Transcript 34. The synergy of policy, practice and research in a collaborative project. (MSPowerpoint 336KB)

Learning and Skills Research Network
Conference 6 December 2007
The synergy of policy, practice and
research in a collaborative project
Anne Thompson, Liz Halford and Will Thomas
Universal Access and Dual Regimes of Further
and Higher Education
The FurtherHigher Project
• A two year study
• With four partner institutions
• In collaboration with HEFCE
Elements of the project
•
•
•
•
International and national policy
National data sets (ILR and HESA)
Organisational typology
Field work in four partner institutions
Collaborative working and capacity
building
‘A key element in the study is research
collaboration and capacity-building with
partner institutions.’
FurtherHigher Collaborative Project Team
Case study fieldwork
Case Study A
Case Study Project Team
University of Sheffield
Int RA
University of
Leeds
University of
the West of
England
Case Study C
Director Policy
Director Institutions
Director Case Study
Research Associate A
Research Associate B /PhD Student 1
Research Associate C/D
PhD Student 2
PhD Student 3
Institutional RA A
Institutional RA B
Institutional RA C
Institutional RA D
Case Study B
PhD 5
Int RA
FE and HE
College
PhD 3
Case Study D
Int RA
Int RA
Cognate Project
Cognate Project
Review of Literature on
Foundation Degrees (FdF)
Project website:
http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/furtherhigher/
Higher Education in Further
Education Colleges Report on
HEFCE consultation (HEFCE)
Fieldwork Methodology
• 2 transitions
– Level 3 → Level 4
– Level 5 → Level 6
• 3 interviews with students
– End of their course
– After 1 term of new course
– End of their 1st/final year
• 10 students at each level (20 per institution)
Fieldwork at Suffolk College
• Difficult to find appropriate cohorts
– Getting the right data
– Lack of internal progression (~8% overall)
• Highlighted an issue with one subject
group
– No progression from ND Business
– Why?
• Parallel study of students from Business
Working together?
• Tensions between project and
institutional interests
– Maintaining professional distance as an
Institutional Research Associate
– Respecting confidentiality
• Synergy of research interests
– Greater understanding of progression
– Highlighting issues for the institution
Outcomes
• Work to understand progression
• Better data about recruitment and
retention
– Survey of students’ intentions
• Role for CREATE to play in internal
research in this area
– Analysis of data and information for
internal dissemination
Fieldwork at TVU: The benefits of
collaboration
Institutional –
• Contributes to developing research
capacity at TVU
• RAE entry as new researcher
• Informs my own practice
• Links to other research projects and
activities
Benefits (cont.)
Personal –
• Enhanced my own research capability,
by participating in a large and
experienced team
• Contributed to a systematic research
process
• Raised awareness of ethical issues
Relationship to academic activity
• The research has formed part of a
professional doctorate
• Fieldwork provided data regarding my
own institution
• Also enabled access to data from other
institutions, providing a comparative
element
Related activities
• Educational Policy and Pedagogical
Research Group
• Learning Lunches
• Faculty Research Journal
• Developing practitioner research with
colleagues