Personal Development Planning: the new skills agenda

1
Personal Development Planningthe new skills
agenda?

• Jennifer Blumhof
• Centre for the Enhancement of Learning and
  Teaching/
• Department of Environmental Sciences
• University of Hertfordshire, U.K.
• The National Conference on Student Progression
  and Transfer
• 16th and 17th January 2003 University of Plymouth
• with acknowledgements to Andrew Honeybone and
  Marianne Hall

2
Structure of the presentation

• Skills- definitions, rationale and widening the
  debate
• some old and current problems
• Help from HILP and the QAA?
• Progress Files and Personal Development Planning
  
• Some key questions
• Our thinking so far
• The pedagogic underpinnings
• student perspective- cycles and spirals
• lecturers perspective PDP in the
  Viractual learning environment
• Principal features of the proposed system
• Return to key questions
• Recommendations from UH Working Group on Progress
  Files
• Discussion

3
What are Skills?

• Skill refers to actions (intellectual or
  physical) which develop with experience and
  practice, performed in a competent way to achieve
  a goal.
• Romiszowski, A.J.(1988)
• And Transferable Skills?
• Skills that can be transferred from one cognitive
  domain to another or from one social context to
  another.
• after Bridges,David (1994)

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A Rationale for Skills Development

• todays rapidly changing learning society
• skills development as an aid to learning
• employers increasing calls for HE to produce
  more skilled graduates
• the move to mass higher education
• a plethora of reports and initiatives - e.g.
  HEFCE/QAA Quality Assessment Reports and the
  Dearing Report
• many skills not new to HE-So what is at issue
  now?
• How HE might modify its former largely
  implicit approach to skills and incorporate
  explicit skills development into the curriculum ?

5
NCVQ/QCA Key Skills

• QCA (Qualifications and Curriculum Authority)
  after NCVQ
• 6 main key skills
• communication
• information technology
• application of number
• working with others
• improving own learning and performance
• problem solving
• Concern in HE about key skills
• important but might be to the detriment of
  existing subject focus
• Dearing Report and CVCP/DfEE address this
  concern

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Widening the Skills Debate - 1The Dearing Report

• Recommendation 21 programme specification
• give intended outcomes of the programme in terms
  of
• the knowledge and understanding that a student
  will be expected to have upon completion
• key skills communication, numeracy, the use of
  information technology and learning how to learn
• cognitive skills, such as an understanding of
  methodologies or ability in critical analysis
• subject specific skills, such as laboratory
  skills.
• N.B. encompasses more than key skills

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Widening the Skills Debate - 2The CVCP/DfEE
Report

• Report Skills Development in Higher Education
  focuses on
• employability skills including
• traditional intellectual skills
• the new core or key skills
• personal attributes deemed to have market value
• knowledge about how organisations work and how
  people in them do their jobs.
• N.B. also encompasses more than key skills

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Skills some old and current problems

• challenge to the notion of the traditional view
  of education
• problems of terminology
• problems of transference
• problems of development ( resources) and
  progression
• problems of assessment
• problems of curriculum design
• problems of engagement
• Is PDP a way forward- does it encompass a
  rationale and a process ?

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Input from the Hertfordshire Integrated
Learning Project (HILP)

• HILP 4 year funded project by Fund for the
  Development of Teaching and Learning exploring
  ways of developing skills and integrating these
  with academic content.
• Explicit skills development through
• The 3 As
• AWARENESS increasing awareness of
  importance of skills
• ARTICULATION providing the language to
  articulate skills
• ADVANCEMENT encouraging the advancement of
  skills
• Embedded through
• Integrating Skills with Academic Content
• using
• PROBLEM BASED LEARNING and ASSIGNMENTS

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Input from the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA)
Quality System

• Main elements
• Subject Benchmark Statements
• Programme Specifications
• Progress Files
• National Qualifications Framework
• Codes of Practice
• Academic Review
• Outcomes based approach academic content and
  skills

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PDP a definition and objective

• Definition a structured and supported process
  undertaken by an individual to reflect upon their
  own learning, performance and/or achievement and
  to plan for their personal, educational and
  career development.
• Objective 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
• NB 5 years lead in time start date 2005/6
• (Guidelines for HE Progress Files, 2001, page 1)

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Some key questions

• If PDP is an integral part of learning process
  how do we get the participation of all students?
• How do we integrate PDP with the rest of the
  curriculum?
• What is the nature of the learning process that
  arguably underpins this work -experiential,
  social constructivist ?
• What are the principal elements of a PDP system?
• Do we do some of this already/are there PDP
  congruent practices?
• How might PDP fit into Virtual and Actual (face
  to face) Learning Environments (in many cases
  Viractual) ?
• How do we ensure the ownership of the process by
  students and staff?

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The Pedagogic Underpinnings of the UH Approach to
PDP

• Learning as a result of constructive activity of
  the student (Biggs 1999)
• Kolbs Experiential Learning Cycle (Kolb 1984)
• Social constructivism (Cowan 2002)
• Explicit Embedded approach (Hodgkinson 1996)
• The 3 As - Awareness, Articulation, Advancement
  (Honeybone, Blumhof, Hall,Palmer 2001)
• And NB the Imaginative Curriculum Project (LTSN
  Generic Centre 2002- )

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Constructive Alignment(Biggs 1999)

• Constructive alignment a marriage between a
  constructivist understanding of the nature of
  learning and an aligned design for teaching
• Aligned teaching a balanced system in which
  all the components (curriculum, teaching methods,
  assessment procedures, local and institutional
  climate, rules and procedures) support each
  other, as they do in an ecosystem

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The Kolb Cycle
Concrete experience
Active experimentation
Reflective observation
Abstract conceptualisation
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Pettys Self-Directed Learning Cycle
Self-evaluation (where am
I now?)
Action (implement/monitor)
Goal-getting (where do I want to be?)
Action Plan (how to get there)
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Socio-constructivism

• Socio-constructivism- following Kolb
• John Cowan 2002
• Drawing upon what peers can offer
• in experience
• in facilitation
• as fellow discussants
• Less direct involvement of teachers
• John Cowan, The impact of pedagogy on skills
  development in HE .3rd Annual Skills
  Conference,Skills 2002 UH see
  http//www.herts.ac.uk/envstrat/HILP/

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Socio-constructivism Peers can enrich the process
Other similar experiences
Experience
Questions
Reflect
Suitable methods
Actively experiment
Generalise
Discuss
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The Students Perspective a Cycle/Spiral of
Personal Development Planning (derived from
Kolb,Petty and Cowan (red line of peer/tutor
enrichment)
Incoming HE student starts here
DO practicing developing (knowledge/skills/ attr
ibutes)
REVIEW reflecting/assessing/evaluating
PLANtest planning for action and testing in new
situations
monitoring recording support guidance
(learn) formulation of abstract concepts
generalisations
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Principal features of the proposed system

• Curriculum skills map (on-line) (prepared by
  staff)
• Student mappertracker (on-line)
• recording curricular and extra curricular skills
  development and knowledge
• automatic recording of modular assignments with
  built-in reflection (fragmented)
• signposts to evidence
• Skills/learning development support services
  (on-line and F2F)
• personal tutors, skills packs workshops,
  careers
• -------------------------------------------------
  ------------------------
• More continuous and holistic reflection (at
  Programme Level and question of when?)
• Assembly of evidence
• Award?

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The lecturers perspective what happens where
with PDP in a Viractual Learning Environment

• Crucial questions
• what happens F2F in the actual learning
  environment?
• what happens in the virtual learning environment?
• Found ideas on teaching functions from MacFarlane
  Report useful in answering these questions
• orientating
• motivating
• presenting
• clarifying
• elaborating
• consolidating
• confirming

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The lecturers perspective what happens where
with PDP in a Viractual Learning Environment
(cont.)

• VIRTUAL

• ACTUAL

orientate
Briefing pack/skills map
Induction programme
motivate
Briefing pack News Group
discussion
Personal tutoring, award?
present/clarify
Skills Resources
Workshops Careers service
?
elaborate/ consolidate
News Discussion mappertrack/evidence
Personal tutoring
confirm
Feedback workshop
Assignment feedback, reflection, plan
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Return to key questionsfor discussion

• Is PDP a way forward for skills development- does
  it encompass a robust rationale and a transparent
  process ?
• If PDP is an integral part of learning process
  how do we get the participation of all students?
• How do we integrate PDP with the rest of the
  curriculum?
• What is the nature of the learning process that
  arguably underpins this work -experiential,
  social constructivist ?
• What are the principal elements of a PDP system?
• Do we do some of this already/are there PDP
  congruent practices?
• How might PDP fit into Virtual and Actual (face
  to face) Learning Environments (in many cases
  Viractual) ?
• How do we ensure the ownership of the process by
  students and staff?

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Recommendations from UH Working Group on Progress
Files

• University wide PDP system in place by 2005/6
• Flexible university framework (detailed approach
  developed by departments/faculties)
• Ensure all students participate by integrating
  PDP in mainstream part of curriculum design and
  delivery (nb PDP linked to the assessment within
  each module i.e. learning outcome tied to PDP
  work)
• Build on Studynet automatically transferring PDP
  records (eg assessment, feedback, reflection)
• Survey existing PDP congruent practice at UH (to
  build into system)
• Pilot prototype in 2003/4 and refined for 2005/6
  launch
• Students and staff to be engaged in the
  development
• Consideration of an optional and separate PDP
  award (which might include collection of evidence
  in a portfolio)

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References/Websites

• Biggs, John (1999) Teaching for Quality Learning
  at University. Buckingham SRHE and Open
  University Press.
• Blumhof, Jennifer, Honeybone, Andrew and Hall,
  Marianne (2001) Using Problem-Based Learning to
  Develop Graduate Skills in Planet, November
  2001, Special Edition Two. http//www.gees.ac.uk
• Bridges,David (1994) Transferable Skillsa
  Philosophical Perspective, in Transferable Skills
  in Higher Education. Norwich, University of East
  Anglia
• Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education (1997)
  Higher Education in the Learning Society (the
  Dearing Report). London HMSO and
  http//www.ncl.ac.uk/ncihe National /index.htm.
• Committee of Scottish University Principals
  (1992) Teaching and Learning in an Expanding
  Higher Education System (the MacFarlane Report).
  Edinburgh Committee of Scottish University
  Principals
• Committee of Vice Chancellors and Principles of
  the United Kingdom and Department for Education
  and Employment (CVCP and DfEE)(1998) Skills
  Development in Higher Education (London,CVCP)
• Hodgkinson, Linda (1996) Changing the Higher
  Education Curriculum. Towards a Systematic
  Approach to Skills Development. Milton Keynes
  Open University Vocational Qualifications Centre.

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References/Websites (cont.)

• Holland, Joseph and Odin, Jaishree K. (1998)
  Distance Learning using ALNs Broader
  Implementation and Specific Pedagogical Issues,
  Active Learning, 9.
• Honeybone, Andrew, Blumhof, Jennifer, Hall,
  Marianne and Palmer, John (2000). Integrating
  Skills Development with Academic Content in
  Higher Education. A Guide to the Work of the
  Hertfordshire Integrated Learning Project.
  Hatfield University of Hertfordshire.
  http//www.herts.ac.uk/envstrat/HILP/
• Honeybone, Andrew and Blumhof,Jennifer (2002)
  Developing an integrated electronic system of
  Personal Development Planning. Paper presented
  at 10th International Improving Student Learning
  Symposium, Brussels
• Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher
  Education http//ilt.ac.uk/
• King, Anny and Honeybone, Andrew (1996) Needs
  before means the dialectics of learning and
  technology, Association for Learning Technology
  Journal, 4.2.
• Kolb,D.A. (1984) Experiential learningExperience
  as the source of learning and development. New
  Jersey,Prentice Hall

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References/Websites (cont.)

• Macdonald, Ranald (2001) Problem-Based
  Learning Implications for Educational
  Developers, Educational Developments, 2.2, May
  2001
• Petty,G. (1998) Teaching Today .Cheltenham,Stanley
  Thornes
• Report from the Working Group on Progress Files
  29.05.02 University of Hertfordshire
• Romiszowski, A.J.(1988) Designing Instructional
  Systems.London,Kogan Page)