Faculty of Health & Social Work Using Credit for Good Curriculum Design Presentation Revisit original objectives Impact of Credit on the Curriculum Who now owns credit language & frameworks Credit Frameworks in relation to our staff development. We can talk the talk but do we walk the walk? Credit frameworks in a global education system Core part of our work is research and so have we researched and evaluated the impact on credit? 1 Lisa Lewy 2008

Faculty of Health & Social Work Creating Lifelong Learning Advocates Why use Credit Frameworks? Credit provides a tool where we can articulate students learning which demonstrates volume and intellectual demand. This supports progression, lifelong learning, more relevant to a fast changing knowledge and skills world where students can accumulate bite-sized relevant learning – used towards a qualification over time 2 Lisa Lewy 2008

Faculty of Health & Social Work Credit Frameworks and Curriculum Design Strategically we have achieved so much and the credit framework developed by SEEC has enhanced our understanding and design of education provision But the work is not complete. We need to evaluate the framework, support teaching staff in articulating the framework and most importantly use the framework for our staff development 3 Lisa Lewy 2008

Faculty of Health & Social Work Last three years (examples) Growth of Foundation degrees as both independent qualifications and progression routes Growth of professional doctorates Increasing accreditation of both current and prior work based learning Increasing mobility of students – globally 4 Lisa Lewy 2008

Faculty of Health & Social Work Credit and partnerships A common language for learning which recognises volume and intellectual demand provides a foundation for partnership learning across education providers, professional bodies, regulatory bodies and employers – locally and internationally 5 Lisa Lewy 2008

Faculty of Health & Social Work Staff development & ownership Focus on HE Staff – the people who teach and provide learning but… … find access to their own learning and staff development is a challenge Who looks after credit in your institution – Quality office, Teaching and Learning, schools, faculty academic staff? Who debates credit in your institution – staff involved in administrative processes or academics delivering courses? Lisa Lewy 2008

Faculty of Health & Social Work European credit transfer systems Moving towards a greater mobility of our students Some disciplines argue this has already been achieved eg. Business orientated programmes Still a need to enable our staff to understand about different cultures in relation to learning, professional accreditation, and ways of living to ensure the credit architecture fits an international credit based system, eg, the UKs access into professions for graduates may not be the same across Europe/world 7 Lisa Lewy 2008

Faculty of Health & Social Work HE Staff Development & Credit Credit frameworks are providing the key architecture of our education system Do we as education providers support our staff in understanding this architecture? Do we have consistency across our programmes in relation to curriculum volume and assessment processes for our modules? Lisa Lewy 2008

Faculty of Health & Social Work Credit for Academics learning In a world of increasing competition for research bids and publications how does your institution support staff development and recognition? How relevant and valuable is the traditional PhD in our fast changing world of knowledge and skills? Lisa Lewy 2008

Faculty of Health & Social Work Credit & Research We need to research our credit based systems to evaluate, for example: the effectiveness of APEL in widening participation the challenges of delivering shared modules across disciplines and partnerships the progression/experience of students who engage with ECTS the consistency and application of a credit based system across our programmes the value of a credit based system for front-line teaching staff 10 Lisa Lewy 2008

Faculty of Health & Social Work To summarise… The credit system is a tool achieving its key objectives For it to be valued, we must ensure its relevance and usage, enhancement and integration. In the Health sector, the credit system is widely used: - partnerships across professions, with employers and education providers - credit-rated bite-sized short & on-line courses aligned to health professions framework - qualifications enabling progression from NVQs to Foundation Degrees, Undergraduate and postgraduate Masters. Universities support credit based learning at a strategic level, but… Is it embedded in relation to both our understanding of credit as academics, and our own staff development/learning? Do we research and evaluate credit based systems to ensure they deliver our original objectives & enhance understanding & development? 11 Lisa Lewy 2008