Forth Valley College AEV 18 May 2015
Excellent practice
Connect Forth Radio – an integrated project to improve learner success
The college identified low learner success rates and negative feedback from learners
on one of its HE Media courses. Closer analysis indicated that the issue was with
the overall ethos and approach to delivery of the programme, which was perceived
to be overly theoretical, fragmented and end-loaded with exam based assessment.
Learners were frustrated that the course was not geared sufficiently towards helping
them to develop the practical skills required by the media industry.
To address this, in 2013-2014, the college developed an alternative approach to
delivering three existing units, Radio, Scripting for Broadcast and Writing for the
Media. Through an integrated project with practice-based assessment, working with
two lecturers, learners were tasked with planning a new radio station for Forth Valley
College. They created a pilot and developed a plan for sustaining the station as time
moved forward. The learners created a corporate structure for the station, applied
for posts within the structure and underwent a formal selection process to earn
positions.
The team created the systems to manage the station, which was named Connect
Forth. They learned the required technical skills, and created a pilot radio show,
which was pitched to the Head of Department and college Principal. The learners
worked with peers from other courses, including HND Sound Production to create
jingles and HND Visual Communication to develop logo and branding, and also
engaged with staff and learners from across the college and beyond to create
interviews and other programme content, which have been put together as podcasts
which are available online and broadcast within college social areas.
The approach has had a significant impact on learner retention and achievement.
From a 25% success rate for this course in 2012-2013, staff confidently predict a
success rate of over 90% for 2013-2014 the component units and the course as a
whole.
Learner satisfaction has been monitored through regular meetings between the
department management team and the learners and the feedback is overwhelmingly
positive. Learners report that the practical project has developed their confidence
and helped them to see how things operate in a real media setting. The learners
have set themselves significantly higher targets and tighter deadlines throughout the
project than staff would have advised as reasonable. They are very aware that the
approach is introducing them to industry demands and that they are developing
creativity in their approach to problem solving and finding solutions and are
becoming far more conversant in convergent multimedia skills.
Forth Valley College AEV 18 May 2015
Learners are benefitting from a much better balance in approaches to assessment,
enabling them to prioritise their overall workloads more effectively, and the practical
project is also providing them with an industry-relevant context for their learning in
other units not directly related to the project.
There has also been a clear impact on the enthusiasm of staff, who are being used
more fully in their area of specialism and working with learners in more engaging,
collaborative ways. The wider college community is also benefitting from the project,
as it has created a college-wide news service which is available via broadcast in
canteens and online by podcast.