Aims:
The Foundation Degree programme aims to:
- provide an educational service to the communities
of Lancashire and Cumbria (and Northumbria);
- provide an educational programme to enable the
re-skilling and upgrading of the workforce to reflect the transition
from manufacturing to regeneration of the regional infrastructure;
- consolidate a good record of graduate employment
in the sector, and the extension of this to a potential new ‘junior’
graduate community;
- provide a new opportunity to develop the qualification
culture in the sector by involving mature students (with a range of
attractive learning modes);
- provide an opportunity to improve relations between
industry and the academic providers of construction education in the
region;
- develop a new, flexible, cost-effective approach
to learning – accelerated where appropriate – for a key
section of the workforce;
- provide a realistic means of responding to the
construction skills gap;
- provide an opportunity to rationalise, simplify,
consolidate and promote a national qualifications framework for the
sector, bringing together academic, vocational, occupational and professional
achievement;
- provide an opportunity to maximise diversity in
the construction workforce, again by creating a range of relevant learning
modes.
Resources:
The project team bid for a total of £120,000 funding from HEFCE,
unfortunately this was not successful. The actual resources utilised were
as follows:
- bid preparation – 2 academic representatives
– one from UCLan / one from the CIOB
- course drafting – a team of 5 from UCLan,
1 coordinator from the University of Northumbria, 6 College representatives,
1 coordinator from CIOB
- UCLan provided £3000 funding to support
travel and initial marketing costs with a further £3000 to be
allocated over 2001/2002.
- a full-time administrator was seconded to the
project and a full time principal lecturer was appointed to coordinate
the proposal with other UCLan submissions.
Details:
Background
The Foundation Degree programme was initiated by the CIOB forum held in
association with the CITB and CIC in August 2000. The initial proposal
was to seek to develop a joint pilot scheme that would attract HEFCE funding
in the initial round of foundation degree developments in October 2000.
It was decided to centre the scheme upon one institution that would submit
the bid as part of the HEFCE process. This focused upon the University
of Central Lancashire in collaboration with the University of Northumbria
and later with Coventry University.
A series of industrial partners entered the proposal: among them companies
such as WS Atkins, Beazer, Laing and Shephard offered support to the scheme
in addition to local SME’s in the North West and North East. This
working group offered guidance and opinion upon the programme structure
and content. The CIOB offered support in the drafting phase; in the later
stages this role would change to that of an external friend or critic
who would help shape the programme. The Construction Industry Training
Board (CITB) was also actively involved, both nationally and regionally
informing such matters as marketing, training, skills content and organisation.
Reference material
The following documentation was used in the development
of the programme:
- HEFCE Foundation Degree prospectus (and associated
documents);
- CITB / CIC / CIB Benchmark Criteria;
- CIOB Education Framework;
- Draft Building & Surveying Benchmark Statement;
- University Guide concerning Foundation Degree
approvals.
Partner Colleges
Partner colleges were central to the development and delivery of the award
as the taught elements of the programme would be delivered at the colleges
but subject to University validation procedures. The Colleges involved
in this development included a number of local colleges located at Preston,
Furness, Burnley and West Cumbria. Discussions were also held with Blackburn
College, Hugh Baird, Wigan & Leigh and Wirral Metropolitan Colleges.
Each College was involved in the design of the curriculum or had a roll
in the design of the access system.
Programme Objectives and Structure
Agreed objectives were to :
- provide a foundation level study of construction
;
- develop a broad base to facilitate progression
to a honours degree;
- provide access to those students who may not naturally
enter HE;
- provide flexibility in study pathways and assessment
methods;
- integrate life skills and practical experience
in the learning process
The programme is based on a 240 credit Foundation degree model and comprises
of 6 modules at level 1 and 6 at level 2. The award title of FdSc was
in line with the requirements of the National Foundation Degrees Task
Group. In order to encourage entry at differing stages a range of staged
programme awards was also agreed. These included:
- 6 modules at level 1 = Foundation Certificate
- 6 modules at level 1 and 2 modules at level 2
= HNC
- 6 modules at level 1 and 6 at level 2 = Foundation
degree
At the time of writing the HNC award has not been approved. However as
many employers value the HNC award this issue is being addressed by enabling
students holding the HNC to enter into the FdSc gaining the appropriate
exemption from the FdSc modules. The various awards and stages of entry
are shown diagrammatically below.
Progression from the Foundation DegreeThe issue of progression to Honours
Degree was subject to wide discussion. The HEFCE definition promotes the
concept of an additional 1.3 years to completion of an Honours award.
The consortium therefore endorsed these concepts. Student would therefore
progress to the Honours Degree level by completing a Summer School or
placement or a series of modules in Semester three that would be equivalent
to the necessary 40 credits. Upon completion, the conversion programme
would then permit entry onto the Final Year of the Degree Programme. This
concept is still at the design phase and University validation is anticipated.
Entry Qualifications
Student holding the following awards are considered for entry:
- At least one A level or equivalent
- Advanced GNVQ
- Pass A2 level
- Pass ND or NC
A subject specialism is not specified. To
maximise access mature candidates holding non-standard entry qualifications
are also considered. To accommodate this a diagnostic module was proposed
and agreed. This acts as a ‘taster’ for students and a means
of assessing the candidate’s ability to benefit from the programme.
This entry route was designed using a key skills basis. The consortium
used best practice where possible and based the whole module on recent
FDTL work in this area and a format used for GNVQ students known as the
‘Flying Start’.
The Curriculum The curriculum development process was built upon an outline
proposal issued following the CIOB consortium meeting. The design of the
curriculum was based upon the expectations contained within the CITB,
the Building and Surveying benchmark and the CIOB education framework.
The consortium was cognisant of the need to build in a work-based element
into the programme. It was decided to utilise the experience of Burnley
College in the assessment of site experience as part of their NVQ3/4 programme
and provide a module which was completely work-based at both levels 1
and 2. The work-based modules each consist of three units including communication,
planning, health and safety, environmental issues and resource management
and utilised the CIOB Professional Development Programme in the structuring
of the modules. The competence requirements have however been simplified
to meet the needs of level 1 and level 2 students. Industrial mentors
are provided with a guidance pack to aid their supervision of the students,
whilst they are working. The system allows for students to work during
timetabled slots, part-time or during vacation periods.
Additional specific-project based modules are used at level 2 to provide
further scope for work-based students, whilst still providing opportunities
for those students not in employment to complete the programme. Other
forms of delivery were considered to enable some elements of the programme
to be delivered over a short time period to facilitate part time study.
One module at level 1 and 2 was designed to be delivered at the University
to reinforce the partnership between the colleges and the University.
. The summary shown below gives an indication of the generic content of
the programm
| level 1 |
level 2 |
| Construction Technology 1 |
Construction Technology 2 |
| Construction Management 1 |
Construction Management 2 |
| ICT 1 |
ICT 2 |
| Legal Studies |
Contract Studies |
| Work place module 1 |
Work place module 2 |
| Performance of Construction Materials |
Optional Modules: Project or Project Management Skills
Workshop |
The programme is validated to run at the University, at Preston, Burnley
and Furness Colleges.
Evaluation:
The evaluation process has included the following forms of assessment:
- feedback from consortium meetings from all stakeholders;
- monthly progress reports to the University Foundation
Degrees Working Group;
- the Department is also a member of the National
Construction Foundation Degrees Task Group - this body is representative
for the academic stakeholders. The group meets three times each year
and seeks to promote good practice in the development of foundation
degrees;
- University validation procedures;
- the programme is currently subject to CIOB partial
accreditation;
- the foundation degree students play an important
part of the evaluation process: they meet with the course team on a
semester basis to review the programme delivery and they complete module
and course valuation questionnaires.
Benefits:
The benefits of the foundation degree are:
To the student
- it provides a new route for students who do not
attain the two ‘A’ level or equivalent pass level. These
students are the under-achievers at school or college who often develop
later in life and are more suited to a vocationally based form of learning;
- the foundation degree offers a real choice for
these students who wish to progress towards a management based career
in the construction industry;
- it has been designed to provide a more flexible
approach to learning in terms of timetable and content. The programme
features negotiated learning module and the use of portfolio styles
of assessment;
- it is structured to provide a series of ‘step
out’ or exit points for students, who may wish to spread out their
learning over a number of years;
- the work place module provides a range of work
based learning scenarios – the provision of optional competence
units in the module enables students in a variety of working roles to
complete the programme whilst still meeting a common set of learning
outcomes.
To the staff
- the opportunity to lead new national curriculum
developments.
To the Institution
- raised national profile through active engagement
in national curriculum developments;
- a unique marketing opportunity;
- the opportunity to widen access to its undergraduate
degree courses.
Issues and lessons to be learnt:
The validation of the programme was not without its problems. Issues that
have been debated include:
- consideration of workload with respect to a series
of one-week workshops;
- how best to ensure adequate preparation by students,
both before and following the workshop events;
- definitions of portfolio assessments and how the
learning outcomes were met. The portfolio assessments should be clearly
stated to students in terms of structure and content and the student
handbook includes a detailed definition for students.
- the role of industry based assessors. This could
only be enabled if the mentor / assessor was a competent assessor. It
was agreed that all assessment would be centred at the University or
College running the module and that the industrial partner would act
as the mentor;
- the role and national recognition of the HNC.
This award is valued and is recognised by employers. Ideally the HNC
could become part of the Foundation Degree with students registering
for both awards. This proposal is currently not cost effective.
Ongoing developments:
Further developments include:
- the Foundation Degree is currently subject to
development at Northumbria University;
- the North-West consortium is working to extend
provision to other partner colleges;
- work to provide a distance-learning route for
some modules is currently subject to review and it is intended that
some modules will be made available via the internet;
- at the time of writing the work-place modules
have yet to take place and will be closely monitored.
References, further reading and sources of further
related information:
- QAA web site:
www.qaa.ac.uk
- National qualifications framework:
www.qaa.ac.uk/crntwork/nqf/nqf.htm
- QAA guide for Foundation degree bid submissions: www.qaa.ac.uk/crntwork/nqf/foundation/bidding.pdf
- HEFCE Foundation Degree Prospectus:
www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2000/00_27.htm5.
- University webpage: www.uclan.ac.uk/facs/destech/builtenv/courses/construction/foundation/foundation.htm
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