JISC

Summary

The Exeter Cascade Project will ensure the widespread development of student and staff digital capabilities by creating innovative and authentic research-like activities which will be embedded in disciplines and supported by post graduate researchers. The project builds on the University of Exeter’s strengths in research led teaching and in involving students as 'change agents' in the design and delivery of the curriculum. Exeter already has some experience of engaging Postgraduate Research Students to cascade skills to Undergraduates and, following a careful audit of current practices, this approach shall be refined to apply it specifically to digital literacy skills. A number of research-rich online and face to face activities will be developed and piloted in our five Colleges. Postgraduates will have opportunities to develop their own skills and they will also have access to a newly accredited training programme which will focus on how to cascade these skills to others.

The University will use the outcomes of this project to develop institution wide models for student skill development which go beyond digital literacy but which has this at its heart. Several organisations have agreed to work with us in piloting and disseminating outcomes including the ESRC SW Doctoral Training Centre at Exeter, Bristol and Bath Universities.

Objectives

The overarching aim of the CASCADE project is to design and implement a range of innovative strategies and curriculum activities which ensure that students and staff develop their digital capabilities in the context of their own disciplines. The project will specifically work with postgraduate research students to encourage them to become ‘change agents’ promoting and developing digital literacies across the institution A primary outcome of the project will be a coherent, evidence-based and cross-institutional strategy to improve digital literacies at the University of Exeter. This will contribute to the design of framework for a wider institutional strategy for employability and skills.    

Anticipated Outputs and Outcomes

Several outputs identified in original bid:

• A review report detailing current formal and informal use of digital literacies by postgraduate research students and their supervisors
• Resource packages and a variety of learning materials for staff and student development of digital literacy to be openly available, along with evidence of their use in context and the outcomes for users, e.g. a refocused and redesigned masters TEL module, a new Researcher Development module, an explicit focus on digital literacy in research-rich events, case study exemplars of reversing roles in the research context.
• Report on the hub and spoke approach for embedding digital literacies.
• Quantitative and qualitative evidence of change, through case studies to include student and staff stories of changes in their practice and the impact on their research.
• Interim and final reports, an evaluation report, analytical case studies to outline examples of the development of digital literacies, changes in practice and impact on staff and students; practical resources to promote and enable the development of digital literacies; an on-going blog and a website with a record of project activity and outcomes, videos, etc, and feedback and dissemination events to include.