Engaging Employers and Professional Bodies in Curriculum Design

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Engaging Employers and Professional Bodies in
Curriculum Design

• Mark Stubbs Peter Bird
• Manchester Metropolitan University

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Supporting Responsive Curricula (SRC)

• A four year JISC-funded project to pilot agile,
  demand-oriented curriculum design processes that
  promote flexible delivery enhance learner
  employability
• SRC is funded by the JISCs 05/08 Curriculum
  Design Programme.
• Executive Sponsor Prof Kevin Bonnett, DVC
  Student Experience
• Principal Investigator Prof Mark Stubbs, Head of
  Learning Research Tech
• Project Manager Peter Bird
• http//www.celt.mmu.ac.uk/src

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Mapping (Re)Designing Curriculum
Showcasing Talent
Sign-posting Opportunity
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Yr1 Activity
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What did our analysis of approval and design
processes reveal?
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SRC Benchmarking Curriculum Design Approval
Whether approving new
or making minor modifications, we found robust
but cumbersome paper-intensive processes,
oriented towards whole programmes/awards
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Flexible employer-oriented curricula and QA
Q. Can employer needs and timeframes be handled
with standard QA processes? Q. What are the pros
and cons of a separate responsive QA route? Q.
How can we interpret existing QA protocols to
give greater responsiveness?
jisccdd
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What did our focus groups tells us about
responsive curricula?
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SRC benchmarking responsiveness
operating in dialogue mode
listening acting in time
developing agile, joined-up, single-truth systems
re-balancing ongoing enhancement and up-front
approval
empowering staff, students employers
assembling credit
working across ownership boundaries
building on success open professional progs,
prof body accreditations, employer courses
thinking skills development
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SRC benchmarking fit with institutional context

• MMU intends to
• Embed core and professional skills
• Accredit employability skills
• Prepare our graduates to manage their own
  personal development
• Develop responsive curricula

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Interpretations of responsiveness
Q. Responsive to whom students? employers?
professional bodies? others? Q. Who speaks for
SMEs, NGOs, charities? Q. Can employers predict
future skill needs better than universities? Q.
Could effort of up-front course approval be
better directed towards ongoing improvement? Q.
Who responds when sector needs dont fit
disciplinary boundaries? Q. Does this agenda
really work for all subjects? Q. Does the agenda
mean that universities will become factories
producing knowledge workers?
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What are we learning from our pilots?
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SRC pilot early lessons
one-size doesnt fit all!
students need help to showcase their talents in
ways employers understand
dealing with multiple professional bodies can be
tricky
some disciplines are natural reflective
practitioners
competences and skills are sometimes used
interchangeably other times mean very different
things
employers can engage in many and varied ways!
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Engaging with employers professional bodies
Q. What is the value in mapping skills to
curricula? Q. Is it sufficient to tag assessment
activities with skills likely to be
demonstrated? Q. Can learners benefit from
tagging evidence of ability in ways that
facilitate its re-use for job applications and
professional body membership applications? Q. Are
different types of professional e-Portfolios
required for different disciplines? Q. What are
the most effective ways of bringing employers and
learners together? Q. What are the benefits of an
authoritative and accessible source of curriculum
information when pursuing an employer engagement
agenda?