| Dear colleague,
We are
seeking your help with a project funded by the Higher Education Academy (HEA)
exploring how employability is embedded in the curriculum for transnational
education (TNE) programmes (e.g. branch campuses, partner-supported
programmes, double and joint degrees, and distance learning programmes), and
the ways in which UK HE providers support employability for students studying
for their degrees overseas in other ways. Around 250,000 students are
actively studying for UK degrees via TNE, but little is known about how
approaches to employability used in UK-based programmes compare with practice
on TNE programmes.
We
would like you to send us brief examples of innovative and effective
approaches in the form of short vignettes (mini-case studies), and also your
perspectives on the challenges that institutions face in embedding
employability in TNE programmes. We provide more information about the kinds
of examples that we are looking for in the attached guidance document.
If you
consider that employability in TNE programmes is not an issue for your
institution we would also like you to let us know and provide us with some
information about why this is the case.
The
project is working to a tight deadline, so we would be very grateful to
receive your submission by Friday 17th October.
Transnational
Education (TNE) and Graduate Employability Project: Call for Evidence
Summary:
A research team comprising Robin Mellors-Bourne (CRAC), Steve
Woodfield (Kingston University) and Elspeth Jones have been commissioned by
the Higher Education Academy (HEA) to look into employability development
within TNE (transnational education) programmes, an issue that is currently
under-researched but which is often an important dimension of UK TNE for
students. As part of this project we are contacting UK HE institutions to
identify and collect some examples of innovative and effective practice
around how HE providers embed the development of employability within the
curriculum in all types of TNE programmes (including distance learning,
flying faculty and partnership arrangements). We are seeking examples from a
mix of subject areas, countries of delivery, levels of study, and
institutions. The other dimensions of the project are a literature review and
interviews with a sample of TNE alumni. The overall aims of the project are
to distil and illustrate areas of innovative and effective practice, identify
the key challenges faced by institutions, and then make recommendations that
can support the HEA's work around employability and internationalisation and
wider sector activity on TNE and employability.
Definitions:
We recognise that the terms 'employability' and ‘TNE’ do not
have widely accepted definitions, however our project uses definitions
adopted by the HEA that take a broad, but student-focused, approach.
· Employability: A set of achievements – skills,
understandings and personal attributes – that makes graduates more likely to
gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupations, which benefits
themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy (Knight and
Yorke, 2003)
· Transnational education (TNE): Award-
or credit-bearing learning undertaken by students who are based in a
different country from that of the awarding institution (Adapted from the
Council of Europe’s statement on TNE (2002)
Categories
of innovative and effective practice:
We are
open to receiving a range of different types of innovative and effective
practice on this topic, and recognise that HE providers approach
employability development in different ways. The list below provides some
examples of potential areas of such practice, but these are neither
exhaustive nor mutually exclusive:
· A
particular institutional policy or strategy that addresses the concept
of employability in TNE programmes (e.g. an international, education, or
employability strategy)
· The creation or development of institutional
roles or structures that focus on embedding employability for TNE
students (e.g. a specific TNE focus in careers, alumni, academic development)
· Examples of how the curriculum
for TNE programmes has been designed or adapted to develop employability and
ensure its relevance for overseas delivery (e.g. study skills, language
training, localised content, local placements)
· The use of the co-curriculum
to provide support for employability through offering modules or training
focused on employability skills (e.g. interviews, CV writing,
entrepreneurship, volunteering opportunities)
· Initiatives around the pedagogical
approach designed to help foster employability in TNE programmes (e.g.
developing critical thinking and problem-based learning linked to
employability)
· Ways in which collaboration
with educational partners overseas has helped to support employability
(e.g. via curriculum co-design, building links with employers, organising
work placements)
· Links with key stakeholders
in countries of delivery and in the UK (e.g. employers, professional bodies,
local and national government, regulatory agencies) to support the
employability and employment opportunities of TNE graduates (e.g. recognition
schemes, work placements)
· Addressing employability in
approaches to the quality assurance of TNE when considering the
academic quality and comparability of individual TNE programmes
· Quality enhancement activity to
facilitate staff or student engagement with the development or embedding of
employability within the curriculum.
We
would also like your perspectives on what you consider to be the main
challenges around employability in TNE programmes, and how these might be
addressed. Again these are many and varied, and depend on the type of TNE and
delivery context, but could include:
· Managing expectations of
partners and students
· Ensuring comparability of UK
and overseas study for quality assurance purposes
· Addressing issues of equity
between UK-based and TNE provision in learning, teaching and assessment
· Engagement in in quality
enhancement activities
· Embedding employability through
engaging students and staff on TNE programmes
· Achieving relevance with an
employability focus in local TNE delivery contexts
· Recognition of TNE
qualifications by governments and employers
· Students’ and employers’
perceptions of the value of TNE for graduate employability
Format
and process:
We are seeking vignettes - short case studies - of innovative
and effective practice, and brief perspectives on the challenges of
employability in TNE from your institution. These need only be a few
paragraphs of text in an email or Word document (up to 750 words).
We would be very grateful if you could structure each vignette in the
following way:
1. Name of
your institution
2. Basic information about the organisational unit, or TNE
programme (e.g. programme name, country of delivery, TNE type, partner
institution, subject, level of study), that is the focus of the innovative or
effective practice
3. Category (or categories) of innovative or effective practice in
relation to employability
4. Summary of your approach and why you consider it to be
particularly innovative or effective
5. Your plans to further develop and/or disseminate this area of
innovative or effective practice
6. Names and roles of key staff member(s), also the details for a
key contact in case we would like further information and clarification.
For each challenge please could you briefly summarise:
1. The
nature of the challenge
2. Why it is an issue for your institution and your key
stakeholders (e.g. students, employers, government)
3. Your ideas on how this challenge could best be addressed by your
institution, the wider HE sector and national governments.
We will summarise in our reporting trends emerging from the
challenges and the examples of innovative and effective practice, but would
like to include selected edited versions of the vignettes in our report,
following agreement with you. All data and contact details collected during
the project will be stored securely and will be destroyed two years following
the completion of the project.
Timescales
and outcomes:
We would be grateful if could you send your contributions to
Steve Woodfield (s.woodfield@kingston.ac.uk) by Friday
17th October 2014. However, if you have any particular
difficulties meeting this deadline then please contact us to discuss how best
to include your contribution.
If you
are aware of other examples of innovative and effective practice outside your
institution, please do let us know.
Once
the study is complete, we will include all contributors to our research
within dissemination activity for the project.
If you
have any queries about this request, or about the wider project, then please
contact either Steve or Robin Mellors-Bourne (Robin.Mellors-Bourne@crac.org.uk).
About the Higher Education Academy
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