Raquel LM Sukhu

Peter C Thomas

1st National Conference on Quality Assurance in Higher Education

held by

The Accreditation Council of Trinidad and Tobago

November 17 & 18, 2011

The Role of Articulation Agreements in Creating

Seamless Education in the Higher Education

Sector

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“Articulation agreements are the bridge to seamless education

through lifelong learning”

(Josey, 2009)

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Define seamlessness in education

Identify strategies to achieve seamlessness

Examine articulation agreements as a strategy within HE

Highlight key issues, benefits and challenges

Review best practices

Objectives

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Seamlessness in education

Coordination of smooth transition between ECCE, primary & secondary education systems

An integrated concept of education stretching from early childhood through a four-year college/university degree

Educational preparation among institutions without a break in content

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Dual credit programmes

Prior learning assessment &

recognition (PLAR)

School-to-work

programmes

Common general

education core

Common course

numbering

Qualifications and credit framework

Integrated student unit record data

system

Articulation agreements

Strategies towards Seamlessness

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Articulation

“generally understood to mean the institutional policies or other structures that are implemented to encourage, facilitate and monitor the student transfer process”

“refers to the mechanisms that enable student mobility within and among the institutions that comprise the tertiary system”

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Articulation

“the process of coordinating curricula at different levels of education in order to foster the efficiency and effectiveness of the educational process” which is “used as a vehicle to encourage collaboration between educational institutions”

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Articulation

“Through articulation, credentials from one institution are recognised by another, allowing students to attain advanced standing in a new post secondary programme”

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Articulation

“Articulation is closely linked to the concept of ‘transfer’ – “the process of moving a student’s credits across different institutions”

Numerators of the transfer rate tend to be focused on student transfer, and not transfer of credits

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Articulation

The intention of articulation policies (in the US context) is not to improve transfer rates…

it is to prevent the loss of credits when students transfer.

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Articulation

“Student movement is multi-directional:

Vertical – • upwards or • downwards (reverse)

Lateral – between similar institutions

Swirlers – frequently alternating between two- and four-year institutions”

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United States – 100 year history of articulation; state-

wide agreements

South Australia – integration of PLAR, articulation with TAFE

South East Asia - pathways for technical and vocational

education graduates

Articulation Agreements

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A number of HEIs have established agreements

Scholarship on the need for seamlessness and articulation

‘Guidelines for Framing Articulation Agreements in

Trinidad and Tobago’

Articulating in Trinidad & Tobago

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Key Issues

Differentiation and diversification

The binary divide

Drift (academic; vocational)

Ensuring mobility, inclusive of swirlers and reverse articulation

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FOR STUDENTS

1. Improved access and freedom of movement

2. Lower rates of drop-out or failure without credit

3. Increased programme choice

4. Less wastage – time, endeavour, money

Benefits of High Articulation

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FOR STUDENTS

5. The possibility of non-traditional learning experiences being credited towards a degree

6. Opportunities to change concentrations or institutions mid-stream, or to delay final choices whilst still carrying forward relevant credits

Benefits of High Articulation

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Benefits of High ArticulationFOR STUDENTS

7. Possibility of moving between institutions in accordance with aspirations

8. Opportunities to pursue lifelong learning through the flexible accumulation of credits over a long or short time period

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Benefits of High ArticulationFOR INSTITUTIONS

1. Effective means of facilitating equity under conditions of inter- and intra-institutional differentiation

2. Possibility of greater interdisciplinary programme linkage across institutions

3. Fewer repeaters and drop-outs

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Benefits of High ArticulationFOR INSTITUTIONS

4. Less curriculum duplication / overlap

5. Increased academic collaboration

6. Increased pass rates

7. Improved internal institutional efficiency along with the possibility of increasing student numbers

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Best Practice

Seven Guiding Principles

1. Parity among institutions2. Parity of students3. Faculty have primary responsibility

for crafting agreements4. Accommodate students’ transfer

without a minimum of associate degree

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Best Practice

Seven Guiding Principles

5. Agreements in specific programme majors as well as transfer of programme major courses

6. Both public and private institutions should participate

7. Data-driven evaluation of performance of agreements

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In conclusion…

The articulation agreement is a key mechanism upon which the development of a seamless HE system in Trinidad & Tobago is dependent and as participants in the HE system we must begin to critically evaluate the ways in which we build and employ them.

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In conclusion…

Differentiated and diversified HE systems with insufficient articulation will, at best, be fragmented systems, far from seamless.

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Thank you!