PDP, Skills and Blogs at Warwick

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PDP, Skills and Blogs at Warwick

• Stephen Hill
• Centre for Lifelong Learning
• University of Warwick
• Cardiff, 12 November, 2004

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Outline of session

• Background employability and the academic
  infrastructure
• The Warwick Skills Programme
• PDP the QAA perspective
• First thoughts at Warwick
• PDP pre-pilot exercise (Centre for Lifelong
  Learning)
• The Warwick PDP pilot 2004-2005
• Blogs
• Early days.

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QAA Academic Infrastructure

• Framework for Higher Education Qualifications
  (FHEQ) levels expectations about employability
  and skills
• Subject Benchmarks may refer to subject-related
  skills devlopment
• Programme Specifications define precise content
  of each award for students, parents, employers.
  Warwick course specifications require departments
  to declare how skills are developed
• Written communication skills
• Oral communication skills
• Working with others
• Problem solving
• Information technology
• Numeracy
• Employability / lifelong learning
• Code of Practice nb assessment issues,
  supporting learning etc
• Progress Files obligation on all HEIs to provide
  records of all learning and to support students
  engagement with the PDP process and lifelong
  learning

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Warwick Skills Programme

• The Warwick Skills Programme was developed
• to facilitate embedding skills in undergraduate
  curricula
• to provide skills development for graduate
  students
• to cover employability issues
• to give students an additional accredited
  learning opportunity to develop a range of
  transferable skills
• to provide support for academic staff embedding
  skills in the curriculum
• http//www2.warwick.ac.uk/cll/skills/

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The Warwick Skills Certificate

• Supports students development as learners
• Enables identification of skills gaps and provide
  support for students skills development
• Supports PDP
• Supports development of careers management skills
• Provides support for development of skills in
  departments
• Delivers accredited modules to supplement skills
  development in departments
• Accredits extra-curricular activity
• Enhances employability
• Prepares students for lifelong learning, CPD

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The Progress File (QAA definition)
a document charting the progress of an
individual

• the transcript a record of an individual's
  learning and achievement, provided by the
  institution
• an individuals personal records of learning and
  achievements, progress reviews and plans that are
  used to clarify personal goals and can provide a
  resource from which material is selected to
  produce personal statements (e.g. CVs etc) for
  employers, admissions tutors and others
• structured and supported processes to develop the
  capacity of individuals to reflect upon their own
  learning and achievement, and to plan for their
  own personal educational and career development.
  The term Personal Development Planning (PDP) is
  used to denote this process.

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PDP OBJECTIVE (QAA)
A structured and supported process undertaken by
an individual to reflect on their own learning
and performance (.) (.) a means by which
students can monitor, build and reflect upon
their personal and academic development From
QAA paper on Progress Files 2002
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Institutional policies should

• explain PDP in promotional materials
• introduce students to PDP at the start of their
  courses
• provide students with opportunities for PDP
  afterwards
• explain the rationale to students (e.g. through
  handbooks and module guides)
• define a structure for implementation

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PDP is intended to help students
THE QAA VIEW

• be more effective, independent and confident
  self-directed learners
• understand their own learning
• improve general skills for study and career
  management
• become lifelong learners

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PDP at Warwick background issues

• How to implement in research-led environment?
• Tradition of strong autonomous departments
• Dont want mountains of unused forms
• Context of development of MLE and VLE
• Want to articulate with progress files and
  transcripts
• Cannot be labour-intensive
• Needs to engage staff interest
• Must engage students interest

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PDP at Warwick background issues

• Must be genuinely worth doing
• Not convinced personal tutorial system would be
  an adequate vehicle, though must relate
• Should enhance learning
• Should be capable of embedding in curricula
• Should be capable of being accredited
• Want something flexible can1000 flowers bloom?
• Provision of threshold level by 2005

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PDP at Warwick early thoughts on implementation

• Should reflect departmental philosophy and
  approach
• Should be linked to the personal tutor system
• Should be supported by on-line resources for
  students and tutors
• Should offer students environment for recording
  reflective and other learning
• Should offer support for staff interaction with
  tutors encouraged by prompted blogs and blog
  aggregates
• Should inform and enhance curriculum delivery
• Could use existing non-traditional programmes
  (22 and foundation degrees which already have
  embedded skills element as a pre-pilot exercise
  during the development period.

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PDP in the curriculumPre-pilot activity
ISSUES

• How to become a student in HE
• Independent learners
• analysis and criticality
• reflective practitioners
• lifelong learners
• More sophisticated, more independent
• Transitions

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
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Professional/vocational standards and academic
frameworks the challenge for FDs

• Vocational standards often relate to competences,
  and can often be relatively mechanical - this can
  be a driver for a mechanistic curriculum
  (training rather than education)
• HE qualifications framework expects graduates to
  be independent learners who have the ability to
  critically evaluate arguments, assumptions,
  abstract concepts and data (that may be
  incomplete), to make judgements, and to frame
  appropriate questions to achieve a solution - or
  identify a range of solutions - to a problem

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Effective induction of learners with diverse
experience

• PDP
• Group audit
• Individual skills audit
• Individual self-evaluation
• Developing academic and generic skills
• Developing independent learning
• Establish group learning dynamic
• Learning journals

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Action learning sets

• Action learning is a continuous process of
  learning and reflection supported by colleagues,
  with an intention of getting things done
• Action learning sets are used to
• Reinforce subject knowledge and understanding
• Enable sharing of good practice
• Define group needs in terms of knowledge and
  skills
• Generate group action plans
• Encourage group reflection on outcomes
• Inform individual tutorial process
• Inform individual PDP process

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Action learning sets
Students work in groups of 3 or 4 pursuing
identified development issues and/or problems.
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Feedback from FD students
I gained so much from PDP and the action
learning sets I think much more about what I
do, and my clients benefit from that! I didnt
know how many skills I had before I started the
degree, but I also know how many I need to
develop now. I couldnt see the relevance or
use of our original skills module, but the PDP
process has made it seem really worthwhile.
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PDP outcomes
PDP involves students in

• Reflection on outcomes from learning
• Articulating prior learning with outcomes
• Skills needs analysis (referral to Warwick
  Skills
• Programme as appropriate)
• Interaction in tutorial process
• Recording learning (blogs, learning journals)
• Personal and professional development planning
• Preparation for Continuous Professional
• Development (CPD)

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Institutional Audit 2004
Good practice

• the student support on the 22 scheme
• the programme for students leading to the Warwick
  Skills Certificate

• Foundation Degree Review 2003
• Good practice
• Action learning sets and associated student
  development processes

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PDP Pilot 2004-05

• Expectations concerning implementation
• Personal Development Planning is the process
  which students go through in reflecting upon
  their own learning, identifying areas of need for
  further development and seeking out and
  exploiting further resources to address areas of
  need.
• PDP at Warwick will be facilitated by Blogs and
  monitored at departmental level through the
  Personal Tutor system and at institutional level
  by the Skills Working Group.

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PDP Pilot 2004-05

• the University will provide
• Support in the form of advice/ consultancy from
  members of the Skills Team
• An introductory event in week 10 of the Summer
  term for all staff in pilot departments
• A faculty-, or department-based, event at an
  appropriate point during the summer vacation for
  pilot departments
• Access to online information relating to PDP and
  structured resources to facilitate student
  development and staff familiarity with the
  process and issues arising
• An online, pre-formatted web log - Blog - for
  all students in pilot departments and all
  incoming first year students in other departments
  from October 2004 , and support and advice on its
  use and potential from the Skills Team and e-Lab,
  ITS
• Resources for which departments may bid on a
  competitive basis to buy-in teaching to release
  staff time to develop operational processes at
  departmental level.

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PDP Pilot 2004-05

• Departments will
• Nominate a departmental contact
• Ensure an appropriate level of representation by
  departmental staff at the introductory workshop
• Develop a means of integrating the monitoring by
  staff of student PDP into the operation of their
  Personal Tutor System to include
• production of information about the departmental
  implementation of PDP in the department for
  students arriving/returning in October 2004
• scheduling of an introduction to PDP in
  departmental induction events held in October
  2004
• Regular monitoring of the uptake and use of Blogs
  by students by their personal tutors, at least
  once per term
• Contribute to the development of the use of Blogs
  within academic curricula.

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PDP Pilot 2004-2005

• 8 departments/centres to provide coverage
• from all faculties
• undergraduate and postgraduate
• vocational and non-vocational
• home and international students
• full-time and part-time modes
• traditional and non-traditional students

Must be sufficient coverage to make final
roll-out manageable Must exploit e-learning
developments, especially blog environment
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PDP at Warwick underlying principle
The resources and prompted blogs must reflect
students progression and development

• Level 1 becoming an effective student
• Learning styles, learning process, study skills
• Organising time, space and information
• Level 2 independent research and
• academic skills
• Level 3 Lifelong learning
• skills transferability, transition, life planning

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Initial assessment within departments
OBJECTIVE
Possible methods

• Verbally - in induction and welcome talks
• Handout/postcard other paper-based information
• From departmental website
• Module tutors tell students about PDP
• Module guides will include encouragement to
• undertake PDP
• PDP included in course specification

• 1 At the start of an HE programme, students
  will be introduced to the opportunities for PDP
  within their programme.
• 2 Students will be provided with the
  opportunities for PDP at each stage of their
  programme.
• 3 The rationale for PDP at different stages
  will be explained for the benefit of students -
  e.g handbooks, course / modules guides.

• Initial seminars of each module
• Optional session of PDP each term
• Sign-posting (by tutors) to WSP resources page
• Link to WSP resources

Departmental website Warwick Skills Programme
(WSP) resources page on PDP Blog
introduction
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Blogs recording learning
What is a blog? Essentially a blog is a journal
of ideas, reflections, reviews, photos, reports,
proposals, and "more or less random stuff"
belonging to the blog owner. Learners can use
them to write about anything and everything that
is important to them - and share these thoughts
with other people on the web. (definition from
Warwick Skills Programme Module)
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Blogs and students
Students can use blogs to

• provide a platform for learning journals
• record action planning
• record extra-curricular activities
• post information and questions
• communicate with tutors and mentors
• communicate with other students
• present CVs
• contribute to progress files

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What would I use a blog for?

• A blog can be used for all sorts of different
  purposes. 
• Have your own web space
• Create on-line photo galleries
• Write notes reminders about ideas for essays or
  research
• Review the latest books, CDs DVDs read other
  people's reviews
• Keep in touch with family friends back home
• Be part of the Warwick community get to know
  other people with similar interests
• Continue discussion on-line after a seminar,
  lecture or research workshop
• Write summaries of meetings that you have
  attended
• Present interim results to a specific group for
  discussion
• Record your learning progress personal
  development
• Tell other people about a really great venue,
  restaurant or band
• Comment on other people's ideas get them to
  comment on yours
• Air your views on everything from seminar topics
  to politics or CDs
• Show prospective employers extracts from your
  blog
• Write reports on the progress of a project
• Reflect upon your work, its success or failure
  what you have learnt
• Write or answer blog prompts
• Use your blog to create a 'yearbook' of your time
  at University

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Tutors and blogs
Tutors can use blogs

• as an environment for supporting PDP
• to present teaching materials and course
  information
• as a vehicle for assessment including on-line
  exercises
• to provide a platform for group discussion/debate
• to communicate with groups of students
• communicate with individual students
• to place materials on students progress files
• to evaluate effectiveness of teaching

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Blog prompts

• What are blog prompts?
• Blog prompts are questions that are posted to
  your blog.  At times, we all need a little
  encouragement to blog and having a question to
  answer can be a useful way to get blogging.  You
  may need to be prompted to blog about useful and
  academically interesting topics, or to publish
  the latest results of your research project.  As
  part of the Personal Development Process (PDP),
  for example, your personal tutor may wish to
  encourage you to write reflective blog entries at
  certain times, such as during the module choice
  process.

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Early Days Blogs (6 weeks in)

• 10 of the universitys students and staff are
  blogging
• Students are enjoying playing with their new toy
• Blogs are impacting on the learning environment
• Blogs are helping the PDP process
• Students are starting to post results of
  self-evaluation exercises to their progress files
• Considerable interest from Careers
• Teaching teams and project teams are using blogs
• Clubs and societies are setting up blogs
• SSLCs are using blogs
• Staff and students are discovering how to make
  their own websites
• Has needed a pretty heavy publicity drive
• Warwick already has the worlds biggest blogging
  community

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Early Days PDP (6 weeks in)

• Works best where there are enthusiastic staff
• Students have come back for more (on pre-pilot
  programmes)
• Is impacting on the curriculum (even in some
  non-pilot departments)
• Needs the Warwick Skills Certificate for areas
  departments cant develop (e.g. for numeracy for
  Arts students)
• Signs of moves towards integration and
  accreditation