The Vocational Aspect (Spring 1965) Volume XVII No. 36

RESIDENTIAL SHORT COURSES FOR

TECHNICAL COLLEGE STUDENTS

By C. T. SANDFORD

Head of Department of Social and General Studies, Bristol College of Science and Technology

WHEN Residence and Technical Education 1 was published in 1960 under the aus- pices of the National Institute of Adult Education, the chapter devoted to ' Short Residential Courses for Students in Technical Colleges" showed that, of the 190 colleges whose principals replied to the questionnaire, 27 had experience of short residential courses organised by or for the college. These short courses included both the vocational, with management and foremanship for mature students predominating, and the non-vocational; of the latter some were run for a group of colleges in a single education authority area, some for single colleges.

Since the Report was published the short residential course has been shown to have a value for technical college students in ways which were not fully appreciated at the time, in particular for sandwich students and for students preparing for a degree qualification by part-time study.

When the material for Mrs. Silberston's survey was compiled, although 82 per cent of the principals replying held that short residential courses for sandwich students were desirable, 2 only one example could be cited of their use--a course held for a very small group of sandwich students during the college period as part of liberal studies. (a)3 At that time the Diploma in Technology was in its infancy. Its development has given a tremendous impetus to sandwich courses and led to increased emphasis on the need for maintaining close contact between students and tutors during the industrial period. Doubtless many colleges have come to experiment with short residential courses for Diploma in Technology students; but possibly nowhere have these courses been developed as fully and systematically as at Bristol College of Science and Technology. In 1959 Bristol held the first of its courses or conferences; in 1960 two more; since then the residential course has been' written in' as an integral part of the Diploma in Technology at Bristol and a student attends a conference during each six-monthly industrial period; by the end of the ' summer season' 1964 over twenty conferences in all had been arranged by the College.

The responsibility for these conferences has rested with the Department of Social and General Studies which has planned the programme in conjunction with the technological departments; courses normally run from Friday dinner-time to Sunday tea-time; the programme includes lectures and discussions, visits to places of interest in the neighbourhood of the conference centre, social activities,

(a) Flintshire Technical College in conjunction with Coleg Harlech.

82 Residential Short Courses for Technical College Students

and sufficient free time to allow for informal student-tutor contact. Usually students from two or more departments attend a particular confereace and invita- tions are extended to all tutors and lecturers who have taken the students during the previous year, as well as Principal Lecturers and Heads of the appropriate departments. Industrialists are also invited where accommodation permits. The formal programme for the weekend is usually non-vocational, although there have been occasional exceptions; often the opportunity is taken to choose a theme appropriate to the situation of the residential college.

These conferences have been felt to have a number of merits; the informal con- tact between tutors and students makes for a more effective teaching relationship; students have the opportunity to pursue liberal studies in congenial surround- ings without a corresponding reduction in the time devoted to technological studies and since these topics are jointly pursued with the tutors, 'liberal studies' gain in status and significance; the conferences provide an opportunity for students to hear eminent speakers; the mingling of students and staff of different disciplines helps to break down departmentalism and the staff often find the conference an appropriate occasion for informal discussion of educational problems. These advantages would apply regardless of the kind of course and of the time at which the conferences were held; by holding them for sandwich students during industrial periods, the particular advantages are obtained that not only can the students exchange industrial experiences with each other whilst these experiences are fresh, but something is done to recreate the College atmosphere and strengthen the link between student and College when it most needs strengthening. The conferences act as a valuable supplement in this respect to the visits of tutors to industry.

In a different way short residential conferences have proved their worth at Bristol. Two experiments with conferences for students about to commence their first year have done much to help them to get to know each other quickly and to break down at an early stage any barriers between students and staff; students thus settle in to their College course more easily and speedily. Mingling students of different disciplines is particularly valuable at this stage in their College career before they have had the chance to slide into a departmental groove. Such 'in- duction' conferences have been held at Bristol for groups of sandwich students, but they would be of equal value to full-time or part-time students; there is nothing about them which makes them peculiarly appropriate to students on sandwich courses.

Another development since Mrs. Silberston compiled the material for her Report has been the growth of degree level studies at technical colleges. The Robbins Report suggested that even with the expansion in university places which they recommended, the need for correspondence courses and evening courses would grow, 4 whilst they particularly hoped that universities would develop such courses, much of the expansion must inevitably come from the technical colleges and Colleges of Commerce. It seems likely that the degrees of the new Council for National Academic Awards will be obtainable by part-time study, 5 and there

C. T. SANDFORD 83

seems little doubt that the number of students preparing for degrees part-time at technical colleges will grow. The Robbins Committee also pointed out the need for such students to undertake periods of residence. This is particularly necessary for students on correspondence courses, who otherwise would have no personal contact with a tutor, and there are encouraging signs that their need is beginning to be met; the Advisory Centre for Education is experimenting on these lines; London University provides short residential courses in Geography and Sociology, and Keele University held an intensive course in the summer of 1964 for eighty students working for London University external degrees. But residential courses are also of immense value for the student preparing for a degree by evening classes at a technical college. Although it is true that the technical college student, unlike the correspondence student, has direct and personal access to a tutor, the residen- tial course provides much greater opportunities for thought and discussion. Students are fresher than at the end of a day's work, and, in a residential college, temporarily freed from the distractions of home life to which many mature students would otherwise be subject, they can more readily concentrate on their studies. This was certainly the opinion of two groups of students preparing at Burnley Municipal College for the B.Sc.(Econ.) degree of London University, who attended five-day intensive courses arranged by the College during the Easter vacation prior to the final examinations.

The objection might well be raised, who will meet the costs of these residential conferences for sandwich students and external degree students ? At Bristol after the period of experimentation during which the costs were met in somewhat unorthodox ways including a substantial student contribution, the simple device was adopted of including the cost within the College fees and making residential courses an integral part of a Bristol Diploma in Technology. At Burnley, the degree students taking the intensive course in some cases received help from their local authorities, but all were willing to meet the whole cost from their own pockets if necessary, feeling that the benefit more than outweighed the cost.

To sum up" recent years have witnessed the growth, in technical colleges, of courses where the students stand to benefit particularly from periods of residence even if these can only be short. The student preparing for a degree by part-time study is in this position; if his studies are to attain the depth which the level of work requires, he badly needs periods of intensive study with continuous access to a tutor which only residence can provide. The sandwich student also faces special problems; the educational potential of integrating practical work and academic study is great, but the alternation of college and industrial periods may be detri- mental to continuity of study and is disruptive of student corporate life. To meet these problems new educational methods need to be evolved or old ones adapted. The general merits of short residential courses are well known; the particular merit of such courses held during the industrial periods of the sandwich is that they go some way to meet these difficulties by strengthening the link between student and college just when this is most needed.

84 Residential Short Courses for Technical College Students

REFERENCES 1. SILBERSTON, DOROTHY. (1960). 'Residence and Technical Education', a Report

prepared under the guidance of a committee nominated by The Association of Technical Institutions, The Association of Principals of Technical Institutions, The Association of Teachers in Technical Institutions and The National Institute of Adult Education.

2. 1I. 1 above, p. 67. 3. DAVIES, J. S. (1961). 'Courses in Liberal Studies for Technical College Students at an Adult

Residential College.' The Vocational Aspect, Vol. XIII, pp. 129-32. 4. (1963). 'Higher Education', Report of the Committee appointed by the Prime Minister

under the Chairmanship of Lord Robbins, 1961-3, p. 262, H.M.S.O.: London. 5. (1964). Statement No. 1, Council for National Academic Awards, p. l l.

APPENDIX

A. Bristol College of Science and Technology Conferences for Diploma Technology Students hem during Industrial Periods (Conferences all held in period May-July)

Year Venue Theme 1959 St. Boniface College, Archaeology

Warminster

1960 Dillington House, Ilminster, Somerset

,, Somerville College, Oxford

1961 Urchfont Manor, Devizes

,, Burwalls, Leigh Woods, Bristol

Somerset in 1960

,, St. Anne's College, Oxford

1962 Queen's College, ta) Birmingham

,, Spode House, Rugeley, Staffordshire

,, Pendrell Hall, Codswall Wood, Wolverhamp- ton

,, St. Anne's College, Oxford

,, Wessex Hall, Reading

1963 Queen's College, Birmingham

Visits Stonehenge Scratchbury Camp, Near

Warminster

Montacute House

Architecture for Blenheim Palace Education Oxford Colleges

Social Psychology of Places of archaeological Industry interest in Wiltshire

Some Aspects of Africa Museum of American Domestic Art, Claver- ton Manor, Bath

The Idea of a University: Oxford Colleges Continuity and Change

Technology, Theology and Social Responsi- bility

Industrial Design

The Art of the Film

Recent planning and development in Bir- mingham

Individual visits to places of interest in the Potteries

Museum of Industrial Archaeology at Coal- brookdal¢ Iron Works

The Modern Predicament Oxford Colleges

After the Dip. Tech., What Next ?

Design for Living

Electrical Research Sta- tion Reading.

Grassland Research In- stitute, Maidenhead.

Coventry Cathedral and pedestrian precincts: Birmingham redevelop- ment

(a) A course held joLntly with students of Theolo~ from Queen's College.

C . T . S A N D F O R D 8 5

1963 Spode House, Rugeley, Staffordshire

,, Hawkwood College, Stroud

,, Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester

,, St. Anne's College, Oxford

,, Connaught Hal/, Southampton

1964 Queen's College, Birmingham

,, Spode House, Rugeley, Staffordshire

,, Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester

,, St. Anne's College, Oxford

Induction Conferences Ca~ 1962 SandyweU Park,

Cheltenham

1963 Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester

B. Municipal College, Burnley

Influences on Modern Architecture

Man, Morals and Society

The New Theatre

Science and Government

Reaching for the Stars

Industrial Archaeology

Some Problems of the Newly Independent States of Africa

Social Responsibility: The Place of the Chemist and Biologist

The University of Tomorrow

Education in the Sixties

Education in the Sixties

Monastery

Individual visits

Archaeological excursion on the Cotswolds

Oxford Colleges

Individual visits

Sites of Industrial Archaeology in Bir- mingham. Dept. of Science and Industry, City Museum

College Farms Roman Museum

Oxford Colleges

Fruit and Vegetable Canning and Quick Freezing Research Association

British Nylon Spinners

Courses <b) arranged for students preparing part-time for B.Sc. (Econ.) London 1958 ~ Alston Hall, Preston Intensive course of study 1959 J of degree subjects

(Script received: September 17, 1964)

(a) Conferences held in September (b) Held during Easter vacation.