JISC

Enhanced learner information for flexible admissions and transitions into Higher Education

Two starting points for the project are published in UK LP 1.1B

• The mapping of the PDR domain (section 2)
• The use case illustrating the role of PDP to support a HE admissions process (section 3)

Following a seminal conference at EifEL in October 2003 it has become clear that the UCAS domain represents a ‘presentational e-portfolio’ which the learner may draw from a private ‘e-portfolio archive’ containing Personal Development Records arising from a process of Personal Development Planning.  (The terms “e-portfolio” and “e-portfolio archive” denote not separate silos of data so much as data in different states, defined by metadata.) 

By reviewing the role of PDP within HE admissions processes in the way set out below, the project will contribute to the emerging definition of e-portfolio. The project should therefore deliver an outline specification of an e-portfolio to provide the enhanced learner information which will be required by a flexible admissions process and which also support the transition of learners into Higher Education. In other words it is concerned with both recruitment and retention and views the information contained within the Personal Statement as a potentially key resource.

Aims  

1. To develop a technical framework to enable the widespread use of enhanced learner information within more flexible HE admissions processes (currently being consulted on by the DfES Schwarz Group):
   • achieving continuity between Progress File in 16-19 and Progress File in HE;
   • in this way widening participation to HE;
   • and by joining up separate records provide a basis for records of Lifelong learning
2. To provide plain English scenarios of these processes as the context for an outline application profile of the HE admissions process and as a basis for a formal technical standard supplementing BS 8788, UK LeaP
3. In this way specify e-portfolio in the context of HE admissions.

Objectives

1. To propose an extension of the current UCAS form domain in line with the emerging new flexible framework for HE admissions with particular reference to the Personal Statement
2. To transfer applicant data from FE to HE, joining up PDP processes and Personal Development Records (PDRs) in specific partnerships bridging FE and HE
3. To transfer enhanced applicant data from UCAS into a MLE in each of the three HEIs in the consortium
4. To provide, publish and report (to both national and international bodies) a technical specification for an IMS LIP application profile, for the transfer of enhanced learner information through an admissions process into a MLE in HE
5. To manage, report, evaluate and disseminate the project activities

Methodology

• To map the current UCAS domain to IMS LIP (draft completed).
• To consider the use of style sheets so that data can be entered by learners to a common structure using a variety of front ends and then viewed by readers in different ways similarly adapted to their needs and preferences (proposal completed).
• To undertake a detailed review of the information that may be contained within the Personal Statement domain drawing on other recent work, such as the Fair Enough Project?
• To develop further and more detailed use cases for the information which must be exchanged to support more flexible admissions processes
• To consider the PDP underlying these processes as it affects learners and their supporters
• To consider the use of the PDR mapping to support applicants.
• To consider the use of the PDR mapping to support admissions staff.
• To consider the use of the PDR mapping to support the transfer of information into HE PDRs as a basis for HE PDP.

Stakeholders include

• Potential applicants
• Their formal and informal supporters; especially in FECs
• University Admissions staff
• Students, especially in their first year
• University Tutors responsible for supporting learners’ PDP
• Senior managers responsible for the quality of fair admissions processes
• Policy makers
• Technologists

Deliverables

The report of the project must therefore be accessible to all these audiences but provide the core information required for a formal standard for implementation by practitioners and technologists, taking account of broader issues relating to quality assurance.