flexible curricula viewpoints cards - drivers and needs for flexible curricula

How are our students changing and what are their needs/expectations for flexible curricula?

Student needs and expectations (1)

QAA Enhancement Theme: Flexible Curriculahttp://tiny.cc/qaafc002

What’s driving the need for flexible curricula?


Financial issues eg student fees, costs of living/studying, value-for-money.

Changing demographics of students eg ageing profile and as a result of widening participation agendas.

Changing focus on employability, digital literacy, careers and life-long learning skills.

Need for greater flexibility in time and place of study: eg part-time, accelerated degrees, flexible and distance study, work-based learning, mobile learning.

Need for personalisation of course content, learning pathways and options for negotiated curricula.

Need to engage in the social aspects of higher education even when studying at a distance.

Flexibility in entry/exit into HE and the pace of learning.

Need for recognising prior learning (formal and experiential) to aid entry into HE.

Need for simpler articulation between FE and HE study.

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QAA Enhancement Theme: Flexible CurriculaBased on the Viewpoints model: http://www.viewpoints.ulster.ac.uk

Considerations

How are our students changing and what are their needs/expectations for flexible curricula?





Demand for flexible credit accumulation.

Needs of specific student groups eg special needs, international students, offenders.

Opportunities to learn using a range of e-learning approaches (inc. e-libraries and e-content) that can be accessed anywhere, anytime.

Demand for flexible and personalised access/contact time with tutors and mentors.

Learner needs expressed through NUS Scotland (eg for co-curricular activities) and student online fora eg The Student Room.

Need for personalised student data on performance and progress.

HE learning that supports personal, professional and academic development as well as CPD and career development.

Access to comprehensive course information in a range of media formats to aid student decision-making.

Demand for comprehensive learning/technical guidance and support (including pre-entry).

Need for accreditation of extra-curricular activities.

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Considerations

What are the key Government drivers having an impact on the institution that may influence the need for and design of flexible

curricula?

Key Government Drivers (1)



Post-16 Education (Scotland) Bill eg to take forward the Government's ambitions on widening access.

The SFC outcome agreements focusing on eg enhanced articulation (seamless progression pathways between college and universities) and exposure to business methods, ideas and practices.

Scottish Government ‘Putting Learners at the Centre - Delivering our Ambitions for Post-16 Education’, focusing on efficient, flexible learning journeys and widening access to university to those who have the ability and potential to benefit from a higher education.

Scottish independence and its impact on higher education.

Support for university entrants who have experienced curriculum for excellence through schools and colleges.

The Wilson Report - business-university collaboration and developing the skills base for the knowledge economy.

Digital Scotland, focusing on digital technology to support Scotland’s teachers and learners in taking full advantage of digital opportunities.

Sparqs - A Student Engagement Framework for Scotland.

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Key Government drivers (1)


Considerations

What are the key Government drivers having an impact on the institution that may influence the need for and design of flexible

curricula?

Key Government Drivers (2)



Key Government drivers (2)

Universities Scotland/Scottish Government - institutional collaboration and shared services for eg learning delivery, academic resources and support services - and to meet regional economic needs.

The Bologna Process - designed to ensure comparability in the standards and quality of higher education qualifications in European countries.

The UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development eg integrating sustainable development into education including communities, the workplace and society in general.

QAA (Scotland) - developing a national RPL framework.

The QAA Scotland Quality Enhancement Framework (including subject reviews, students in quality management and national programme of enhancement themes).

UKBA (Border Agency) changing rules and practices.

Scottish Government National Performance Framework focusing on eg lifelong learning.

Scotland’s Skills Strategy.

…………………………………………………………QAA Enhancement Theme: Flexible CurriculaBased on the Viewpoints model: http://www.viewpoints.ulster.ac.uk

Considerations

What are the key institutional drivers, goals and priorities that will influence the need for and design of flexible curricula?

Key institutional drivers, goals and priorities (1)




Institutional strategy and business plan.

Learning, teaching and assessment strategy and educational development plan (institutional and local levels).

MIS and ICT strategies and plans.

Blended learning/technology-enhanced learning strategy and plan (institutional and local levels).

Student engagement and partnerships policy.

Work-based learning/employer engagement strategy and plan (institutional and local levels).

Estates strategy and plan.

Internationalisation policy - curriculum, EU HE (Bologna Process), transnational education and international opportunities.

NSS scores.

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Considerations

What are the key institutional drivers, goals and priorities that will influence the need for and design of flexible curricula?





RPL policy.

Policies and plans in relation to retention and success.

Policies and plans in relation to staff professional development, reward and recognition.

Policies and plans in relation to graduate attributes, digital literacies, extra-curricular activities/rewards and employability.

Strategies and plans in relation to sustainable development.

Policies in relation to student career planning.

Alignment and integration of different strategies and policies with the overall institutional strategy and business plan.

Quality assurance and quality enhancement policies.

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Considerations

What is the impact on the need for and design of flexible curricula of globalisation and internationalisation, including international

competition?

Globalisation and internationalisation



Globalisation and internationalisation

Global university rankings (eg quality of education, quality of faculty, performance).

Internationalisation of curriculum content, delivery and student experience.

Recruiting and preparing international students for local or remote study.

Students wanting to study abroad.

Transnational arrangements eg overseas campuses, collaborative agreements for teaching by local staff.

Sustainability and its links to global citizenship.

International collaboration in curriculum design and delivery.

Cross-border quality assessment practices.

Institutional internationalisation, collaboration (eg in QE and educational innovation) and benchmarking.

Mass higher education eg in developing countries.

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Considerations

What are the key needs of employers and employer bodies in respect of flexible curricula?

Employer and employer body needs and expectations (1)




Need for programmes to support workforce skills development and skills utilisation, acquiring and retaining key staff, promoting entrepreneurship/drive and meeting regulatory demands.

Need for learning programmes to align with employer strategic objectives and goals.

Demand for qualifications and pathways that are flexible and able to be personalised to suit employer/employee needs.

Demand for work-based degrees.

Programme designs to take into account any corresponding national occupational standards.

Programmes and their associated qualifications to offer cross-border mobility with consistency/portability of outputs and standards/learning outcomes, irrespective of geography.

Preferences for generic educational frameworks that can be customised to employer/employee operating contexts resulting in more cost effective approaches compared with producing bespoke programmes.

Desire to develop long term relationships with key partners (colleges, universities, training providers).

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Considerations

What are the key needs of employers and employer bodies in respect of flexible curricula?





Demand for individuals in the workplace holding NVQ/SVQ qualifications, Modern Apprenticeships or HNC/D qualifications to be able to progress to study at degree level without loss of time.

Desire for programmes to align with sector outcomes as well as employer requirements.

Demand for programmes to provide specific vocational and academic skills.

Demand for flexible delivery (in time and place) and with consideration for those with special needs.

Demand for blended learning approaches that balance traditional and technology-based approaches.

Preferences for learner support in the workplace eg work-based mentors and assessors in addition to tutor support.

Need for cost-effective and efficient delivery (minimising loss of time and earnings for companies and employees).

Need for programmes to align with professional bodies standards.

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Considerations

What factors are influencing how and what we teach and how do these act as drivers for flexible curricula approaches?

Changes in what and how we teach (1)



Change in what we teach (1)

Learners and tutors have exponentially increasing access to freely-available knowledge, ideas, information and data on the Internet.

Learners and tutors have increasing access online to people (eg subject experts) and communities of practice, learning and working.

Many discipline areas are broadening in scope, particularly in STEM subjects.

The ‘half-life’ of some degrees are shortening eg in STEM areas.

There can be increasing focus on research-informed teaching and learning in some institutions.

There is increasing access to a wide range of free open educational resources, open source tools and free/near-free Cloud-based and mobile apps.

There can be increasing demand to focus on student attributes such as leadership, collaboration, adaptability, employability skills, digital literacies.

There can be increasing demand for personal tutoring focusing on learner academic, personal and professional development.

There is increasing focus on sustainability and leadership.

………………………………………………………….QAA Enhancement Theme: Flexible CurriculaBased on the Viewpoints model: http://www.viewpoints.ulster.ac.uk

Considerations

What factors are influencing how and what we teach and how do these act as drivers for flexible curricula approaches?

Changes in what and how we teach (2)



Change in what we teach (2)

There can be increasing demand for programmes to place importance on learner skills such as critical thinking, problem identification and solving, enquiry, knowledge building, creativity, initiative and entrepreneurialism.

There can be demand for learners to be able to demonstrate and evidence application of knowledge, capabilities and attributes.

There can be demands to develop autonomous, self-directed learners, capable of self-review.

There is increasing use of technologies/new media to underpin working, learning and communicating.

Learners increasingly have access to (relatively) low-cost consumer (and many multi-media and internet-connected) devices that can be exploited for learning purposes.

Some learners are demanding to have increasing involvement with curriculum design, delivery and evaluation eg working in partnership with tutors and acting as change agents.

The many and complex drivers for change listed are resulting in the need for pedagogic models of teaching, learning and assessment to evolve and radically change.

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Considerations

What factors are influencing recruitment and retention (noting that between 33% and 42% of students think about withdrawing from HE)

and how will these influence the design and delivery of flexible curricula?

Recruitment and retention (1)




A primary reason for learners leaving relates to academic issues and concerns about achieving future aspirations.

Learners having high expectations of their HE experience and demanding accurate and comprehensive course information and guidance to inform their choice of programmes of study.

Learners increasingly focus on the need for personalisation of curricula to overcome HE ‘massification’.

Learners express demands for being accepted, valued, included, and encouraged by others (teacher and peers) in academic classroom/virtual classroom settings.

Many learners encounter funding/cost of living problems.

Learners having to combine full-time/part-time study, employment and family commitments face conflicting demands for their time.

Retention is supported through quality of interventions starting pre-entry with an overt academic purpose and which develop peer networks/friendships, creating links with academic members of staff, providing key information, shaping realistic expectations, improving academic skills and nurturing belonging.

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Considerations

What factors are influencing recruitment and retention (noting that between 33% and 42% of students think about withdrawing from HE)

and how will these influence the design and delivery of flexible curricula?





Developing learner knowledge, confidence and identity with an HE experience relevant to learner interests and future goals supports retention.

Interventions and approaches to improve student retention and success are embedded into mainstream provision with an opt-out rather than opt-in approach being the norm.

Activities need to be informative, useful and relevant to students’ current academic interests and future aspirations.

Activities proactively seek to engage learners and develop their capacity to do so, rather than waiting for a crisis to occur.

Learners who most need support are the least likely to come forward voluntarily. If students have to opt in it is important to make it transparent how students can engage, and why.

Particular attention is paid to monitoring student engagement and identifying who opts out or who fails to engage, and additional support provided if necessary.

Early engagement with new media/technologies where information is delivered via a range of media, as students’ learning styles and needs will differ from each other and over time.

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Considerations

flexible curricula viewpoints cards - drivers and needs for flexible curricula

Education

flexible curricula http

respect of flexible

quality of education

key institutional drivers

learner demographics

employer body

key government

curriculum design