‘Designing in’ academic, personal and professional development

This session

• Hear about the work done to evaluate the Professional

Scholarship Programme

• Shape the future of the Professional Scholarship

Programme by offering feedback and further ideas.

• Consider the student feedback: What it means now and

in the new curriculum

What is PSP?

Level 4 •Academic Development •Personal Development•Introductory Research Methods

Level 5•Research Methods

Placement Level 6

•Group module •HRP

Review process

• Student centredo 18 students in focus groups (across years and

courses)o 28 student representatives at the student academic

group

• Staff discussions plus feedback incorporated in to responses on the framework

• Scoping practice elsewhere

Student findings (headlines) – Year 1

•AD and PD universally valued

•IRM -valuable but sometimes detached from the course

•Career maps are not followed up

•AD appears to be ‘harsh’

• Interviews, transition, use of word processing, career planning, critical reading, writing.

•Less front loading

•Consistency

•Contextualised

•Connection (to other modules)

•Committed expert staff

Student findings (headlines) – Year 2

• Challenges with transition

• Research methods detached from other provision

• Some find some research methods useful before placement (for experiments etc)

• Material is forgotten ahead of the HRP

• Placement preparation unlike PD

Student findings (headlines) – Year 3

• Placement return to study (useful but not a module)

• Need to refresh research methods

Harper staff perspective • Don’t want to spend valuable credits on generic content

• Want to improve academic development and retain placement preparation

• Recognised as an investment

• PSP should largely be embedded

• Should be taught by experts

• Some suggest: Should be taught outside the curriculum

Elsewhere

• Largely embedded – but not a matrix approach to curriculum

• Always contextualised

• Key to ‘making knowledge work’ (e.g. Bradford University)

• Tied to graduate attributes (e.g. Central Lancashire)

• Examples of teaching through research, not just about research

• Low stakes and formative

• Using technology for on-going reflection and documentation (Bolton, Ulster, Buckinghamshire, Kent)

Aspects that were inspiring!

• Liverpool John Moores – making students independent through an ongoing programme (focus on learning states)

• Newman University – writing in the disciplines

• Ulster – designing in transition support

• The Salford Student Life Award

The proposal and rationale

A risk …

Questions:

• What are the strengths of the proposal? • What challenges does this raise? • What questions does this raise? • What suggestions can you offer for further

development or alternative designs?

Student feedback

• Have a look a the student feedback

• How well do we currently address the issues raised in present courses?

• What can we do within the current curriculum? (blue)

• What can we do with future designs? (pink)

Where next?

Useful links

• For case studies ad ideas of PDP schemes: www.recordingachievement.org/higher-education/pdp-academy.html

• Liverpool John Moores scheme https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10GOifpeFE0