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ACADEMIC INFRASTRUCTURE

ACADEMIC INFRASTRUCTURE. WHAT IT MEANS. ORIGINS. Dearing report 1997 Proposals: framework for qualifications and awards at all levels of higher education: threshold standards across all subject areas; guidance for writing programme specifications for each programme;

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ACADEMIC INFRASTRUCTURE

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  1. ACADEMIC INFRASTRUCTURE WHAT IT MEANS

  2. ORIGINS • Dearing report 1997 • Proposals: • framework for qualifications and awards at all levels of higher education: • threshold standards across all subject areas; • guidance for writing programme specifications for each programme; • codes of practice to secure the quality of the student experience; • public information

  3. PURPOSE • To provide a series of reference points and good practice guidance to universities • A means by which members of the public, potential students and employers can obtain information about institutions and be assured of the standard and quality of provision.

  4. CONSISTS OF • Framework for Higher Education Qualifications (FHEQ) • Subject benchmark statements • Programme Specifications • Code of Practice • Progress files

  5. FHEQ • The Framework for Higher Education Qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (FHEQ), which defines what qualifications sharing a common title (e.g. MA, MBA, BSc, FD etc.) should entail in terms of outcomes, ensuring that the titles are being used consistently. • www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/

  6. FHEQ LEVELS

  7. PURPOSES OF FHEQ • to enable students and stakeholders to understand the attributes represented by qualification titles; • to maintain international comparability of standards, and to facilitate student and graduate mobility; • to assist learners to identify potential progression routes, particularly in the context of lifelong learning; • to assist higher education institutions, their external examiners, by providing important points of reference for setting and assessing standards

  8. QUALIFICATION DESCRIPTORS • a statement of outcomes, achievement of which (through assessment/curriculum) a student should be able to demonstrate for the award of the qualification. Aids those designing, approving and reviewing academic programmes. • also a statement of the wider abilities that the typical student could be expected to have developed. It will be of assistance to employers, and others with an interest in the general capabilities of holders of the qualification.

  9. SUBJECT BENCHMARKS • Subject Benchmark Statements, set out expectations (of the relevant academic community) about nationally agreed standards of degrees in a range of subject areas. • describe what gives a discipline its coherence and identity • define what can be expected of a graduate in terms of skills and techniques needed to develop an understanding of the subject at different levels. • to be taken into account when programmes are designed and referred to in programme specs.

  10. PROGRAMME SPECIFICATIONS • Programme Specifications, through which institutions set out concisely and clearly the intended outcomes of their programmes and the means by which they will be achieved and demonstrated. • external reference points i.e. FHEQ, Code of Practice, Subject Benchmarks

  11. PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION 2 • provide key information on each programme including the knowledge, understanding, skills and other attributes that graduates will have acquired. • provide public information to current and potential students, employers, professional and statutory bodies, institutions, academic reviewers and external examiners

  12. CODE OF PRACTICE SECTIONS • postgraduate research programmes • collaborative provision and flexible and distributed learning (including e-learning) • students with disabilities • external examining • academic appeals and student complaints • assessment of students • programme approval, monitoring and review • career education, information and guidance • placement learning • recruitment and admission of students.

  13. CODE OF PRACTICE • The Code of Practice for the assurance of academic quality and standards in higher education, provides comprehensive guidance on maintaining quality and standards for different aspects of provision, from assessment and external examining to programme approval and collaborative provision. • It is an authoritative reference point for institutions as they assure the quality and standards of their awards.

  14. CODE OF PRACTICE (3) • Each section of the Code of practice indicates the key issues that an institution should consider in the respective areas of activity. The system-wide principles (precepts) cover the matters that an institution could reasonably be expected to address through its own quality assurance arrangements. The accompanying guidance/explanation (not compliance) suggests possible ways by which those expectations might be met and demonstrated.

  15. CODE OF PRACTICE (4) • A clear definition of responsibilities • Consistent application of policies and practices that are underpinned by principles of fairness and equality of opportunity • The availability of clear and accessible information • Monitoring and review of policy, procedures and practices

  16. PROGRESS FILES • Progress files consist of three elements a transcript which is the formal record of each student’s learning and achievement personal development planning to improve the student's capacity to understand what they are learning and to review, plan and take responsibility for their learning, the student’s own personal development records which use progress reviews and help to clarify goals.

  17. PDP • to improve the capacity of individuals to understand what and how they are learning, and to review, plan and take responsibility for their own learning. Help students to • become more effective, independent and confident self-directed learners • understand how they are learning and relate their learning to a wider context • improve their general skills for study and career management and lifelong learning • articulate personal goals and evaluate progress towards their achievement

  18. IQER (1) • Stands for Integrated Quality and Enhancement review • College Self Evaluation will refer to management of quality and standards and cross reference to Academic Infrastructure • The reviewers will focus on the understanding of the Academic Infrastructure

  19. IQER (2) • Institutions will not be asked about their adherence to the Code of practice on a precept by precept basis. They will be expected to explain how they have addressed the intentions of the precepts, including any resulting changes to their practices. • Not good enough to say we follow the University. Indeed there are areas of good practice in the Colleges which are not driven by the University

  20. UNIVERSITY PROCESSES • It is a condition of programme approval for all awards that submission documentation contain a programme specification, whose learning outcomes are required to conform to the FHEQ and to subject benchmarking statements, where published. • Through its committees and the work of the LQU, the University has mapped its procedures against the precepts of the Code, checking the extent of adherence and identifying any actions needed to strengthen it.

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