JISC

There is a growing recognition in the Higher Education sector that in widening access to non-traditional students, care is needed at induction, which may also be the transition point from Further Education, to utilise the learning skills and self-awareness the student has already developed, to help them adapt to the very different learning and teaching environment in most universities and to foster their confidence in the face of new challenges. Personal Development Planning (PDP) has a key role to play in this process, and in the ultimate success of the student in the higher education environment. Records from previous institutions which help the student and tutor together to identify problems early and to build on known strengths are vital to this process, but need to be readily transferable as the student moves across institutions. The context of the present project is a common one: students are accepted on to a higher education programme leading to a degree awarded by a university, but are taught initially within a partner college of further education. If successful they proceed automatically into year 1 or 2 of the programme within the university.

The institutions concerned are the University of Liverpool and two of its partner colleges, Carmel College and Wirral Metropolitan College. The programmes to be investigated, where transfer of PDR records could support the student’s learning, are a “1+3” arrangement with Carmel College, transferring students from a “Year 0” at Carmel into degree programmes mainly in Life Sciences at Liverpool; and a “2+2” arrangement with Wirral Metropolitan, transferring students into Year 2 of the degree programmes in Psychology or Life sciences at Liverpool.

Aims and Objectives

The overall aim of the project is to establish whether and how the transfer of Personal Development Records (PDRs) across institutions supports learning and teaching.

The specific objectives are to:

• identify current records held at Carmel and Wirral Metropolitan Colleges which relate to the PDP process and describe current use of these records in supporting student learning in the colleges;
• identify any problems and barriers in developing or accessing records which would support the student’s transition into the University of Liverpool;
• determine requirements for the electronic storage, security, communication and use of these records;
• identify problems and barriers in the use made of these records by students and tutors together within the University of Liverpool;
• develop an agreed vision of how PDRs can best support transitions and learning.

Project Methodology

In the initial phase, the project team will identify and describe current practice in the two colleges, through interviewing key personnel. Initial questions include:

What PDP data do the colleges hold? How is it currently used to inform student learning (for example, does it record student’s areas of strength/weakness, specific learning preferences, specific learning plans/goals? If not, how easily could it?) Who monitors (accesses, gets to see) this data – personal tutor? Subject tutor? Is data of the type which can potentially be represented by LIP?

The second phase will follow a varied cohort from each college into the University of Liverpool and chart their progress through their first year. Questions include:

If/when student PDR data are transferred to the University of Liverpool, what use can be made of them? By whom? (For example, could a student’s self-assessment in Year 2 at the University be directly compared with initial assessment made previously in FE? Could action plans be continued across institutions, to be monitored in the University of Liverpool by the personal development tutor?) How easily can the FE data be stored? How can we best use LIP for this transfer? What are the technical problems over such transfer?

Feedback will be sought at each stage from the students themselves, and from FE and HE tutors about the helpfulness of the PDP process and what other records would have been useful to transfer across institutions.

Implications/ Deliverables/ Stakeholders

• a mapping of PDR data in each case to IMS LIP. This will be used to feed into the second version of the IMS LIP-based UK LP. [Yr 1]
• a prototyped toolkit for the transmission of such data. This will be able to provide real-life examples of Learner Information Profiles (subject to Data Protection issues). [end of Yr 1]
• a description of the use of PDR data in each institution to support learning and teaching, with particular reference to the terminology involved, how this data is created and held, who has access and ownership and any accessibility requirements of students. This will give the community at large an overviews of the issues surrounding electronic PDRs. [end of Yr 1]
• an evaluation of the process using qualitative feedback from students and tutors, with reference to its value in supporting learning, preferred methods of storage/access and issues of ownership and accessibility. [Yr 1 FE; Yr 2 HE]
• use cases of PDR data transfer between an FE college (using materials based on the Progress File) and an HEI. With a web-based Progress File implementation due very soon, these use cases will address many of the issues that colleges that adopt this software will face. [Yr 2]
• use cases of PDR data transfer between a sixth form college and an HEI; [Yr 2]
• a set of recommendations for:
  • types of records which could  be created in FE to support learning and transfer, and how they could best be stored;
  • how students and tutors together in HEIs can make best use of such records to aid transition;
  • student and tutor preferences for the creation, storage and access of such records;
  • how HEIs can best manage and promote the continuing development of a PDR to support learning;
  • how to make the best use of IMS LIP to transfer both PDRs and accessibility information [Yr 2]

Dissemination will include the setting up of a website aimed at keeping interested parties informed of progress. The project team will also seek opportunities to present their work through appropriate conferences (eg ALT-C) and journals. A key dissemination channel is likely to be the Centre for Recording Achievement, of which the University of Liverpool is a member, and the CETIS LIPSIG whose meetings are already attended by members of the proposed project team. At the local level, opportunities will be sought to present the project’s findings to the consortium meetings of the University and its FE partners.

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