UWE Federation Annual Conference 2011

Dan McCaffrey

Dan McCaffrey is the Technology Enhanced Learning (HE) Adviser for the JISC Regional Support Centre South West, responsible for advising HEI’s and HE in FE units in the region on ways in which they can improve their provision by incorporating and developing appropriate technologies to support Teaching, Learning and associated processes. Much of this work is mediated online. He’s been with the RSC in his current role for 7 years, accumulating a wealth of experience in the field.

Remaining workshop information to follow shortly.

Workshop Session 1: 11.30 – 12.45

• Enhancing employability – College Based Alternatives to Work Based Learning. The Environmental Health Experience – Lucy Meredith (UWE) and David Lown (Weston College)

  Maintaining sustainable partnerships with employers and other placement providers is increasingly challenging. This is particularly the case in Environmental Health where traditional “placements” are few and far between, resulting in less than one third of students graduating from Environmental Health Programmes achieving full registration with the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health. The lack of suitable work experience and placements is generally seen as the reason for this. This workshop introduces the UWE/Weston work on “Fastrack to ELP” a sustainable alternative to work based learning, where activities are hosted by the College and University. We will give an overview of the project and then invite participants to look at alternatives to placement for workbased learning in their programmes.

• Assessment: A Teaching and Learning Resource – Barbara Imrie (Stroud College)

  Barbara Imrie at Stroud College has devised a flexible resource to aid her teaching of assessment theory and practice. You’re welcome to come, try it out and evaluate it.

• Marketing HE in FE – Gill Fowkes (Weston College) and Keith Hicks (UWE)

  This will be an informal session focused upon the establishment of a marketing network that will help to facilitate the sharing of best practice between colleges/universities and foster a more coherent and strategic approach to the promotion and marketing of our joint programmes.  The workshop will provide an opportunity for marketing representatives from Partner Colleges and UWE to meet and hold informal discussions with a view to strengthening relationships and establishing a positive and mutual dialogue.
  Delegates are invited to suggest topics for discussion by the group.

Workshop Session 2: 13.30 – 14.45

• Work Based Learning – Tina Ritchie (Cirencester College)

  This workshop will invite participants to share their ideas on how they generate work based contacts; set them up; make visits; encourage the students to be proactive in arranging placements; guide students through the writing up of their portfolios and so forth. Participants will also be encouraged to share ideas on the content of taught work based sessions.

• New programmes – success factors: findings from a national project – Geoff Channon (UWE)

  This workshop is intended to raise important questions about the effectiveness of new programme development. Here are some of the questions that colleagues might consider beforehand:

  • What evidence do you use to establish if there’s a market?
  • Do you evaluate costs as well as revenue streams?
  • Is the process ‘demand’ or ‘supply’ led or a combination of both?
  • Who comes up with new ideas?
  • How do your institutions test the viability of a proposal?
  • Is there a connection with institutional/faculty/departmental strategies?
  • How do you judge ‘success’ or ‘failure’ of new programmes?
  • When do you pull the plug if a programme fails (if ever)?

  Professor Channon will draw on his involvement in a current HEFCE-funded national project on new course development to connect with participants’ experience.

• Widening Access – Fay Croft and Jonathan Simmons (UWE)

  Current initiatives which support access and widening participation (WP) will no longer exist next year; but universities which charge over £6k fees will have made commitments to access and WP in their Access Agreements for 2012/3 with OFFA. This workshop will consider the challenges and opportunities for access and WP in the new HE environment.

Workshop Session 3: 15.00 – 16.15

• Readiness for Employment – Nigel Eagers (Filton College)

  A significant proportion of employers feel that many students do not possess the skills to be effective employees. The workshop examines the skills, attitude and experience young people need to possess for business and organisations to recruit them. It will also look at building links between employers and Colleges for successful recruitment and how employers can contribute to inspiring young people by offering more work experience, internships, and apprenticeships opportunities.

• Collaborative Provision, Partnership Working and UWE’s New Quality Management and Enhancement Framework – Alison Rudd (UWE)

  The University is currently engaged in the design of a new Quality Management Enhancement Framework (QMEF) focusing on curriculum design, approval and review with the aim of creating a one-university streamlined approach used by all academic departments to underpin UWE’s strategic objectives. Collaborative provision and partnership working are very much embedded in the new QMEF and this workshop will provide an opportunity for colleagues to discuss and contribute to UWE’s updated approach to the quality management and enhancement of its provision, particularly with regard to annual monitoring and periodic curriculum review.

• Supporting HE Learners within the FE Environment using Technology Enhanced Learning – Robert Whitehouse (Gloucestershire College)

  A workshop which briefly introduces “TEL - Technology Enhanced Learning” ideology framework, current examples of practice and research. The workshop will be focused around supporting HE Learners who are studying within the FE learning environment.

You will be able to make your choice of workshop/s when booking your place.

Please complete the conference booking form by Friday 24 June 2011 if you wish to attend.