Embedding
Employability in
Distance Education
or
Tempting trolls with
toast and marmite?
Fran Myers, Open University
Business School
Programme Aims:
A flexible approach to design and
delivery of theoretical and experience
based learning at distance whilst
maintaining quality at scale
3 strands
• How programme design aims to support students
• Design theory vs. how it actually seems to happen, and
changing power relationships
• Finding out: Student feedback
Degree Programme Design
Theoretical courses
Level 1 – Introduction to
Business Studies
Level 2 – Business Functions in
Context
Level 2 – Business organisations
Practice based courses
Level 1 – Working and learning:
developing effective performance at work
Level 1 – Managing in the
Workplace (NVQ conversion
course)
and their environments
Level 2 – Leadership and
Change
Level 3 – Making Sense of
Strategy
Level 3 – Certificate in
Management
Awards dependent upon student choices – BA Honours degrees, Foundation degrees etc
Design perceptions into practice?
Other students
Local tutor group
Monitoring
Quality control
Wider student café
Mentor
Student
Tutor
Facilitation,
contextualisation
Academic guidance
Learning contract
Other supporting evidence
Adapted from the COBE website;
http://intranet.open.ac.uk/inclusion-curriculum/
Perceptions into practice?
• Action research on how the role of the tutor changes
– Creating a “community of practice” between students
– Negotiation of tutors own role
• Problems around academic assessment
• Dangers for some students in surfacing work
issues
• Time and emotional commitment
• Power balance away from traditional “student-tutor”
Action research commentary…
• …when you get that scared e-mail that pops into your e-mail box that
says, ‘I’m halfway through doing this and then suddenly I got made
redundant. Something happened [and] I can’t do this anymore, and I
think I am going to have to leave.’ And that is where I think hands on
comes back in again…sometimes you can help to direct them to see
how even the crisis that they are going through provides an
opportunity for some learning…. (Focus group)
Gathering Data from students:
Formal vs. Informal feedback
• Formal anonymous
feedback requested at
the end of each course
• Reflective feedback
shared openly with tutors
• Instant student café
commentary
• Facebook groups
• End of course
testimonials
Café commentary – active
learning or unwitting trolling?
• “I
wish I had never
started this
course”
• “AAAARGGH!
BU130 has broken
me”
• “WHY am I finding
this so hard?”
End of course feedback
• Every tutor receives an anonymous report at the end of
the course from their students as to their facilitation
skills etc
– Commentary can be extracted from this
• Very clear even at early stage that reflected feedback is
very different from comments during the course
End of course feedback I
• This has been an interesting year for leadership (in my
company) as we are in a shrinking market and
everything has changed; (my tutor)…helped me think
through things differently
End of course feedback II
“This course was very challenging for me and a lot
different from the first course I had previously done.... It
was hard grafting from the start and I almost quit
because I lost interest in the course as the effort into it
did not achieve the results I expected and aimed for. I
finished the course and I would say now it helped me to
improve my management techniques and made a
positive impact with my boss…”
Active student reflections “When I started this course, I was like urrrgh but I went
for promotion… and I told them all about the things
we’ve been doing, and I sounded good, I’m sure it
swung it. I can’t say I like this reflective stuff particularly
but…”
Active student reflections II
“Just a quick note to say thank-you for all your help on
this course. I've been reading on the student cafe that
some people are not happy with the course or find it
boring. However I cannot tell you how much I have
truly learnt during the last 6 months and how much of
an enjoyable worthwhile learning experience it has
been.”
Reflecting on Reflecting
• A VERY different way to learn and will take a bit of time if used to
conventional courses, however after competing the course…. I
consistently see where I use the learning to my benefit in work
….Looking back, I enjoyed it and to my surprise did very well….so go
for it, stick in at it and you will probably enjoy it once it is all over.
OU course reviews (accessed 4 April 2011) http://www3.open.ac.uk/coursereviews/course.aspx?course=bu130
Reflecting on reflecting
• Initially I found this course bizarre and did not know where to start
mainly because I had got so used to the traditional courses where
one reads a text and then answers questions…. After a few months
into the course I started to receive positive comments from my boss
and friends because of the different ways I started to see and
manage my work. I introduced Kolb's Learning Cycle to the company
and everybody is enjoying the use of this model to develop their work
practice.
OU course reviews (accessed 4 April 2011) http://www3.open.ac.uk/coursereviews/course.aspx?course=bu130
Using the findings
• Becoming clear that students feel differently at the end
of the journey
***
• Level 1 course due for a refresh this winter
• Can incorporate feedback into more acknowledgment
of discomfort into course material, and better training
for future tutors
• awareness that discomfort and associated expressions
natural part of the learning process
In summary:
• Important for the institution as well as individuals to
reflect on the student journey
• Should expect student (and tutor) learning to be messy
and acknowledge it as such
• Set expectations for students starting out that effects of
this sort of learning may only be apparent in reflection
• That skills gained and their value in the workplace can
be clearly evidenced
References:
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Harvey, M. and Slaughter, T; (2006) Work-based learning: models and approaches, Centre for Outcome Based Education, The Open
University, http://intranet.open.ac.uk/lts/production/download/documents/generic/Work-based_Learning.pdf Accessed 09/03/2011
Harvey, Morag and Norman, Lyn (2007); Beyond competencies: what HE assessment could offer the workplace and the practitioner
researcher. Research in Post-Compulsory Education, 12(3), pp. 331–342.
Reid, K.E. et al; Co-Creating Learning: Tutor Perspectives of Work-Based Learning, A study funded by the Practice-Based Professional
Learning CETL at the Open University (November 2009)
Embedding employability into the curriculum, Yorke, M and Knight, P; Learning and Employability Series 1, The Higher Education Academy,
(April 2006)
Widening participation through workplace learning, Morag Harvey, The Open University. The Teaching-Research Interface: Implications for
Practice in HE and FE, HEA, (April 2008)
Donath, Judith S. (1999). "Identity and deception in the virtual community". In Smith, Marc A.; Kollock, Peter. Communities in Cyberspace
(accessed via Judith Donath MIT webpage, 6th April 2011) http://smg.media.mit.edu/people/Judith/
TOMLINSON M. 2008. Students' perceptions of the role of higher education credentials for graduate work and employability, British Journal
of Sociology and Education, vol 29, pp 49-61
Kolb, D. (1984) Experiential Learning, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, Prentice Hall.
Pedlar, M., Burgoyne, J. and Boydell, T. (2001) A Manager’s Guide to Self-Development (4th edn.), Maidenhead, McGraw-Hill.
Work-based Learning, Action Learning and the Virtual Paradigm, Gray, D; University of Surrey, Paper presented at the European
Conference on Educational Research, Lahti, Finland 22-25 September 1999