Application Form
Teaching Fellowship Award Scheme 2010 - 2011
Signed forms to be returned to:
Françoise Metay
Teaching and Learning Directorate
Room 107, 3 Endsleigh Place
Plymouth Campus
Deadline: Monday 22nd March 2010, 12pm (Please note that no applications can be accepted after
this time.)
Title of proposed project:
Evaluating the use of enterprise to create
synergies between graduate skills
development, career management and
successful induction.
Name(s) of Applicants for Teaching Fellowship:
Dr Ross Pomeroy (UPC), Claire Gray (UPC), Dr Rebecca Turner (UPC/HELP CETL), Julie Goering
(Head of Faculty – HE City College Plymouth) & Marc Lintern (Head of Employability)
Project leader contact details:
Dr Ross Pomeroy, Subject Forum Chair for Science
Faculty/School: University of Plymouth Colleges
Ext: 87501
Fax:
Email: ross.pomeroy@plymouth.ac.uk
Signed:
Other staff supporting project (but not applying for teaching fellowship):
Sue Atkinson (Public Services FdA Programme Co-ordinator, City College Plymouth). Sue has strong
employer links and works closely with the University to support the development of PDP and PebblePad
across the UPC network.
Kassie Bath (UPC Student Representative) is the UPC Student Executive Officer who liaises with the SU
representatives across the partner college network and provides a central link to SU in Plymouth.
Julie Swain (UPC) is the UPC Blended Learning Co-ordinator and works across the partner college
network to support Technology Enhanced Learning, with a particular focus on PDP and the deployment of
PebblePad.
CONTEXT - Entry to HE has been acknowledged as a stressful time for undergraduates as they adjust to
a new educational environment, social groupings and academic expectations (Edward, 2003). A positive
experience during the induction period is perceived as influencing undergraduates’ retention and academic
achievement during their period of study (Hargreaves, 1998). Within the University of Plymouth Colleges’
(UPC) further education colleges (FECs) developing this sense of belonging may be difficult given the
disparate nature of HE and the diverse profile of the study body. This can range from 18 year olds
progressing directly from A-levels to mature students returning to education, with part-time and full-time
students studying alongside one another, and a high proportion of students who suit various widening
participation (WP) descriptors (UPC, undated; HEFCE, 2006).
The University of Plymouth’s (UoP) enterprise agenda, Teaching and Learning (T&L) Strategy (UoP, 2009)
and Skills Plus policy (UoP, 2007) combine to link enterprise, commercial awareness, transferable skills,
and employability with discipline specific knowledge. As undergraduates progress through their studies
they develop these skills/attributes, however as research undertaken by the University of Central England
(UCE) has demonstrated, employers have differing expectations of the skills/attributes they expect
gradates to posses (UCE, undated). Using Anderson and Krathwohl’s (2001) cognitive taxonomy, UCE
has categorised these graduate attributes in terms of the contribution they can make to an organisation.
These attributes relate to graduates been adaptive (i.e. fitting into the workplace), adaptable (i.e. willing to
learn/contribute to the workplace) or transformative (i.e. analyse, critique and lead within the workplace).
FECs in the UPC network are highly successful through their employer links and work based learning
(WBL) provision in producing graduates that fit UCEs criteria of been adaptive or adaptable. However,
crossing the divide of WBL and academic study within a Foundation Degree (FD) to develop
undergraduates with transformative abilities is more challenging. Indeed this has been evidenced in
recent research undertaken into the graduate destinations of UPC FD students, which has identified that
many students do not appreciate the value of the course they are studying in relation to their future career
development (Hicks et al., 2010). Consequently Hicks et al. (2010) highlighted the need for FECs to
provide greater support for students in making the links between study and graduate level employment,
including promoting greater interaction with employers.
XING, and the local and national competitions FLUX (www.flux500.com), have been designed by The
Working Knowledge Group (TWKG, undated) to bridge the gap between education and the workplace.
Through practical activities and team work XING promotes deep learning and the development of the
transformative skills UCE identified as been required by employers. It also provides a very practical way
for students to meet employers early in their programme, helping set up the expectation that their course
can help them achieve graduate level employment. It is envisaged that by participating in a XING event
during induction week, students will be introduced to the synergies between academic study and the
workplace, while also increasing employer links for staff in City College Plymouth (CCP).
Aims & Objectives - This proposal is to undertake an evaluative study into the use of the entrepreneurial
visual planning tool ‘XING’ during the induction week at CCP to:
i) Explore the potential of employing XING to ease students transition into HE;
ii) Raise students awareness of the synergies between academic study, graduate skills and the workplace;
iii) Raise awareness amongst UPC staff of the use of activities such as XING during induction to build peer
networks and introduce graduate skills.
Implementation – Within the Business School FLUX has successfully been used during the first year
student induction for Hospitality, Tourism and Events Management programmes. It was viewed as
enhancing the relationships between the new students, course tutors and the employers involved in the
event. In a similar vein CCP has used “Ride the Wave,” the FE version of FLUX, and now wish to build on
this for their HE students’ induction. Within the first year FD induction period a XING event will take within
the HE Faculty at CCP. This will bring together ca.100 first year FD students from across all the
disciplines within the HE Faculty. The project team will be using this event as the basis for the evaluation.
Evaluation – All students who participate in the XING event will be asked to complete a paper based
questionnaire to explore their experiences of the day, learning they feel they have undertaken and
connections they have made with both employers participating in the event and their peers. Staff with
responsibility for teaching the Professional Practice Module, where the development of graduate skills is
focused upon, will be questioned to explore the contribution the XING event has made to their students
learning. A sample of students (ca.20) from the HE Faculty at CCP will be identified to participate in focus
groups to follow up on the responses given to the first questionnaires. The students will be selected by the
Professional Practice Module Leaders and represent a cross section of the HE provision at CCP. Data will
be analysed using the constant comparative approach with text being examined to identify comparisons
and cross cutting themes (Glaser and Strauss 1967).
Timescale
July 2010: In-conjunction with CCP run staff training for the use of XING and identify local employers to
participate in the XING event. Apply for ethical approval for the project;
August: Develop student questionnaires;
September: Run the XING event during induction week and collect the initial student evaluations;
September-October: Analyse the student evaluations and develop the questions for the student/staff focus
groups;
Late October: Undertake the student and staff focus groups;
November-February 2011: Data analysis;
February-June: Write final report, conference paper and journal article.
Outcomes - This evaluation will investigate the value of a XING event in:
i) Creating a sense of belonging amongst new HE students studying in an FEC;
ii) Developing an awareness of the synergies between students learning in the college environment and
their employment aspirations. These will be captured through the reflections that will take place in the
Professional Practice Module and potentially use PebblePad.
The evaluation will inform future plans for the application of XING across the UPC network. It could inform
the use of XING at others stages of undergraduate study across the UPC network, therefore promoting
wider engagement with the existing cross UPC FLUX event. The potential outcomes may then be linked
though the T&L Strategy (UoP, 2009) key themes, where: increased personal development opportunities
are offered to students, especially WP students (T&L KT 2 and KT 8); graduate employers are provided
with graduate employees more ready for continued professional development (T&L KT 3); FECs and UoP
are provided with more aspiring, higher academically achieving students (T&L KT 10). It is also evident
that promotion of T&L KT 1, placing “enterprise ethos at the heart of T&L” (UoP, 2009), is central to this
proposal through the use of XING and also T&L KT 4, where we are also aiming to develop researchinformed teaching. Promotion of T&L KT 9 may also be included as student experiences with the XING
event will be built upon through reflections and discussions as part of the new Professional Practice
module all FD students will be completing from September 2010.
Dissemination - Initially dissemination will be centred on the UPC network through presentation of the
results of the evaluation at the UPC Summer Conference in July 2010 and through staff development
activities for those colleges taking up XING in induction week in the following academic year. The findings
will also be disseminated at the University’s Annual VC’s Teaching and Learning Conference. External
dissemination would take place through a project summary in the Higher Education Academy’s HE in FE
briefing, conference attendance and presentation (possibly at the Society for Research into Higher
Educations Annual conference in 2011) and the submission of a paper to Active Learning in Higher
Education presenting the results of the evaluative study.
References
Anderson, L.W. & Krathwohl, D.R. (2001). A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational
Objectives. New York, Longman.
Edward, N.S. (2003). First impressions last: an innovative approach to induction. Active Learning in Higher Education, 4, 226-242.
Glaser, B.G. and Strauss, A.L. 1967. The discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research. Chicago: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
Hargreaves, D.J. (1998). Addressing the transition to tertiary education in engineering. European Journal of Engineering Education, 23, 79-89.
HEFCE. (2006) Higher education in further education colleges, consultation on HEFCE policy. http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2006/06_48/ ,
accessed 22/2/2010
Hicks, H., Dismore, H., Lintern, M. & Rith, S. (2010). What do Foundation Degree graduates do? HELP CETL, University of Plymouth.
TWKG. (undated). XING http://www.twkg.net/xing-site/index.php , accessed 9/3/2010
TWKG. (undated). Who uses XING? Surf Science & Technology Lecturer, University of Plymouth, http://www.twkg.net/xingsite/bestpractice_text.php?practice_page=Surf_Science , accessed 9/3/2010
UCE (undated). Graduates' work: http://www0.bcu.ac.uk/crq/publications/gws/gwsemp.html , accessed 21/2/2010
UoP. (2009). University of Plymouth Teaching and Learning Strategy 2009-2012. http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/pages/view.asp?page=8198
accessed 9/3/2010
UPC (undated). University of Plymouth Colleges Welcome: www.plymouth.ac.uk/faculties/upc , accessed 21/2/2010
UoP. (2007). University of Plymouth Skills Plus, June 2007: www.plymouth.ac.uk/pages/view.asp?page=8076 , accessed 21/2/2010
Please describe briefly how you intend to use some of the fund for your own personal
development.
This project will allow the project team to learn more about the induction of HE in FE students through the
implementation of a XING event. The team will also be able to attend a conference to update their
knowledge of similar projects and also disseminate their findings. This project will enhance links between
UPC and the University’s Careers Service.
Outline costings
Brief description
Amount required
Staffing
(Please explain
whether for time
release, research
assistant or admin.
support. Include
number of hours
and rate of pay)
Materials
Research Fellow (grade 6) 33 days between August 2010 and
February 2011:
To assist with literature searching;
To assist with questionnaire design;
To administering the evaluation;
To collate/analysing evaluation data
£3,151
XING Boxes
£500
XING Event Costs (catering etc.)
£300
Training and professional
development costs
Conference attendance for dissemination
£800
Other costs
Total Funding requested £4952
Applicants for Teaching Fellowships, please confirm that you have attached
x
a short curriculum vitae highlighting your learning and teaching track record (max. 2 sides A4)
If there is more than one applicant for a Teaching Fellowship each member of the group
should provide this information.
x
a letter of commitment and support from your line manager.
If successful, we intend to publish this form internally. We may also want to use the information
provided for publicity purposes. Pleas tick this box if you do not want this information to be included
in such activities.
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