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What to expect this morning

• Brief introduction - UK Transnational Higher Education & Brief question - UKPSF as a framework (?)

• Conceptualisations of Learning & Teaching:

(1) Concept mapping exercise – Your conceptualisations of key aspects of learning and teaching

(2) Insights from a work in progress – Conceptualisations of learning and teaching from three international contexts

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In 2011/12 UK TNE: • 126 UK institutions, accrediting– c5,000 TNE courses, enrolling– c60,000 HE students, generating– £330 million – value to UK economy

Sources: HM Government 2013, International Education: Global Growth and Prosperity; and http://blog.britishcouncil.org/2014/03/20/what-impact-is-transnational-education-having-on-host-countries/

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“…estimate that TNE will become the largest mode of international education by 2020”

Conference flyer for Universities UK/UCAS/International Unit conference on Transnational Education, London, October 2013. http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/events/Documents/TNE_ConferenceBrochure.pdf

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“QAA and the Higher Education International Unit will consult the sector in the autumn of 2013 on how to strengthen the quality assurance of higher education delivered overseas. The consultation will propose a significantly strengthened risk-based element to focus resource and attention where they are most

needed. It will also propose robust models and mechanisms to demonstrate the commitment of individual UK TNE providers to high quality provision and the protection of the UK sector’s strong reputation.”

HM Government 2013, International Education: Global Growth and Prosperity, p 8

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QAA UK Quality Code - B10

Indicator 12

The awarding institution is ultimately responsible for ensuring that

the quality of learning opportunities

offered through a collaborative arrangement is adequate to enable a student to achieve the academic standard required for its award.

Indicator 17

The awarding institution should be able to satisfy itself that

staff engaged in delivering or supporting a collaborative programme are appropriately qualified for their role and that a partner organisation has effective measures to monitor and assure the proficiency of such staff. QAA. 2011. Quality Code for Higher Education. Chapter B10: management of collaborative arrangements.

London. http://www.qaa.ac.uk/Publications/InformationAndGuidance/Documents/Quality-Code-Chapter-B10.pdf

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Successful and sustainable TNE programmes…

…are those that are developed to meet the needs of the partner institution, host country, and local students. In other words, successful TNE is a mutually beneficial relationship between international partners

Source: British Council. 2014. Exploring the impacts f transnational education on host countries: a pilot study. London: British Council. http://www.britishcouncil.org/sites/britishcouncil.uk2/files/tne_report_2014.pdf

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Thinking about the quality of learning and teaching practice, to what extent do you think your own institution is meeting the QAA expectation

through the provision of appropriate development and support for academic staff in the UK/ in your overseas partner institutions

involved in the overseas delivery of your provision?

UK - OS

• Very Well 6 - 4• Adequately 5 - 5• Minimally 3 - 3• DK/not say 0 - 2

Conceptions of Learning & Teaching

A Concept Mapping Exercise

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A study of teaching conceptions is seen as important because they have been shown to be related to measures of the quality of student learning. Conceptions are modelled as influencing teaching approaches which in turn effect student learning approaches and subsequently learning outcomes.

An understanding of teaching conceptions then becomes important if

measures to enhance the quality of teaching are to have any impact. If teaching approaches are strongly influenced by the underlying beliefs of the teacher, quality assurance measures should take into account conceptions rather than concentrate exclusively upon approaches. Real changes in teaching quality are only likely to be brought about by changes in the beliefs about teaching of faculty.

Kember, D. 1997. A reconceptualisation of the research into university academics' conceptions of teaching. Learning and Instruction 3: 225-275. p 273

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UKPSF

“…staff engaged in delivering or supporting a collaborative programme are appropriately qualified for their role”

Areas of Activity

Core Knowledge

Professional Values

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Concept Mapping

Developed in the 1970’s (Novak and Musonda 1991).

The process involves “high levels of cognitive performance, namely evaluation and synthesis of knowledge” (Novak and Cañas 2006: 12)

“It may at first look like a simple arrangement of words into a hierarchy, but when care is used in organizing the concepts represented by the words, and the

propositions or ideas are formed with well-chosen linking words, one begins to see that a good concept map is at once simple, but also elegantly complex with profound meanings” (Novak and Cañas 2006: 29)

Leeds Metropolitan University 12

Source: Novak, J. D., and A. J. Cañas. 2007. "The Theory Underlying Concept Maps and How to Construct Them, technical, Report IHMC CmapTools 2006-01." Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. Accessed: September 2012 at: http://cmap.ihmc.us/Publications/ResearchPapers/TheoryUnderlyingConceptMaps.pdf

Leeds Metropolitan University PGCAP

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What do you consider to be the key dimensions (e.g. components, roles and relationships) in an effective TNE partnership with regard to ensuring equitable quality in learning opportunities?

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Concept Mapping – Conceptualisations of Learning & Teaching

Stage 1 – Identifying the concepts

On the post-its provided note down the key concepts (one concept per post-it) which you think dimensions to an effective TNE partnership

Each concept should be a single word or a short descriptive phrase.

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Stage 2 – Provisionally arranging the concepts

Arrange your post-its on the flipchart provided. Put the most general concepts towards the top and more detailed/specific concepts towards the bottom. You may add any further concepts on additional post-its if you think of them. This is all provisional, and the ordering can be freely changed during the later stages.

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Stage 3 – Creating an initial concept map

With a pencil draw lines with directional arrows to connect concepts. Write a label for each line which shows the relationship between the two concepts. As you progress with this, you can move concepts, erase lines, add new concepts, etc., as appropriate.

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Concept Mapping with TNE Partners

Review of Pilot Project

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Overview

Objective is to inform the development/enhancement of our approach to academic staff development around learning & teaching around TNE provision

• Courses from our Faculty of Business and Law

• UG & PG provision• Partners in

– Nepal– Swaziland– Malawi

• Concept mapping as first part of two-day development workshop

• Six ‘course’ teams• Concept maps constructed• Presentations of concept

maps• Interim analysis of maps

and recorded presentations utilising the dimensions of the UKPSF

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• Transformed map

http://www.ihmc.us/cmaptools.php

Leeds Metropolitan University PGCAP

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Focus Question

What do you consider to be key aspects of learning, teaching and assessment in higher education in general, and on the Leeds Metropolitan award(s) in particular?

‘aspects’ might be principles guiding good design, delivery and assessment; factors concerning your students and their approaches to learning; issues driving or inhibiting how a course is designed, delivered and assessed; etc.

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Headline Figures

Dimensions of the UKPSF• Aspects of three dimensions (A, K, V) featured in all six course

teams• Most included overall was Areas of Activity, least was

Professional Values• Most included in single category were K3, How students learn,

and V4 Acknowledging the wider context• No specific references were made to K1 – Knowledge of the

subject material or V5 Promoting participation in HE• Only 1 or 2 course teams referred to Feedback (part of A3),

CPD (A5), Methods for teaching and learning (K2), Learning Technologies (K4), Use of Evidenced-informed approaches (V3)

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Instructor As Teacher

• The teacher here has additional responsibility to make content applicable to the students. (NS3)

• So the instructor's experience will mean he can meet the student needs and give practical help (NW2)

• We design the course and teachers see whether the course is practical or not...and if it's not practical, then again redesign it... If OK, then implement it. (NW2)

• When we start the course we need to build in interactions. (NW2)

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Student-Centredness

• Prior knowledge affects the teaching itself whilst it also affects the learning. (NS2)

• If the student motivation is down and the level teaching and learning, whatever they can learn, decreases. (NW1)

• Ultimately learning is about developing the attitude and then the aptitude, then we see that the students will meet the learning outcomes.(NW2)

• [Learning] will also depend on the reward in learning and the confidence which is developed in the student. (WM1)

• the needs of our learners and influence the design of the curriculum

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Socio-Cultural Contexts - Finance

• We must first have financial resources • the family is also part or the society, and will

provide the finance, which in turn develops the will to learn

• finances determine the educational policy because it limits the educational policy.

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Socio-Cultural Contexts – Influence on Learner

• Then the society assists also in the discipline of the learner.• Socio economic background of students will affect how they can connect with the content• their learning will depend on the sort of family they come from...so it is culture that has a role in making the student

absorb whatever they are learning in the college

• the home environment is … instrumental in supporting the teaching and learning experience of our student• When it comes to home and family environment, that adds to student motivation. So if there is no... backing up of

the students at home, the student motivation is down and the level teaching and learning, whatever they can learn, decreases

• The social environment is also key because it limits what information will be accessed and also influence the learners' needs

• students might bring prior knowledge from their context and experience which is different from the syllabus from outside and might disadvantage the student here

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Socio-Cultural Contexts – Relationship to Curriculum

• what happens in the cultures of the society will assist in shaping the discipline.

• teaching should be relevant to the needs of the society.• educational policy itself will influence teachers' minds

and the curriculum, which will also then determine the objectives within the teaching process, and these objective will influence that content that builds the teaching

• Local contexts can affect the relevance of the syllabus

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Complexity• The learning environment will also affect self-discipline and attitudes (NS1)

• You can't separate learning from teaching and assessment (NS2)

• Finance affects the learning and the environment influences the learning itself, whilst the prior knowledge affects learning (NS2)

• Class relations also might affect your students commitment and motivation. And their learning skills also affects their motivation (NS3)

• Student support will bring about student motivation, but that depends on the student attitude. It will also depend on the reward in learning and the confidence which is developed in the student (WM1)

• The curriculum sets out the content and this informs the choice of teaching materials, and of course teaching materials delivery is influenced by ICT (WM1

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Deficit ModelsThe assessments are not that rigorous and students know that to study one week before the exam and one week before the exam is fine... Whereas I've experienced that in the UK programmes they have on line cases every week, they have workshops and seminars to attend every week, so it pushes them so they have no time to spare for any other thing. That is something very different between the two systems.

Like students studying here [on British degress] no matter what school they have come from, they come from a culture of being spoon fed and then they come to university programme and they are required to do 200 hours plus of independent learning...they are lost, "what do your mean by independent learning?" Moreover, even to some level, even teachers are unaware of what is meant by independent learning..

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Aspirations

• We want to deliver that ideal course to students

• That is our overall aspiration, we are trying to get responsible citizens, better employability and better quality of life.

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Plenary

Key learning• Value of sharing across institutions

and disciplines• Many of the issues/solutions which

apply in TNE apply in UK• Importance of genuinely two-way

collaboration between staff/students/staff across TNE provision – evolving to an inter-dependent relationship

• Affects everybody/area of the institution

• TNE adds complexity at many levels and in many areas

For thought or action• How to maintain the momentum

of this forum? A blog or Wiki?• Need for spreading

involvement/concern for these issues beyond evangelists – upward persuasion

• Need to critique strategic drivers and push towards more complex/ethical agendas

• Push focus on learning and teaching agenda in TNE partnerships – AND in UK