and module Los • Induction – end-duction • ??????? • Programme / Module team support

48. Transition • Our current Level 6 is largely composed of optional modules. This will need to be altered to have two suites of option modules (Sem 1 & Sem 2), altering the choice of the students? YES: For 2014-5 level 6 - a suite of semester 1 modules and suite of Sem 2 modules. We will need to start talking to current second year about this in SSL and other meetings from September. Use the reps and Steph to get the message across