JISC

Overview

A core objective for MMU is to meet the professional training and development needs of employers and professional bodies, both locally and nationally. This project will develop and use competence frameworks with employers and professional bodies to identify educational and training requirements in terms that are readily understandable to all parties. It will develop the use of e-portfolios to support students in showcasing their competences and it will work to make MMU’s Quality Enhancement processes more agile and responsive.

Aims and objectives

AIMS

• improve the employability of MMU graduates
• improve employer and professional body engagement with the curriculum design process
• increase synergy between courses offered and the needs of business
• improve the efficiency and responsiveness of the design/modification and approval of new programmes and units within MMU
• change in the focus of unit and programme definitions, across the university, towards a greater emphasis on competences

OBJECTIVES

• to map current curriculum against high-level skills/competence frameworks in consultation with employers and professional bodies in 4 subject areas.
• to trial agile course validation and modification processes
• to support learners in making informed choices by increasing their awareness of the potential for curriculum options to fulfil employment opportunities and associated professional development requirements
• to support learners in showcasing their talents in terms of the high-level skills and competencies desired by employers and professional bodies

Project methodology

•  Robin Johnson, Project Manager
•  David Bird, Digital Creative, establishing job roles and competences for new sector, developing x-faculty provision.
•  Claire Hamshire, Physiotherapy, developing PebblePad to support student reflection on competences
•  Jane Mathews, Law, Development of employer/professional relations, use of PebblePad to students,
•  Denise Ashworth, Accounting & Finance, mapping professional body competences to existing course provision and managing modifications to improve alignment.
•  Rob Baker, Quality Enhancement Advisor
•  Rachel Forsyth, CeLT, Reviewing/Redesigning Quality Enhancement/ Curriculum Design processes
•  Alan Paull, consultant,– Process modelling & review
• Simon Grant, consultant, Competence frameworks.
• Rod Cullen, PebblePad Advisor
• Nicola Whitton, Evaluation
• Helen Beetham, consultant, Evaluation

Anticipated outputs and outcomes

•  Project Web Site
• Baseline Model in Archimate
• Agreed responsiveness measures for Process Review
• Scenarios for Process Review
• Reviewed Process Model
• Agile PARM Evaluation report
• Recommendations for PARM
• Competence Model for University
• Competence Framework Evaluation report
• Job Competences for Digital Creative
• Competence structure for Physiotherapy placements
• Physiotherapy Placement Log Evaluation Report
• Professional Body Competences for Financial Services
• Job Competences for FS employers
• Competence structure for Financial Services placements
• Job competences for Law employers
• Evaluation Plan
• Baseline Report
• Records of consolidation events 1,2&3 published on Web site
• Formative evaluation reports/presentations for 2010/2011
• Summative Evaluation Report to JISC

Technology / Standards used

• HR-XML, 2_5
• XCRI-CAP 1.1

Lead Institution

• ManchesterMetropolitan University

Project partners

• Software Vendor: PebblePAD - Will provide PebblePAD for use in the project and undertake modifications of this software to support the showcasing of student competences by students and output of machine readable CVs
• Software Vendor: Agresso - Will liaise with project to modify unit and programme records I the academic database to store competence information
• Consultant: Alan Paull -Process Modelling
• Consultant: Helen Beetham - Evaluation
• Consultant: Simon Grant -HR-XML and competences