Why choose this course?

• The way in which the course links theory, practice and reflection with emphasis on theorising to and from practice rather than dealing with theory as if it were separate from the day to day experience of the participants in working with students and in reflecting on their own learning


• Workshops are all held in the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learnings creative space with access to a range of technologies that aim to facilitate and capture learning


• Participants develop an e-portfolio via PebblePad, the main assessment in the first 30 credit unit

This is a Higher Education Academy accredited course and thus provides professional recognition.

PCACP

Assessment

Each unit has its own distinct assessment; however, the underlying principle for all the assessments on the PgCAP is that they demand that participants demonstrate a reflective and critical engagement with pedagogical theory and practice. The assessments have been designed primarily to assist you in meeting the learning outcomes of each unit, but at the same time the assessment tasks set are aimed at challenging you and leading to greater learning and development.

The course team advocates the principles of assessing for learning and you developing, for example, self-regulatory behaviour and learning from feedback. For example, you are given opportunities to gauge progress on your assessment tasks through compulsory progress checks early on in the development of any task and most of the assessment tasks set require reflection on the task and what has been learnt during the development of the work. You routinely have to assess the development and the value of your work through self-assessment.

A range of assessment methods are used. The main and third assessment task in the EAP unit requires participants to develop and produce a reflective e-portfolio to demonstrate meeting the core learning outcomes of the unit. Through writing an appropriately critical and analytical account, you have to build your case supported by reflective activity and evidence to support your claim, drawn from your practice as a facilitator of learning. An earlier assessment provides development in reflective writing and in engaging with the online e-portfolio platform being used - PebblePad, and the second assessment enables you to undertake activities that feed directly into developing aspects of your portfolio.

Greatest weighting is given to the third assessment task in the ELD unit which requires participants to produce a report articulating their action research project findings and to be reflecting upon the process when critically reviewing one aspect of their work-based practice. The first assessment point comprises of two assessment tasks that focus upon participants ability to link theory to practice. In the first task which is formative in nature, you have to explore the life, works and influence of a major educational thinker [or group/school] and their influence on and relevance to your teaching and contribute these explorations to the CRe8 Wiki. The second part of the first assessment entails participants critically reviewing a course assessment strategy with particular regard to its design and the ways in which the assessment impacts upon student learning, considering alternative design and practice where warranted.

Following the final block of the course, participants have to submit a reflective writing task via PebblePad. The task takes the form of a critical review of learning whilst on the course and in doing so, demonstrating how you have met course learning outcomes and any external accrediting body requirements. You have to articulate how you are going to continuously develop your academic practice and as part of this process, produce a CPD plan.

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, you should be able to demonstrate:

1. Originality and self-direction in the design, selection, planning and delivering of learning activities that challenge and actively engage students, and are appropriate to practice in complex and unpredictable environments.

2. A capacity to deliver and critically evaluate courses and units of study to expected standards consistent with university quality assurance expectations and external national and discipline-based frameworks.

3. A systematic knowledge of your own subject and its pedagogic requirements and a critical awareness of why different subjects/ teachers employ different approaches to teaching, learning, and assessment.

4. An ability to identify and respond reflexively to the differing learning and support needs of a diverse student body in a university committed to widening access, employability and vocational education.

5. Appropriate application of emerging technology and a critical awareness of its pedagogic implications for the support and enhancement of student learning.

6. A systematic understanding of how the curricula (courses and units) are designed and enhanced to promote student engagement, active learning and inclusivity.

7. An ability to critically evaluate, design and use assessment strategies, methods and tasks that perform both developmental and summative functions.

8. A capacity to critically engage with the HE research literature and to recognise its complexity, contradictions and gaps, and an ability to critically reflect on its application to your academic practice.

9. A sustained commitment as a professional HE academic to personal responsibility, professional codes of conduct, and ethical practice.

10. An evidence-informed, theoretical, self-reflective approach to the continuous development of your academic practice.

11. An ability to effectively impact upon peers, work collaboratively, share practice and actively participate in learning communities.

External Benchmarking

No direct QAA subject benchmark statement exists for a Masters level course. The undergraduate Education Studies statement whilst aimed at undergraduate honours degree courses.

(http://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/benchmark/honours/Education07.pdf)

provides academic foundations for professional groups such as those teaching at HE level.

The statement offers a point of reference, its four inter-related strands [knowledge and understanding; application; reflection; and transferable skills] also pointing to the significance of integration of theory and practice.

On graduating, students are expected to demonstrate: the ability to reflect on their own and others value systems; the ability to use their knowledge and understanding critically to locate and justify a personal position in relation to the subject; and an understanding of the significance and limitations of theory and research (p.7).

Educational Aims

The PgCAP course aims to support your development as a competent, capable and creative HE academic practitioner who employs an evidence-informed approach in your teaching practice and localised classroom context. Thus, the learning and assessment on the course is centred upon your activities as facilitator of student learning in HE and your ability to demonstrate a reflective and critical engagement with pedagogical theory and practice. Ultimately the course is designed to help and support participating staff to develop a reflective and critical approach to classroom practice, assessment, student learning, research and scholarship, and academic management, all in the context of the University of Bedfordshire and the wider HE environment.

The course starts from your current understanding and experience of teaching and/or supporting learning from where you are in your own development and your aspirations. Personalised learner development is a key feature of the course, aiming to develop the identity of the learner, their self-awareness and their preparedness for future opportunities and ultimately taking responsibility for their own development. By the end of the course you will be improving your own effectiveness and impacting upon your colleagues, in for example, the questioning, challenging and changing of practice.

Student support

Induction information and activities are integrated within the first two workshops of the first unit and all participants receive course and unit handbooks, and any University documents such as the HELP guide. Support comes largely from the course leader and unit co-ordinators with regard to specific content and assessment. You are made aware of the comprehensive range of student support services provided within the University. A key source of potential support and highlighted at the start of the course is the Universitys Student Services which should be contacted if you are prevented from attending workshops, studying, or submitting the assessments by the deadlines.

Support for your own information literacy and retrieval needs comes via the offering of 1:1/group support; a member of staff from the team of academic liaison librarians contributes to the teaching in a first unit workshop and ensures that the resources and services on offer in the library meet the curriculum and research needs of the participants on the course. You have access to the CRe8 Wiki that provides resources and materials which support the implementation of CRe8 and also contains information about allied activities.

You are strongly encouraged to check the units BREO site on a regular basis as this is the main form of communication between the course team and participants.

It is University policy that new members of staff should be provided with a mentor by their Head of Department. This mentor is another source of support and guidance over and above that provided by the course team, fulfilling an informal and developmental role designed to give more localised support in the context of your subject.

You are also expected to give support to your peers and be supported by your peers by being actively engaged in learning sets on the course.

Team working

Workshops and online activities enable interactive discussion and your ideas, assumptions and practice to be tested, challenged and critiqued through emerging practice grounded in reflection, learning from others and collaboration in specific tasks. The course provides an opportunity to specifically learn from others and engage in shared learning through participation in action learning sets. The UK PSF promotes a commitment on behalf of course participants to be developing learning communities.

Career Management Skills

Given this course is intended as a work-based learning activity with much activity unsurprisingly centering upon participants work roles, career management skills will feature throughout. A key part of the course is the development of reflective practice and continuing professional development which means you critically reflecting upon and questioning your own practice whether this relates to your own teaching or how you support student learning; and questioning the practice of colleagues. The final online block of the course considers continued development and career management and options. A CPD plan has to be produced. Some past participants have found the course helpful in them developing a clearer career pathway, and/or developing more realistic career aspirations.

Career/Further study opportunities

Career:

One outcome of completing the 60 credits is Fellow recognition by the HEA, a requirement for promotion to senior/principal lectureships at the University of Bedfordshire and at some other institutions. Part of the course entails consideration of the academics role and career management and opportunities.

Further study:

Participants having completed the PgCAP can progress internally through two routes: the Universitys PgDip/MA in Education, Faculty of Education and Sport, and the PgDip/MA Medical Education [Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Postgraduate Medical School [BHPMS], Faculty of Health and Social Sciences.

Entry

This course is for members of academic staff new to the University who have a role in the teaching of students. Their employment status suggests that they already possess a good honours degree or degree equivalent or substantial experience in an appropriate educational or related field. They may have considerable work experience and are new to teaching at any level. Participants are expected to complete at least 30 credits of the course unless they are already recognised as Associates or Fellows of the HEA or they can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Director of Teaching and Learning that they have an equivalent qualification [such as a PGCE] and/or appropriate experience.

UK students Undergraduate entry requirements

Standard entry requirements for Foundation degrees (FD/FdSc)

A foundation degree will be of particular interest if you have completed a Modern Apprenticeship, vocational A levels, BTEC National or equivalent.

Foundation degrees are also particularly suitable if you want to qualify while working.

• As a guideline, a typical offer would require you to obtain a UCAS tariff score of between 80-120 points, based on your level 3 studies.
• Students who require a Tier 4 Student Visa cannot apply for our foundation courses. For these courses the University of Bedfordshire is not able to sponsor Tier 4 Student Visa applications.

Many students studying for foundation degrees come to us through work-based routes so you can apply for a foundation degree even if you don’t have traditional academic qualifications.

We welcome applicants with relevant work experience.

Standard entry requirements for Undergraduate degrees (BA/BSc)

We will consider you as an individual and take into account all elements of your application, not just your qualifications. We are looking for both breadth and depth in your current studies as well as enthusiasm for the subject you wish to study.

The general requirement is one of the following:

• UCAS Tariff Score greater than 200, which should include either two A level passes or an AVCE Double Award
• An Access qualification
• Equivalent qualifications such as Irish Leaving Certificate, Scottish Highers, International Baccalaureate or BTEC National Diploma

Postgraduate taught courses

Postgraduate applications (MA/MSc) should be made direct to the University using the  standard University application form. There are some exceptions, please see individual course descriptions for details.

• UK/EU students application form
• International (non-EU) students application form
  

Students from the European Union

Entry requirements

As a general guide, to apply for a place on an undergraduate course (BA/BSc) at the University you need to have completed your high school education and have the required English qualification.

We have students from all the European Union member countries so we are quick to make decisions on most qualifications.

How to apply

International students

• Undergraduate applications (BA/BSc) can be made direct to the University or via our representatives in your home country. If you intend to apply to more than one university in the UK you should apply via UCAS. If you want to apply to the University of Bedfordshire only you should apply directly using our international application form (link below) or via our representatives in your home country
• Postgraduate applications should be made directly to the University using our international application form (link below) or via our representatives in your home country
• Healthcare, nursing and midwifery students Many of these courses are not available to overseas students due to UK immigration law in regard to bursary funding. Please contact international admissions to find out if you are eligible to apply
• BA Nursing Studies Level 3 (with or without Overseas Nursing Programme) is available to overseas students - please contact International Admissions by email at international-admissions@beds.ac.uk for further information

(Please note that applicants on a full student visa are not eligible for part-time study)

Course application form for international students

We recommend that you apply directly to the University where possible, as this allows us to offer the quickest turnaround time for your application.

• Course application form for direct applications [PDF]

How to complete your course application

Please read the Direct application instructions before completing the course application form.

Application forms for accommodation in the student halls at Bedford campus and Luton campus are available in the Student life section

Accreditation of prior certificated learning (APL)

APL is available for international students applying for undergraduate (Bachelor degree) study. Please do not use this APL form to apply for postgraduate courses.

Use the APL form to tell us about any non-standard qualifications and/or work experience you have that you think should be taken into consideration with your application. `

The APL form should be submitted at the same time as the course application form.

We regret we are unable to process APL forms from students who have not submitted a formal course application form.

• APL application form for International students [100Kb] updated 041007

What next?

Return your completed application to:

University of Bedfordshire
International Admissions
Park Square
Luton
Bedfordshire
LU1 3JU
United Kingdom

Contact International Admissions

T: +44 (0)1582 489326 (non-EU Students)
F: +44 (0)1582 743469
E: international-admissions@beds.ac.uk

Awarding institution

University of Bedfordshire

Teaching Strategy

The course itself is intended as a work-based learning activity with much activity unsurprisingly centering upon particpants work roles. The PgCAP adopts a blended learning approach. The learning focuses upon structured and supported online learning around key topics and issues, situated within a block system in BREO unit sites; each block contains set reading(s), activities [individual/group e.g. online discussion], and assessment tasks. You will be expected to take responsibility for your own learning by spending a significant amount of time guided by the block system and its resources and other appropriate material. You will be expected to explore these and other appropriate materials and resources independently, critically and collectively. The online learning is supported with a series of one day workshops running throughout the year in both units (approximately every 2 months starting with two days of workshops). There is a workshop attendance requirement.

You will have many opportunities to develop your skills as a facilitator of student learning in a range of HE settings and will be given the opportunity to experience, discuss and reflect upon these throughout the course. The course is an ideal opportunity for experimenting with various approaches, to see what can be learned from the range of activities you will be engaged in, and all with a view to improving your effectiveness as a learner. You will be supported in exploring your own learning style and developing a range of approaches to learning which work for you and potentially your students.

The course team tries - in how the course is delivered, to make your learning experience, meaningful, active, challenging, reflective and collaborative, thus reflecting the five elements in CRe8s `Realistic learning strand. Workshops and online activities enable interactive discussion and your ideas, assumptions and practice to be tested, challenged and critiqued through emerging practice grounded in reflection, learning from others and collaboration in specific tasks. The course provides an opportunity to specifically learn from others and engage in shared learning through participation in action learning sets.

The one day workshops are all held in the Universitys CETL [Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning] Bridges - based at the Luton campus, Park Square. The CETL space also enables you to be supported in developing your online skills when being introduced to a range of technologies you might wish to use with your own students e.g. developing an e-portfolio via PebblePad, contributing to a collaborative Wiki, online discussion boards and blogs, using facilitate pro [used for brainstorming] etc.

A requirement of the course and of the first 30 credit unit is that you have at least two of your teaching sessions observed; the first of these normally is carried out by a member of the course team and the second by your Head of Department/ Division to ensure subject appropriateness. You are further required to carry out your own teaching observation of two members of staff. You have to reflect on the observations and on the process. What have you learned and changed in your practice?, with feedback and reflections to be included in your e-portfolios.

Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Body Accreditation

Higher Education Academy (UK Professional Standards Framework for teaching and supporting learning in Higher Education).

Students with disabilities

If participants have a disability or long term medical condition (including mental health) which is likely to affect their studies they are encouraged to declare it at enrolment or as soon as they become aware of it. The course leader should be contacted, so that participant needs can be reviewed and any necessary adjustments to participants studies can be made. The Universitys disability advice team coordinates support and may be able to identify additional support and resources that can help participants with their studies.

The course team is aware of the requirements of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001, and seek to ensure that the practices of the Act are adhered to.

Workshops are undertaken on premises that provide reasonable access.

Skills Development

Developing practitioner skills and skills as a facilitator of student learning in the classroom and in non-classroom environments is central to the course and you are supported in developing your online skills.

The course also aims to develop the generic skills expected by the end of postgraduate study as set out in the University level descriptors for Masters courses.

In summary, by the end of Level M the learner should be able to:

• Explore the demands of a task and formulate viable proposals for meeting these demands [Needs Analysis]


• Plan the task, and meet their own skill-development needs and gain the necessary commitment from others [Performance Planning]


• Manage the task, adapting their strategy as necessary to achieve the quality of outcomes required [Performance Management]


• Present the outcomes of the task in a manner appropriate to the intended audience(s) and evaluate their overall performance [Presentation and Evaluation]

Emphasis is placed on developing Cre8s four core skills areas: communication; information literacy; research and evaluation; and creativity and critical thinking.

Communication

To help with the development of this you will:

• Have opportunities for example, to receive feedback on communication within classroom observations, receive feedback on your written communications skills through the reflective writing task and the development of your e-portfolio [EAP]. You will be expected to contribute to an on-line resource (CRe8 Wiki) and to online group discussion, to complete a critical review and action research project report and engage in reflective writing [ELD]

Information Literacy

To help with the development of this you will:

• Be introduced to a range of materials and resources and supported in your literature searches for appropriate information that will contribute to your e-portfolio and workshop participation [EAP]. You will be supported in exploring materials and resources readily accessible via the Internet and in making judgments about their quality and appropriateness for a target audience [ELD]

Research and Evaluation

To help with the development of this you will:

• Be expected to adopt a reflective and critical stance towards your own and others practice both within the workshop/block activities and in your work with students. You will be encouraged to take an evidence-informed and critical approach to the development of your practice skills and your use of educational theory in your portfolio [EAP]. You will be expected to engage with research literature on effective teaching, learning and assessment and to research and reflect on your own practices. And you will be encouraged to view effective teaching and learning in HE as research-informed and guided in developing an evidence-informed approach in researching a particularly problematic issue [ELD]

Creativity and Critical Thinking

To help with the development of this you will:

• Be supported in exploring a range of approaches to becoming an `effective practitioner in HE both in the workshops/blocks and in your own practice. You will be encouraged to view teaching as an inherently creative activity [EAP]. You will be encouraged to think creatively about how to improve your teaching practices and the learning of your students and to develop appropriate solutions to various issues and problems using available resources [ELD]

Improving learning and performance

Personalised learner development features throughout the course, learner development not only applying to your work in developing your own students learning but to your own experiences as learners. During the course you are supported in exploring your own learning styles and in developing a range of approaches to learning which work for you and potentially your students. Whilst the course team will be encouraging you to engage with feedback given to you by the course team, you will be encouraged to be routinely assessing the development and the value of your work through self-assessment. Most of the assessment tasks set require reflection on the task and what has been learnt during the development of the work.

The course starts from your current understanding and experience of teaching and/or supporting learning from where you are in your own development and your aspirations. You are encouraged to be reflecting upon why you are doing the course and your expectations. Building on this and to encourage greater reflection as well as supporting the development of reflective writing skills, an early reflective writing task has been introduced into the first 30 credit unit: being an academic practitioner in HE - stage in teacher journey and key influences. The course then develops and extends this through a range of learning experiences.

A developmental approach is being used to support you in developing an e-portfolio as you progress through the first unit you have to demonstrate meeting the core learning outcomes of the unit through writing an appropriately critical and analytical account, building your case supported by reflective activity and evidence to support your claim, drawn from your practice as a facilitator of learning. You should find that developing your e-portfolio is a means of making connections between the various activities and experiences that make up learning and is a way of making sense of their relationship with the intended learning outcomes. You complete the course by submitting a reflective writing task via PebblePad, partly aimed at encouraging the continued development of an e-portfolio post the PgCAP course for CPD purposes. The task takes the form of a critical review of learning whilst on the course and in doing so, you should demonstrate how you have met course learning outcomes and any external accrediting body requirements. What impact has undertaking the course had on your learning and practice, and on colleagues practice? Additionally, you need to articulate how you are going to continue to continuously develop your academic practice and produce a CPD plan.

Progress files

The course is designed to help and support participants in developing a reflective and critical approach to classroom practice, assessment, student learning, research and scholarship, and academic management, all in the context of the University of Bedfordshire and the wider HE environment. The PDP element of progress files is therefore central to this particular course, both in terms of your own learning and development, and in understanding how PDP can be significant in the learning and development of your students in a widening access, vocational University. You will be monitoring your own progress as the course develops, particularly through your e-portfolio, and then towards the end of the course, articulating this in the final assessment task which includes a critical review of learning whilst on the course. Further professional and personal development for career progression features in this task, with a CPD plan having to be produced.

Professional standards

As members of staff at the University or at one of our partner institutions teaching at HE level, participants are expected to possess a sound value-base, be a sound role model and act with integrity at all times. Through participation in the course and assessment, you will not only be discussing but be expected to demonstrate the professional values and ethics expected of Fellows and Associate Fellows of the Higher Education Academy and of staff within the University of Bedfordshire. Because you are staff, the same, if not higher expectations apply with regard to academic conduct, for example with regard to plagiarism.

The course was re-accredited by the HEA in 2009. Successful completion of the PgCAP award entitles participants to become a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy [FHEA] and use the post nominal letters FHEA, whilst completion of the first 30 credits of the course enables participants to become an Associate of the Higher Education Academy [AHEA] and likewise, use the post nominal letters AHEA.

Recognition is a portable asset recognised by HE and FE institutions, with UK-wide relevance and bestows national recognition of staff commitment to professionalism in teaching and learning and acknowledgement that their practice is aligned with the UK Professional Standards Framework.

Strategy for developing and embedding the professional standards

One of the course learning outcomes is participants having to demonstrate `a commitment as a professional HE academic to personal responsibility, professional codes of conduct, and ethical practice, thus, this is central for much of the activities and expectations on the course. The learning outcomes in both units require explicit addressing of the UK PSF namely, that participants:

• Consider and evaluate core aspects of their academic practice, including how their work and course activities are enabling them to demonstrate any accrediting body requirements


• Critically reflect on learning and evolution of practice whilst on the course, explaining how their work and course activities have enabled demonstration of the course learning outcomes and any accrediting body requirements

Our strategy for developing and embedding the professional standards and ethical values includes you specifically reflecting upon these standards and values and saying how they meet these in your e-portfolio and final piece of assessed reflective writing, where you will be expected to reflect upon and articulate how values underpin your practice and that of others. During the course, you will be expected to demonstrate how your work and course activities have enabled you to meet professional standards and we will be discussing the role and value of professional and accrediting bodies and what is appropriate professional development. The course team attempts to model best practice in line with the UK PSF.

Consideration of the UK PSF will be made in course and unit handbooks and on BREO unit sites, where a dedicated site will be devoted to professional standards in general. You will be introduced to and engaging with the UK PSF from the start of the course with the first five week block in the EAP unit consisting of: `being a reflective HE academic practitioner (skills, roles, effectiveness and journey); values/ethics; reflective practice; and professional standards. Whilst tempting to do so, you will not be given the course teams mapping against the UK PSF at the start of the course; rather, you will be encouraged to gain greater understanding through your own mapping and working with the UK PSF throughout the course, which will then be discussed with peers and tutors.