Institutional Change at MMU

Peter Bird & Rachel Forsyth

SRC project

Monday, April 10, 2023 1

What was SRC

• Try out curriculum change in four areas, Law, Accounting, Creative Digital, Physiotherapy

• Curriculum tuned to needs of employers, professional bodies

• Showcasing of talent through portfolio/PDP• Attempt to create a more efficient QA process

with online curriculum

Monday, April 10, 2023 3

SRC

Employers / Prof

Bodies

Course TeamsLearners

ShowcasingTalent

Mapping &(Re)DesigningCurriculum

Sign-posting Opportunity

How was it in 2009?

• Robust but burdensome QA processes with lots of paper and large approval meetings

• Inconsistent and often large numbers of assessments per unit, lack of clear learning outcomes

• A lack of a consistency for students – ad-hoc linkage between curriculum, timetabling, VLE, library resources etc…

• Some good links to employability but no overall strategy

Course Info | systemic problems

5

QAA commend our robust processes

We keep it vague to avoid tortuous QA

Practice is too varied to systematise

We struggle to interpret vague QA docs

We can’t get concrete details on courses for website, so maintain our own

Student Records QA

Marketing Course Teams

Central systems don’t support local variety so we build our own

Why do marketing never have up-to-date info about our courses

We re-type everything into UCAS

2010 - Stop Mucking about, let’s go for broke…• Re-write the curriculum• Standardise course units• Link in employability outcomes• Stick the curriculum online• And while you’re at it, change the VLE, introduce

personalised timetabling and mash it up into a student portal.

What have we done… The launch of EQAL• Re-written the entire undergraduate curriculum

(over 1300 course units so far…). First year went live in Autumn 2011

• Put the curriculum online and streamlined QA processes

• All course units linked to graduate outcomes• Less assessments to lead to better feedback..• New VLE, online personalised timetabling,

assessment tracking system

What have we learned

• “Never mind the pedagogy”. Standardisation – 30 credits, 20 credits – forget the credits it’s forcing the change that matters…..

• It’s not about saving money – it’s better student experience for the same bucks

• It’s all or nothing with institutional change – can’t do it by experimentation

• How to do change management

What we have learned

• You won’t get instant leaps in NSS scores – management has to hold its nerve for several years at least…

• Communication is a key issue – Easy for staff to see this as pre-cursor to re-structuring

• Accurate data is key – an inaccurate curriculum will be quickly visible to students

• Training/Support is needed – hence the games!

What they said…• “We recognised that if we were to be one institution, albeit made up of different

faculties and campuses with different origins and histories, we needed a greater degree of standardisation and consistency about the way the curriculum was assessed.” Deputy VC

• “I don’t like the 30-credit unit size; it’s too big and prevents a diverse curriculum, reduces student choice and requires lumping things together which don’t naturally fit.” EQAL Faculty Lead

• “There is a better understanding now of the connection between basic aspects of the curriculum and the student experience… it doesn’t matter how good teaching and learning is, it will be dragged down if the basics aren’t in place, like knowing where you are supposed to be, what assignments will be set and when the submission dates are. I think that understanding of this is beginning to grow across the institution now.” Learning Technologist

• “I appreciate why MMU has done EQAL – for a more positive student experience. These things just take time, it’s such a big university. On the whole, the university does listen to the student voice.” Vice President, Student Union

The end is only the beginning…

• Building blocks in place but assessment for learning is a(nother) long-term project….

• You can’t do enough to develop links to employability…

• Showcasing of talent through Mahara• Communication, Communication Communication

has to improve to keep staff on-board