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University of Bedfordshire
Park Square
Luton
Bedfordshire
UK, LU1 3JU
1. The MA is delivered in both full-time and part-time modes and is delivered exclusively in the UK.
2. The MA is dedicated to giving you the underpinning research knowledge relating to management, innovation and change in the sport development and sport management environments. This MA is centered on the needs of innovative and ambitious sport managers and sport developers who want to learn how to apply the latest thinking relating to these fields of change in the knowledge economy.
3. The course focus is to enable you to work more productively with people in a dynamic environment. The course covers areas of learning that are particularly relevant to the knowledge economy including units on creativity and leadership (The Sport Manager). There is a career development stream, delivered with our careers service that will enable you to learn skills and techniques and to critically reflect on your activities, ways of working and personal development. All members of the course team have practical managerial and/or development experience supported by a strong research and/or consultancy background.
4. The Sport Development Management programme integrates underpinning knowledge and industry practice, and engages with sport organisations that have local, regional and international connections. This unique opportunity to collaborate with our sport partners will help you to develop your ability to think strategically, apply the principles of sport management in an international context and construct solutions to international sport management issues.
5. Blended learning is used to enable you to manage the pace of your learning through the use of online technology - reserving the labour intensive face-to-face contact for challenge, debate and the development of critical thinking, reflection and leadership skills. The course uses the virtual learning environment, BREO, allowing access to materials as well as well as being a medium of communication between students and staff. Action learning will be the main focus of the learning strategy and you will become a professional learner which means you take responsibility for your own development, it will be goal directed and oriented to your personal and management, and business needs as well as those of your colleagues at work.
6. The course will redirect relevant research towards an agenda that is responsive to your management and innovation needs as a practitioner. Knowledge transfer from researchers in the fields of Sport and Leisure Management, Sports Governance, Sport Culture and Development and Community Leadership will be a high priority and you will also be involved in setting this research agenda through active partnership with the course team and your course peers.
7. You will be enabled to draw on your learning and to become an innovative and imaginative change agent within your chosen place of workplace, acting as a strong role model and champion for ensuring your current or future workplace maximizes use of capability and talent within your peers and colleagues.
8. The University has some key features which encourage innovation and enterprise including Creativity Clubs where business people meet and exchange ideas, learn and reflect on own practice and initiate change in a lively and fun environment. Similarly, the Knowledge Hub within the University is a networking point for local businesses to access expertise, innovation and enterprise. You will also be encouraged to become part of the postgraduate course committee which is actively involved in supporting and shaping the nature of the course itself and so take greater responsibility for your won educational experience.
9. The course is located within the Department of Physical Education and Sport Studies, Bedford. The course will use the Bedford campuses innovative Teaching and Learning facilities with creative learning spaces and expert staff.
The assessment strategy is as follows:
1. The underpinning philosophy of all the assessments is developmental, building on your knowledge, expertise and capabilities to ensure that you are an able and confident leader and manager. This emphasis will enable you to explore, experience and develop your understanding of sports leadership, management, development, and innovation within the context of your personal professional needs.
2. The completion of an extended applied research project or Dissertation designed to simulate a realistic management situation, giving you the opportunity to demonstrate your ability to use the knowledge and skills acquired through the taught elements of the course.
3. The overall aim of the assessment strategy is that you will receive regular and constructive feedback from your course tutors, and student peers within the group. The team will support you to help you to use and integrate this feedback as part of your continuing professional and self-development. To ensure you are enabled to do this you will be provided with group and individual tutorial support from the team as well as be encouraged to be part of the course committee. This, in turn, links to The Sport Manager personal and professional development unit offered on the course. Your tutor will give you the active guidance to plan the next stages of your learning. This opportunity for supported self-reflection will enable you to take charge of your learning through developing critical evaluation and planning skills.
4. To facilitate and maximise learning for all students a range of assessment methods are used throughout the course and you will be required to undertake a variety of group and individual based assessments. These assessments include individual and group written feedback assignments and projects, action learning reports as well as presentations. They are all rooted in authentic and practical workplace scenarios to enable learning to be transferred to the workplace. The assessments are designed to test knowledge and understanding of the appropriate underpinning theoretical input and research, but also to demonstrate your skills. An appropriate sample of all assessed work will be subject to multiple marking and external moderation to ensure appropriate quality standards and intended learning outcomes are achieved as well as consistency and fairness to all. The course will maintain a balance between examinations and assignments (group and individual) and may employ other formats including online tests and presentations. The final project, the Integrated Management Project, pulls together all aspects of the course through a detailed review of a specific organization.
5. Apart from the formal assessments there will be an emphasis on self, peer and group assessment. However all formal assessments will be marked, graded and moderated by professional tutors only. The aim is for you to become an independent and self-directed lifelong learner and you will not only gain the skills and advantages of using self-reflection but you will gain more feedback from the conventional tutor-student written feedback. This will be used primarily as part of a formative assessment process within the units, rather than in the summative part, where moderation by others may be used.
Upon successful completion of this course, you should be able to:
1. critically assess and demonstrate a systematic understanding of relevant knowledge about the economic, environmental, sociopolitical and technological change issues relating to sport business and development management, their external context and how they are managed, including international developments and corporate governance;
2. assess and apply relevant knowledge to a range of complex situations taking account of the development and progression of the relationship and expectations between markets and customers and other stakeholders;
3. demonstrate a critical awareness of current issues across the Sport Development and Sport Management fields which is informed by leading edge research and practice appropriate to each, including the concepts, structures and processes in the planning, production, and management of sporting goods and/or services; the design and implementation of sports policy; the politics of public and voluntary sports provision.
4. analyse and evaluate sport and development managerial problems in a range of organisational contexts, and to choose, implement, communicate and defend appropriate solutions.
5. understand and synthesise the financing of the business enterprise, the sources, uses and management of finance and the use of accounting for managerial and financial reporting applications;
6. synthesise and apply practically the range of theory and practice relating to the sport management and development of people within organizations and across sectors.
7. demonstrate and critically reflect on an understanding of appropriate research techniques sufficient to allow detailed investigation into relevant business and management issues and to show expertise in the interpretation of such material;
8. acquire and analyse data and information, to evaluate their relevance and validity, and to synthesise a range of information in the context of new situations;
9. effectively develop and manage relevant communication and information technologies for application in business and management in a global knowledge-based economy.
10. adopt an enquiring, analytical and creative approach to your work, and promote independent judgment and critical self-awareness
The Subject Benchmarking Statements and Academic Standards for a Masters award in Business and Management are used for this degree. The degree expects you, as a student, to be able to demonstrate relevant knowledge and understanding of organisations, the external context in which they operate and how they are managed. The degree will be a challenging learning experience and an integration between theory and practice. As a student you will reflect on your knowledge, experience and practice, using peer and tutor interaction as one of the key processes. Further details of these benchmarks can also be obtained by accessing http://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/benchmark/masters/MBAintro.asp
The course needs to meet the QAA subject benchmarking for M-level courses. The assessment criteria for the degree address the QAA descriptors of the attributes of a graduate at Masters level. Thus the Postgraduate Certificate will be awarded to students who have demonstrated:
- a systematic understanding of knowledge, and a critical awareness of current problems and/or new insights, much of which is at, or informed by, the forefront of their academic discipline, field of study, or area of professional practice;
- comprehensive understanding of techniques applicable to their own research or advanced scholarship;
- originality in the application of knowledge, together with a practical understanding of how established techniques of research and enquiry are used to create and interpret knowledge in the discipline;
- conceptual understanding that enables the student:
- to evaluate critically current research and advanced scholarship in the discipline; and
- to evaluate methodologies and develop critiques of them and, where appropriate, to propose new hypotheses;
the ability to:
- deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively, make sound judgments in the absence of complete data, and communicate their conclusions clearly to specialist and non-specialist audiences;
- demonstrate self-direction and originality in tackling and solving problems, and act autonomously in planning and implementing tasks at a professional or equivalent level;
- continue to advance their knowledge and understanding, and to develop new skills to a high level;
- learn independently.
Once they are in professional practice, master's graduates should be able to:
- consistently apply their knowledge and subject-specific and wider intellectual skills
- deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively, make sound
- judgements in the absence of complete data, and communicate their conclusions clearly to a range of audiences
- be proactive in recognising the need for change and have the ability to manage change
- be adaptable, and show originality, insight, and critical and reflective abilities which can all be brought to bear upon problem situations
- make decisions in complex and unpredictable situations
- evaluate and integrate theory and practice in a wide range of situations
- be self-directed and able to act autonomously in planning and implementing projects at professional levels
- take responsibility for continuing to develop your own knowledge and skills.
QAA subject benchmarks can be found at http://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/benchmark/default.asp
The educational aims of the course are grounded in the Universitys mission to provide challenging and innovative learning and teaching that empowers the active and professional learner. The course aims to provide enterprising and fit for purpose courses that are necessary for businesses to expand and diversify. The Facultys Learning and Teaching strategy supports these aims through the development of an engaging and stimulating learning environment that, particularly at postgraduate level, engages actively with research and scholarly activity. In particular the course aims:
- to enable you to expand on your current management and leadership capabilities and to enable you to contribute to a global knowledge economy;
- to enable you to appreciate the integrated nature of management study, and to relate both hard and soft issues to problem solving;
- to emphasise the international nature of management study;
- to add value to your employment prospects;
- to undertake advanced studies of organisations, their management and the changing external context in which they operate;
- to develop and enhance a career in sport development and management by developing skills at a professional or equivalent level;
- to develop the ability to apply knowledge and understanding of sport development and management to complex issues, both systematically and creatively, to improve business and management practice;
- to enhance lifelong learning skills and personal development so as to be able to work with self-direction and originality and to contribute to business and society at large.
The course recruits for starts twice per year in September and in February. The course will normally be completed in 12 months. The start of each cohort of MA studies will be preceded by an induction period. This will include team building and orientation into and with the Faculty and Departmental professional and educational ethos. It is essential that you complete this before starting the main learning platform of the MA.
The course team has extensive experience of working with students studying Postgraduate qualifications. The MA Sport Development Management programme is paced and structured to enable you to manage your time over the period of the course. The course team will be your first point of contact while you are studying and you will also be allocated to a student self study support group, which will also act as both a learning and motivational help to you. You can meet up face-to-face in addition to the times you are at the University and collaborative via email.
You have access to a range of support services during your course. The University also has a number of formalized and specialised support structures and departments. Information regarding these services will be given during your induction to the course. These support areas are listed at http://www.beds.ac.uk/studentlife/support.
Many of you may be concerned about returning to study. Be aware that while at work your experience is a valuable aid to helping you cope with academic study and your general life skills will have developed since leaving formal education after graduating. However assistance with study skills and IT support is available and you can access the Professional and Academic Development (PAD) department.
On the course considerable emphasis is placed on our academic advisory and tutorial support systems, which we encourage you to use. You will have a named tutor for each unit (your unit tutor) who will offer unit specific support. The Course Leader for the MA Sport Development Management programme will also provide you with course updates and support. If you have any doubts about your ability to cope academically or personally with your studies we encourage you to discuss this with your Course Leader.
You will receive different support at different stages of the course. Regular tutorial sessions held throughout the period of study will support your academic, personal and professional development. You will communicate with the community of learners and tutors through email and the course Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), BREO. It is expected that you will check both of these regularly.
You are also supported through:
- specific and detailed formative feedback on an assessment by assessment basis to enable you to develop the quality of your work;
- the course VLE, BREO, which supports academic discussion with peers and tutors outside of the classroom. Academic support is also available via BREO in the form of online tutorials;
- specialist support :
professional counselling staff in the Student Centre;
the Universitys Centre for Personal and Career Development;
the Changing Course guide.
Student Support Services http://www.beds.ac.uk/studentlife/support concerning issues associated with counselling, careers, health, finance, childcare and disability.
Assessment Feedback from Unit Tutors
You will receive a detailed Course Handbook which clearly identifies your assessment tasks and marking criteria. Feedback from each assignment will include advice on areas of strength and development. You will be encouraged to reflect upon personal progress and feedback and, through discussion with your tutors identify personal targets to take your learning forward.
Course Tutorials
The unit tutorial system will play a key role in providing appropriate academic support in order to enhance learning, progression and achievement. You will have tutorial time for each unit of study. You will be encouraged to discuss feedback regarding assessed pieces of work.
Academic advice
The Corporate Academic Advisory Service (CAAS) offers confidential advice to all students registered at the University who are experiencing difficulties with their studies.
PAD
The Professional and Academic Development Team (PAD) offers a diverse selection of services to all students. Whether you are struggling with certain aspects of your studies, or simply wish to develop and explore certain skills further, the PAD team is there to offer you a helping hand.
Student Voice
There will be a student representative for the course and they will be invited to Staff Student Consultative Committee meetings and provide the platform for student voice and open dialogue, thus allowing for a two-way communication channel with members of the course team.
Learning Resources
Learning Resources offers a range of services aimed at supporting you whilst at University. These include the traditional library services - borrowing, reserving and renewing books, DVDs and other library materials; as well as providing access to networked computers with a wide range of software including MS Office, internet, e-mail, and digital information products. There is also a range of on-line support materials and two designated Academic Liaison Librarians who can support you with information literacy training. These services are restricted to members of the university therefore to access any of them you need to present your current University ID card.
You may be required, at the discretion of the Course Leader, to undergo diagnostic testing for academic English language abilities, and may further be required, at the Course Leaders discretion, to participate in academic English support workshops or classes offered by the University.
One of the key purposes is to improve your personal and organisational performance and quality through the continuous application of the skills required to work in successful teams in business and/or management contexts. The synergy provided by the use and development of team working skills is essential for this to occur both in your workplace and within your learning experience at the University. You will be working with other students in groups and the course team to assess complex situations, solve business problems and issues, make decisions and anticipate future challenges. The advantages of team working are well understood and self-evident but in the context of this degree course they are essential for creativity and results focused thinking. You will need to develop and apply your critical thinking and process skills and the team-working environment endemic within the degree will foster and deepen these abilities. Group activity will be accessed throughout the course via tutorial groups, group work within the workshop sessions, project work related to workshop scenarios and assignments. All team working will be organised so that the experience is constructive and you will gain feedback, both explicit and implicit that will enable you to develop your critical thinking skills and also reflect on your personal strengths and perceived areas for development. Team working will therefore be essential for the enquiry process needed for academic study as well as your own continuous professional development. Student self-supported learning groups will be organised to work within the University and these ideally should be used for self help and study outside the formal study periods. You will also be encouraged to attend networking groups and more formal lecture/seminar sessions organised by the Knowledge Network within the University more information can be obtained on www.beds.ac.uk/knowledgenetwork.
Over the duration of the course you will network with other students, the course team as well as have opportunities to go to presentations and lectures provided by the Knowledge Network which is a vibrant and lively meeting point for business people to share their knowledge and opportunities. More information can be obtained on http://www.theknowledgenetwork.co.uk/
The Business School offers courses on behalf of the Chartered Management Institute and the Institute of Leadership and Management as well as the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. The nationally recognised professional organisations all provide career management information and networks. The Centre for Personal and Career Development is available to support and advise all students and more information can be obtained on http://www.beds.ac.uk/careers.
It is important that we stress that we plan to integrate personal, academic and career development within the course and you as a professional learner will feel better equipped to make relevant decisions and moves in line with your personal and career goals.
Course assessments require you to clarify your strengths and aspirations for career development and demonstrate your potential. The curriculum is a link between professional and theoretical strands rather than being purely academic and hence, unit tutors will stress the application and evaluation as it relates to your organisational context.
You are able to access the Centre for Personal and Career Development [CPCD] where My Future (CMS online) and other self-assessment tools will be signposted. Tutors will introduce the service at appropriate points in the course. You can view the website at http://BREO.beds.ac.uk/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_482_1.
For further information and a Whos Who in CPCD visit the website at www.beds.ac.uk/career.www.beds.ac.uk/career.
Career:
We anticipate that when you complete your degree you will possess the ability to become a positive change agent in any organisation and an obvious champion for the added value of a dynamic and innovative organisational culture. You will also have had extensive and continuous opportunity for reflective and critical evaluation of your capability as a team worker and leader to enable you to respond to and succeed in the ever-changing and complex globalizing socio-political environment of Sport Development. The course may also equip you with the Social Enterprise and Entrepreneurial skills necessary to start your own business or expand the business you are in.
The course includes a professional and personal development strand that will be assessed (The Sport Manager) . This will enable you to enhance your employability skills, reflect on the skills and knowledge you may need to accelerate your career and bring value to your current and future employment. This relates to a key theme in the Education Strategy that offers you the opportunity to participate in a curriculum that is focused on employability and that enables all students to maximize their opportunities.
During the course you will have extensive networking opportunities within the wider course team as well as the University and our industry partners. You can talk through career and further development opportunities with your tutor as well as your peers and wider circle. Whatever you decide to do you will have a toolkit of knowledge and capabilities developed from the course that will support and enable you. The Sport Development Management programme will help to showcase your abilities making you more attractive to employers for senior positions in the sport sector.
Further study:
Your tutors will always be there as a source of advice and help should you want to progress your development further. There is the possibility that MA graduates will continue their studies with doctoral research. The course is aimed at self-directed and motivated individuals and it is unlikely you will `sit still. Alumni will be particularly welcome to input into subsequent delivery of the MA.
Standard:
Standard entry requirements for UK students http://www.beds.ac.uk/howtoapply/ukugentryreqs
Students from the European Union - http://www.beds.ac.uk/howtoapply/eu/guides
International students - http://www.beds.ac.uk/howtoapply/international/apply
This unique, robust and specialist Masters level qualification is delivered by the Department of Physical Education and Sport Studies within the Faculty of Education, Sport, and Tourism of the University. It is aimed at any person, with a suitable first degree, and/or management background, who would like to develop their capabilities and apply such learning to release such talents in others. In order to benefit from the degree you will need to have an educational, experiential or professional base that involves working with others in a management capacity. In order to cope with the demands of the course you should have:
- An Honours degree in any discipline from a recognized higher education institution
- Appropriate management experience of at least 2 years (or equivalent)
- For international students English competence of IELTS 6.0 or equivalent
- Special entry is available for those with no degree but with extensive management experience
- Special entry is available for those with no management experience (33% of the total cohort) but with a 1st Class Degree.
Successful completion of this degree will enable you to have the necessary knowledge and research transfer that will underpin your abilities to release enterprise and imagination into your team and company. You will be a strong role model so you will need to be a person who is willing to critically reflect and engage with personal and organisational change. As the degree is rooted in workplace practice and experience it is also essential that you have the support of your line manager and your colleagues, or others with the necessary power and influence. Your success as a student will be dependent on you taking your learning into your organisation and experimenting, challenging and actively reflecting.
Some of these criteria will be a challenge to you. You are probably aware that the degree will be hard work but it will also be fun and will enable you to develop your management and creative ability practically. You may discuss the course with the Course Director before acceptance for the degree and he will explain more fully to you the implications and intended outcomes of the course and explore with you your ability to engage in the learning requirements of the qualification.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
(Please note that applicants on a full student visa are not eligible for part-time study)
We recommend that you apply directly to the University where possible, as this allows us to offer the quickest turnaround time for your 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
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.
Return your completed application to:
University of Bedfordshire
International Admissions
Park Square
Luton
Bedfordshire
LU1 3JU
United Kingdom
T: +44 (0)1582 489326 (non-EU Students)
F: +44 (0)1582 743469
E: international-admissions@beds.ac.uk
The course is varied, both in curriculum content and delivery methods. The Teaching strategy for the MA follows the guidelines in the Universitys Education Strategy.
This course adheres to the principles of CRE8 and emphasises a learning experience which is meaningful, active, reflective, collaborative and creative. These principles are practised through working methods and outcomes reflected in the range of assessments and subject matter requiring critical analysis and reflective activities.
Lectures, seminars and tutorials will be used extensively, but, in addition, a great deal of participants time will be spent in small groups and workshops, involving, for example, discussion of case studies, simulation exercises, preparation for assessments, and work on presentations.
Although lectures are held weekly in term time it is clear that the private study demands on this type of course are considerable.
1. The teaching and learning approach of the course is through blended learning. This means a combination of pedagogic approaches, including using the latest approaches to learning technology, action learning, and independent learning. You will acquire a toolkit of diverse and complex skills and knowledge necessary for your development as a creative organizational change agent. Student-centered self-support groups, both face-to-face and/or via virtual contact, will be used throughout the course. There are thus a variety of pedagogic approaches in which the focus of the learning is experiential to enable you to practice, experiment and evaluate in the workshops and other face-to-face opportunities, and to use the online technology and related facilities for knowledge acquisition and research.
2. The course offers opportunities for collaborative learning both in face-to-face groups and online where there is increased use of collaborative learning tools such as discussion boards, blogs and wikis. Some may be facilitated by lecturers, other staff or even by our industry partners. Others may be initiated and run by students (peer-managed). These tools offer you considerable opportunities to learn from others in the group and extend your learning experience beyond the boundaries of the formal session.
3. The teaching strategy will be eclectic enabling you to gain the necessary underpinning theoretical knowledge and research that will enable you to actively explore, reflect and critically evaluate your own perceptions and knowledge. This approach will also help you to become an autonomous and self-directed learner. This means you will be confident of your capabilities as an independent learner and researcher and able to manage your own learning in line with your busy work schedule, using your learning skills to develop a depth and breadth of subject-matter knowledge, reflecting and analysing the implications of this for your understanding of innovation and changing sport and development context and applying this new understanding in practical situations accordingly.
4. In line with the Education Strategy the course will include research informed teaching where the research from this and other Universities will be brought forward into the curriculum. The University has a number of Research Centres that focus on sport, business, and education issues that will be relevant to your study on the course. You will also be encouraged to bring your own research and experience in to the course.
5. There will be an initial induction at the start of the course. The aim of the induction is to familiarize you with your student colleagues and the course team and to give you a very practical insight into the MA learning experience. Attendance at this week long induction is required before continuing on the course and will include team building and project-based work. The induction will be facilitated by members of the course team and will focus on learning through critical reflection, peer and lecturer feedback, and selfanalysis. You will also be introduced to the different facilities and resources at your disposal. It is an essential element of the course and will ensure you approach the learning on the course effectively from the start of the semester.
6. Each study unit will have dedicated integrated materials, which can be accessed via the University virtual learning environment. These give you the necessary underpinning knowledge and research directives and they are written specifically for this course by the relevant academics within the team. You will receive information to help you with time management to ensure that you complete each unit of study within a specified timescale. In addition e-portfolios, podcasts, wikis, and voice-to-voice seminar tutorials may be used, but please be assured technical training and support will be provided where necessary.
7. Action learning involving the use of `real-life problems and scenarios will be integrated into the workshops and other face-to-face sessions. This flexible process allows action, improvement and change together with relevant research to be achieved at the same time. You will gain knowledge and understanding which will allow change to be processed in an informed way, and similarly your understanding will be further informed by that change. This process of learning can be replicated in the workplace to help and enable transference of learning and is self-development related and reflective in nature.
The teaching strategy is designed to support you through the process of becoming an agent for change and innovation in the field of sport and development management. Your learning experience while studying with us will give you the opportunity to explore, experience and develop your management, including entrepreneurial and social enterprise, abilities according to your personal and business needs as well as enhancing your leadership style. In this way you can construct and interpret new meanings for the way you conduct your professional life.
The course is wholly inclusive and welcomes students with disabilities. During the application process disabled students are invited to the university to discuss their needs with the Programme Director, individual members of the academic staff, as well as staff from the Disability Advice Team. The course should not present any barriers to students with disabilities that cannot be overcome using the universitys policy on support for students with disabilities. All applications identifying disabilities are followed up by letter or at interview to establish the level and type of support required.
The Disability Advice Team will discuss any issues you may have and can provide such services as: sign language interpreters, note takers, dyslexia screening/tuition, support materials for students with dyslexia and/or dyscalculia, and support with mobility on campus. The team offers confidential advice and information about academic and personal issues, special arrangements/adjustments for some assessments/ examinations, applying for the Disabled Students' Allowances (DSA) and buying suitable equipment.
The university disability policy can be viewed at http://www.beds.ac.uk/studentlife/support/disabilities/policy.
The course team is aware of the requirements of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 and seeks to ensure that the practices the Act seek to encourage are followed. Concerning special educational needs (e.g. dyslexia) special provision is made for assessment for course work depending on the individual needs of the student. All formal teaching and learning is undertaken on premises that provide reasonable access for you if you have concerns about mobility. Advice on the nature of specific disabilities and the reasonable adjustments which can be made to accommodate disabled students is available from the Disability Advice Team. Further details can be obtained from http://www.beds.ac.uk/studentlife/support/disabilities
Below is set out how we as the course team plan to support and facilitate your skills development during the degree course.
Communication
In order to be a successful innovator it is essential that your communication skills are of a very high standard. Throughout the qualification you will be involved in expressing and reflecting on your ideas as well as influencing and shaping decisions. You will be communicating with a wide network of diverse people and groups and your oral communication skills will be effective and persuasive. Your written report writing skills similarly will be the standard expected of Masters level students, and the course offers a rich forum for further elaboration and development of this important capability.
Information Literacy
This will be introduced to you to help you to access journals and information and make judgments, through critical engagement with increasingly extensive amounts of information now available through a range of technologies. In order to engage in academic research you will need to find, understand, evaluate and use information. Also important are the regulations and laws as well as institutional policies related to the access and use of information. Tutors will provide study skills practice to help you to understand how to approach abstracting relevant information from an academic article and hence to cope with the demands of academic practice. These academic practice skills are probably new to you and there will support from the course team to help you, particularly in the initial stages of the course. There will also be online guides to take you through accessing basic principles and procedures of the learning regime. In addition you will receive help from specialist staff to help you navigate your ways through Learning Resources (the Library), as well as giving you encouragement to produce new information through empirical research and use of digital media.
Research and Evaluation
These skills are central to the learning strategy within the course to enable you to work through and resolve blockages to creativity and other related problems and concerns, probably from your workplace. You will need to demonstrate original, independent and critical thinking, and to further develop relevant theories relating to how you will translate these into action. The action learning process will support your development where peers and tutors will evaluate and give you feedback and share in your learning. So the research process will allow you time for data collection, reflection on current practice, enable you to work through problems that are not resolved by the traditional lecturer/seminar route, and to take action. In this way you are committed to innovation.
Creativity and Critical Thinking
The course focus is on leadership, innovation and change and is structured around developing your capabilities as a critical and evaluative thinker to enable you to make reasoned arguments, based on research findings. Creativity is an essential part of these elements. You will be given the opportunity to think reflectively about learning materials and activities you are presented with, you can take time to pause and reflect, and then perhaps question what is said. You will use other sources of evidence to question as well as your own knowledge and experience. In this way you can establish the worth of the arguments and develop your independent learning skills. The evaluation and synthesis process will enable you to present your own interpretation of the information, logically and coherently. This is creativity in action and such learning will enable you to transfer these reflective skills to the workplace and mentor and support your colleagues to do the same, but in a productive and supportive learning culture. Testing out your critical and creative thinking skills will be done with other students, and tutors, in tutorials, self-help groups and other course forums. Tools such as discussion boards and blogs are available to assist in an increased demand for collaborative learning on the MA.
The course aims to enable you to become an autonomous learner and a reflective and creative change agent who is able and willing to reflect on experience and explore and anticipate future opportunities, and then applying your learning to ensure innovation. The workshops and other face to face format of sessions in particular, will be organised to inspire you and give you space to release inhibitions, keep you motivated and engaged and facilitate risk taking, experimenting with new problem solving techniques that you can transfer to your workplace. In order to ensure this happens the course has the following continuous development design features.
1. You will be engaged in using assessment feedback. The assessments are planned and designed to ensure you will have suitably designed tasks and assignments with clearly defined criteria and standards. The learning outcomes will be transparent and clear for each assessment. There will however be an `open-endedness that is inherent in all assessments. For instance you may be asked to set and draw up a scenario for problem solving within your workplace environment as part of the assignment. You will therefore be active within an authentic learning scenario, the situation is dynamic and in real time, and most importantly you will be learning and monitoring a work situation, evaluating and making adjustments as events unfold. The aim of the feedback from the tutor would be to help you to recognise your own input to the problem, and to self assess efficacy in the achievement of the learning objectives. You will be encouraged to be open with student peers about feedback from assignments and to use this knowledge within the self-study groups.
2. You will be supported throughout the course to take greater responsibility for your own development. Your self-study groups and the formal lectures/workshops will enable you to access resources, synthesise and make connections that will work towards solving better understandings and possible solutions to difficult problems. This energetic and active approach to learning will enhance your confidence and self-esteem and will provide a continuous feedback loop ensuring your motivation to act as a professional and autonomous learner.
3. The course is designed to ensure there is connectivity between the tutor, the student and the wider course team to maximize learning opportunities. All tutors are experienced in facilitation and active listening skills. Tutors will work with you in a constructive relationship to ensure a clear sense of purpose and positive intention, in line with your own personal and business needs and goals.
4. You will be encouraged to reflect and evaluate the implications of your learning style for your preferred patterns of problem solving, decision making and team working. Such feedback enables you to improve your communication patterns, work more effectively with others who perhaps you label difficult and to reduce conflict. Other diagnostic tools may also be used in the workshops. However it is anticipated that personal evaluation of learning relating to creativity and innovation will be the most powerful evaluative process for the assessment of progress and direction.
5. You will be expected to document and record your own personal development throughout the course via a combination of structured reflective practice and PDP processes.
Progress will be recorded through formative and summative feedback and you will be encouraged to incorporate the feedback within your future assessment submissions. You will get feedback from each unit assessment as you complete the work. Progress files will be facilitated through the year-long Sport Management Unit.
Your unit tutors will guide you through the initial stages of preparing your assessments, which starts at induction and is reviewed at key points throughout the course e.g. after your first assessment you will receive feedback that gives you the opportunity to reflect and consider ways in which you might improve specific skills and/or build on the strengths demonstrated. Unit tutors will meet with you periodically to review progress and support your professional practice. You will keep a Progress File a written record of reviews and an action plan for your study work.
Further guidance and support on Progress Files is available on the CETL web site (see http://bridgescetl.beds.ac.uk/curriculum/curriculum_guides ).
There are no dedicated professional standards related specifically to this qualification. However the University has links and partnerships with both the Chartered Management Institute and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and actively networks with both these organisations to ensure professionalism and excellence. We would expect you to demonstrate this professionalism in your future career by:
1. being an inspirational and ethical leader that people want to work with so that you are able to transform your organisational culture to ensure innovation and leadership are of paramount importance;
2. being able to manage yourself and being positive to manage emotional responses to situations and people in a constructive manner;
3. managing relationships through self-awareness of ones own emotions and those of others to successfully engage others;
4. leading and following others to ensure sustainable and ethical change is occurring in your organization;
5. use communication strategies that bring differing viewpoints and generate positive results and to use suitable language and perspectives when delivering messages;
6. show awareness and knowledge of the applied social sciences in your team working and building;
7. be a respectful and listening manager/team player who is open to others perspectives and who will evaluate ideas constructively and positively;
8. be committed via mentoring and coaching to continuing personal development and promote the CPD ethic within your business;
9. be mindful of the ethical implications of your practice through dialogue with peers, clients and mentors, and adhere to professional ethical standards at all times in relation to action learning and action research, formulating alternative solutions as necessary, including the demonstration of an awareness of the ethical implications of creativity versus conformity. Your tutors will adhere to ethical, personal and professional standards at all times. The University has specific policies and procedures to ensure such standards are rigorously adhered to.
These standards underpin and drive the learning and teaching philosophy of the qualification and are integrated into all aspects of the course. Maintaining close working knowledge partnerships with our industry partners encouraging industry input and evaluation of course units ensure that professional standards remain relevant and/or are developed to reflect those standards sought by potential employers in the realm of sport and development.
