Curriculum Enhancement Project November 2011 update

1. Curriculum Enhancement ProjectNovember 2011 update

2. What are the drivers for the project? • HE landscape is changing: fees increase, competition for graduate jobs • Shift in student motivation for coming to University: value for money, greater focus on employability • Improved articulation of our strengths in an increasingly competitive market • Provision of greater clarity around the information and guidance which informs student choice • Development of more rounded graduates to compete more effectively in the workplace http://curriculum.leeds.ac.uk

3. RLT and core programme threads:Work to date • Agreed key aspects of Research led Teaching (RLT): • Programmes should actively develop students’ independent research skills • All students provided with opportunities to practise those skills • All students undertake a supervised but autonomous piece of research • Programmes evidence a journey from R-led teaching to R-based learning • Students can articulate the benefits of their RL experience + skills gained • Agreed: all programmes should provide a final year research project for students starting their programmes in the 2012/13 Session • Agreed & defined the Core Programme Threads (CPT)Employability, Global and Cultural Insight & Ethics and Responsibility • Developed guidance to support schools in evidencing RLT and CPT http://curriculum.leeds.ac.uk

4. RLT and core programme threads:Next steps • Dec 2011: Pro Deans for Student Education to lead discussion at FSECs on approaches to evidencing RLT and CPT • Jan/Feb 2012: Approaches to RLT and CPT a key focus at AHCs • Jan-July 2012: Pro Deans/DSEs to co-ordinate description of RLT and CPT for incorporation within KIS+ • By July 2012: Programme Reviews – Programme leaders/teams to consider evidence gathering process and position on gaps • Sept 2012: Programme teams to be able to talk to students about the value of RLT and CPT and their evidence within programmes • Jan/Feb 2013: Audit evidence of RLT and CPT in AHCs http://curriculum.leeds.ac.uk

5. Curriculum enhancement project:Broadening • Agreed the following in relation to broadening expectations: • All students to be exposed to broadening within the discipline • Majority of programmes should be able to accommodate opportunities for students to take modules beyond their discipline. • Proposal for the concept broadening strands agreed. Strands defined as: ‘A co-ordinated and structured series of related elective modules allowing sustained exploration of a specific subject, issue or skill which lies beyond the primary disciplinary content of a student’s programme’ • Practical implications for strands is being investigated • Draft strand titles and definitions being developed – for consultation in the new year http://curriculum.leeds.ac.uk

6. Curriculum enhancement project:Academic Year • Principles and drivers established to help govern discussions on the shape of the academic year • Proposal put forward for consultation involving two 11-week blocks of learning and teaching time followed by two weeks consolidation period and four week, University-organised assessment period • More than 70 pieces written feedback received and over 120 attendees at staff and student meetings • General support for: • Principles and drivers, but concerns around practicalities • Fixing the Easter break • Synoptic assessment, but concerns around need for local decisions on choice of assessment methods • Concern expressed about the removal of a University-organised assessment period after the Christmas break http://curriculum.leeds.ac.uk