FQESC(H&SC)/13/3
ROBERT GORDON UNIVERSITY
FACULTY QUALITY ENHANCEMENT SUB-COMMITTEE (HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE)
Minute of Meeting held on 17 April 2013.
Present: Professor V Maehle (Convener), Mrs H Bain, Dr S Cunningham, Ms D Banks, Professor A Davidson, Mrs E Hancock, Dr S Joseph, Ms L Leishman, Ms S Lennie, Mr M Shepherd, Ms D Spence and Dr H Vosper. Apologies: Mr B Addison, Mr O Andoh-Kesson, Ms K Brown, Ms C Cassidy, Dr W Eboh, Ms K Goodhand, Ms J Mackenzie, Ms F Roberts, and Dr S Maxwell. In Attendance: Mr N Ferguson (for item 14), Ms L Jack and Dr C Parks (Secretary).
Action 1. WELCOME
The Convener welcomed everyone to the meeting, particularly Mr Nicol Ferguson from DELTA.
2. MINUTE
The Minute of Meeting held on 6 February 2013, reference FQESC(H&SC)/13/2, was approved subject to adding Ms Kirsty Brown to the list of attendees. There Ms Jack were no matters arising.
3. CONVENER’S REPORT
Professor Maehle reported on four items, as undernoted.
SPSO’s Complaints Handling Procedure Like all other HEIs, the university was required to adopt the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman’s (SPSO’s) Complaints Handling Procedure (CHP). To date, considerable work had been undertaken on this matter by the Academic Regulations Sub-Committee and further consideration had been given to this by the Quality Assurance and Enhancement Committee and Academic Council. Going forward, the key challenge would be in training staff across the university on this new process, which would replace all existing complaints processes/procedures. Some staff would require training as Complaints Investigators. The university would have to implement the CHP by August/September 2013 and so training would need to take place before then. Ms Jack and Ms McLean Whyte were attending an external event on 18 April 2013 about the CHP so it was anticipated that more information on training might be available at that point. A new group had been established to take the CHP forward within the university and would be meeting for the first time on 19 April. The group comprised representatives from Student Services and the student body. The group would consider issues such as training, logging, recording and reporting of complaints.
Professional Studies Framework The Professional Studies Programme had been replaced by the Professional Studies Framework. A primary difference regarding operation of the Framework Prof V was that students would only enrol when they were ready to “cash in” their Maehle/Mrs credits. Ms Alison Smart had taken over, from Ms Lucy Jack, the administration of A Smart the Framework. A seminar would be organised to inform key staff.
Clinical Skills Conference The above would take place on 27 May 2013. The conference would provide a forum for launching the clinical skills strategy, allow staff to share good practice and discuss future direction/moving forwards.
FQESC(H&SC)/13/3 2 Action 4. STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES
There were no student representatives at the meeting. Mr O Andoh-Kesson had raised an issue concerning the student body about transport to Garthdee, particularly bus travel, once the new building was occupied. Members noted that the university had had considerable discussion with Firstbus on such issues, which included possible new routes/services. It was noted that the School of Pharmacy and Life Sciences had created, and was about to launch an area within CampusMoodle about the new build, which would provide information to students.
5. TEACHING, LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT STRATEGY
As part of the MPharm’s re-accreditation by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPC), the School had to produce a Teaching, Learning and Assessment Strategy document. The document had been commended by the Council and the university’s Deputy Principal had recommended that this be discussed at the FQESC.
Dr Vosper reported that the document had been developed by a team of staff within the School. In developing the document, practice at other institutions had been reviewed and the approach taken was to audit current practice and identify where enhancements might be made. A key focus of the document was in showcasing good practice and the DELTA snapshot approach was used to good effect in the document in this respect. The document was very much produced through a “bottom-up” approach and the input and ownership of the document across staff was evidenced at the accreditation visit and commended by the GPhC. In addition to achieving good staff engagement, the document also provided a focus for reviewing key areas, such as assessment loading. It was intended to produce a student-friendly version of the document and it was suggested that the same approach could be used to develop a School-wide teaching, learning and assessment strategy document. The document was valuable in showing alignment with the university’s quality processes.
Members noted that the snapshots were easily accessible within the document and this might prove a beneficial approach in producing future Reflective Analysis documents for ILSR, which might facilitate Panel members in reviewing good practice. The snapshots of good practice had been forwarded to DELTA. The process of developing the document had been as valuable, if not more so, than the document itself and had been a rewarding process for those involved. There was an acknowledgement that information on teaching, learning and assessment methods, particularly that held within the Course Information Database, was not particularly helpful and was often a negative factor at validation events and in meeting other requirements (for example, information for PSRBs). This issue had been discussed at the Quality Assurance and Enhancement Committee and Professor Harper was keen that the Mpharm’s approach be more widely adopted. Professor Davidson noted that there was a parallel with this and the current Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP) project on ODL. There was consensus that it was crucial that students knew: what to expect of staff and what staff expected of students.
6. SHARING GOOD PRACTICE EVENTS
The Sub-Committee considered a Sharing Good Practice paper, prepared by Professor A Davidson, and an extract from the minute of the meeting of QAEC held
on 27 February 2013. Professor Davidson reported on the two activities that were covered in the paper. 3 FQESC(H&SC)/13/3
Action The first activity was concerned with a learning and teaching conference for sharing good practice. QAEC had agreed that there should be an annual spring
conference with a thematic focus that would relate to the university’s strategic priorities. The first of these would take place in the spring of Session 2013/14 with the theme of online learning. Professor Ian Allison was convening the conference Steering Group, which would comprise, among others, Teaching Fellows. Funding
was being offered to staff (envisaged to be up to a maximum of £5k for any project) to undertake development projects related to the conference theme. The project proposal would require endorsement by the Head of School/Associate Dean/Dean of Faculty. Acceptance of the funding would require presentation at the
learning and teaching conference. The conference would be open to all staff and it was suggested that it might be useful to invite key external stakeholders (for Prof example from the secondary and further education sectors). Davidson
The second activity was around enhancement trails, which had originated from the 2012 ELIR process. Enhancement trails were about documenting case studies and
for ELIR the QAA template had been populated by using extant documentation (committee and project paperwork). The two examples documented for ELIR were Health Sciences’ work on assessment feedback and Nursing and Midwifery’s work on the first year experience. There had been some discussion at QAEC about
whether the university should be undertaking routinely enhancement trails with the suggestion that this activity might lead to a further conference. There was a lack of clarity around whether the enhancement trails should be undertaken as they could be completed retrospectively. The suggestion of a second conference
was rejected. It was agreed that in developing new initiatives, some form of impact evaluation would be preferable and that this way of working should be embedded in practice. The use of a cover sheet was suggested, which could be used in a range of contexts, for example, good practice identified through the Members Annual Appraisal process.
Members queried whether there was a commonly used definition of blended learning within the university. Professor Davidson confirmed that there was not a Prof strict university definition of this term but could supply the Convener with a Davidson definition that he had found helpful in a previous project on this topic.
7. QUALITY ENHANCEMENT PRIORITIES, THEMES AND ACTIVITIES
The following updates were provided by LECs and other key staff working on intra- Faculty enhancement initiatives.
School of Pharmacy and Life Sciences (Reported by Dr H Vosper) • Recently, most staff effort had been directed in production of the School’s teaching and learning strategy document (refer section 5.). • The School was working with the GPhC on a project that was developing simulation and alternative forms of placement for pharmacy students. The HEA had agreed to provide matched funding for this initiative and the development was featured in a recent HEA publication. • An enhancement module was being developed, which would be a repository for good practice.
School of Applied Social Studies (Reported by Mr M Shepherd) • The School was preparing for its forthcoming ILSR event. • The BA (Hons) Applied Social Science Course Team was developing an interesting portfolio approach in module SS1050 Understanding The Past, Informing The Present. The aim was to encourage students to engage in learning about social history.
FQESC(H&SC)/13/3 4 Action Interprofessional Education (IPE) (Reported by Dr S Joseph) • Preparations were underway for the IPE Review event which was scheduled for May 2013. • IPE was completed for Stage 1 with 896 students attending (approximately 95% attendance). On-the-day evaluation was generally positive and further feedback would be available through the Student Evaluation Questionnaire. • The IPE student-led conference took place on 27 March 2013 under the theme of patient and client as part of the multidisciplinary team. The conference was organised by a team of nine students with QAA enhancement theme monies buying some administrative support and hospitality. The students had sourced excellent keynote speakers. In total there were 10 speakers and 45 delegates attended (numbers were disappointing and more were expected). The conference date coincided with a heavy assessment period. • Other IPE activity had been ongoing to help Life Sciences students in Stage 1 prepare for placement. • On the 29 May 2013 there was a meeting of the Scottish IPE Network hosted by RGU. Professor Ian Birch (HEA academic lead on interdisciplinarity) and Stuart Cable (NES IPE lead) would be attending. This was an opportunity to discuss how the network should operate in Scotland. There would be a presentation on the Health and Social Care Team Challenge Scotland (this was a competition between universities).
8. DELTA
Professor Davidson provided an oral report on University enhancement activities, which had not already been covered at the meeting. • The campus master plan was a work in progress; DELTA staff were scoping rooms and encouraging staff to make best use of the new facilities. • The Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP) project on online learning was focusing, initially, on distance learning. • SPARG had approved the new approach for learning and teaching CPD, replacing the PgCert HELT course. The approach would have a broader focus than newly appointed staff and would more visibly encompass visiting lecturers and part-time/ad hoc appointments. The UK professional standards framework would be utilised. As an interim measure the university was signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Open University so that staff would undertake the OU equivalent of the PgCert HELT course. Professor Davidson would be discussing with staff in the School of Nursing and Midwifery specific NMC requirements. This was important due to a forthcoming approval event for some post-registration courses within the School (scheduled for 1 May 2013). • DELTA was about to launch new online resources in CampusMoodle, which would provide guidance on; using CampusMoodle, blended learning and would also showcase effective practice. • No exemplar portfolios for Teaching Fellows had been made available as there was such a large variation in practice. This activity was being re-visited. • The current QAA theme was developing and supporting the curriculum and was being led by Professor Rita Marcella. The approach piloted in the previous session was being extended, which was about intensive course design and moving the workload away from one person to more of a team approach. The MBA team was keen to use the approach and Professor Davidson hoped to be able to use it in ODL development activity. There was also scope to apply the approach to further work around the Employability+ initiative.
9. STAFF DEVELOPMENT
Professor V Maehle reported on a number of topics, as undernoted.
5 FQESC(H&SC)/13/3
Action • As a result of the staff survey, work was underway regarding change management. An associated ‘5th wave thinking’ event was being held on 31 May ’13 to help progress the project. • DELTA had produced extensive guidance on writing learning outcomes which Prof A would need to be implemented within Schools. Davidson • It was important that staff familiarised themselves with the technology fit-out in the new build (which would also be the standard for any classroom
refurbishment). As an initial step, LECs and Teaching Fellows should be trained/given briefing on this and then cascade down to other staff. The mock- up facilities in the DELTA facilities at St Andrew Street would be useful in this respect. Identifying the minimum skills set required could be an item of LECs discussion at a future next Learning Enhancement Advisory Forum meeting.
10. SUB-COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP AND STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES
As there were no student representatives attending the meeting, Lucy Jack would email the reps to ascertain if they would be willing to continue their FQESC Ms Jack membership for a further session. The HEAR would provide a mechanism for students to show prospective employers their participation in these types of extra- curricular activities.
11. SNAPSHOTS
Members noted snapshots of good practice currently available on Campus Moodle at: http://campusmoodle.rgu.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=73647. Members were encouraged to contact DELTA with any examples of good teaching, learning and assessment practice that they would like to be developed as “snapshots”. FQESC would monitor the snapshots on a regular basis.
12. FUTURE SHARING OF GOOD PRACTICE TOPICS
Members considered and agreed the following action for Session 2013/14:- • E-Learning – each School would identify a specific area of good practice to present/showcase to the Sub-Committee; these could be considered at the Ms Jack/ Members/ October 2013 meeting. Holding File • A student-led session to take place at the February 2014 meeting; Ms Jack/ Holding File • Members to identify snapshots from other Faculties, which might be useful for wider sharing within the Sub-Committee and to highlight these to the Sub- Members/ Holding File Committee Secretary for consideration at the April 2014 meeting.
13. COMMITTEE EVALUATION
• Feedback from the Committee Evaluation Questionnaire was considered and several action points were agreed, as undernoted. It was agreed to keep the volume of paperwork as low as possible. • There appeared to be some lack of clarity among members with respect to the Sub-Committee’s remit. This was discussed at the first meeting of each session Ms Jack/ Holding File but perhaps needed to be considered more fully. Members suggested it would also be helpful if the roles of individuals on the Sub-Committee could be clarified. • All members were encouraged to suggest items of business. Members • The responses to question 3.3 were queried and Ms Jack would check this. Ms Jack • There had been a clash of the FQESC with one other meeting this session and this had been avoided in scheduling meetings for Session 2013/14. In lieu of a Faculty-wide schedule of meetings, there was still the potential for the dates to clash with others meetings. However this had been mitigated against as far as possible. FQESC(H&SC)/13/3 6 Action 14. NEW LECTURE ROOM SET-UP
Mr Nicol Ferguson, eLearning Consultant gave a demonstration of the new teaching room set-up. A number of points were noted and discussed, as undernoted. • The key items of equipment and associated software were highlighted:- - Short throw projector (Wifi and interactive modules could be bought for additional functionality) - Smart document camera (smart software was associated with the smart camera and podium) - Microphones (clip on and boundary) - Control panel (which was motion sensitive). Among other features were a default button and a brightness control, which was useful if the room was very bright and the screen display needed to be enhanced - Camera control (which had not yet been installed in H303) - Camera (for use with Skype and Panopto and for conference calling). The camera could be directed anywhere in the room and had three pre- settings. A request to ITS would allow these to be altered - Mixed reality cube (for manoeuvering 3D images). This could be used with the smart notebook where images could be retrieved from the gallery (there were thousands of images available – most free - including inner ear, heart, molecular structures etc.) - Panopto was used for lecture capture (audio and video) and had been adopted relatively recently; decisions were still to be made about its functionality. The recording software could be installed on any laptop (including Macs) and had been piloted recently by the Law Department (it was noted that student attendance at classes was not adversely affected). Recorded material was uploaded to a server and this could be found through a url. In addition to lecture recording, Panopto would also record, in parallel, Powerpoint presentations and output from other desktop applications. The Panopto recording could be edited and inserted into Moodle, although the original recording was always available. Panotpo could be used for a live broadcast and this might be useful if a class was so large it was split over two classrooms • Spaces classed as “general teaching” (which were centrally timetabled) in the new build would be fitted out with the same technical specification. This would also be the standard specification for any classroom refurbishment.
Members had found the demonstration very informative and had identified some Prof Maehle issues that would require further discussion/resolution:- • There needed to be consultation about the requirements of each room in terms of camera pre-settings. In particular there were concerns about recording of Assessment Boards as the cameras would be permanently on. Whilst there was no sound, results were often projected onto the wall and so a pre-setting suitable for an Assessment Board may be required; • It might be useful to have the document camera installed in labs; • Equipment going missing from rooms.
15. DATE AND TIMES OF FUTURE MEETINGS
Members noted that the meeting dates for Session 2013/14 were as follows:- • 2.00 pm – 5.00 pm Wednesday 23 October 2013 • 2.00 pm – 5.00 pm Wednesday 5 February 2014 • 2.00 pm – 5.00 pm Wednesday 17 April 2014
16. SCHOOL ACADEMIC BOARDS AND QUALITY ENHANCEMENT ACTIVITIES
Schools were reminded that SABs must monitor School level quality enhancement activities. 7 FQESC(H&SC)/13/3
Action 17. COMMITTEE AND SUB-COMMITTEE MINUTES FOR NOTING
Minutes of Standing Committees, and Sub-Committees of Academic Council were available at: http://www.rgu.ac.uk/about/governance/committees
• Quality Assurance and Enhancement Committee Minute of Meeting held on 27 February 2013. http://www.rgu.ac.uk/about/governance/committees/academic- council/quality-assurance-and-enhancement • Teaching, Learning and Assessment Sub- Committee Minute of Meeting held on 23 January 2013. http://www.rgu.ac.uk/about/governance/committees/academic-council/sub- committees/teaching-learning-and-assessment-sub-committee
• Learning Infrastructure Sub-Committee Minute of Meeting held on 7 February 2013. http://www.rgu.ac.uk/about/governance/committees/academic-council/sub- commitees/learning-infrastructure-sub-committee
• Faculty Quality Enhancement Sub-Committee (Aberdeen Business School) Minute of Meeting held on 30 January 2013. http://www.rgu.ac.uk/about/governance/committees/academic-council/sub- commitees/faculty-quality-enhancement-aberdeen-business-school-sub- committee
• Faculty Quality Enhancement Sub- Committee (Faculty of Design and Technology) Minute of Meeting held on 20 March 2013. http://www.rgu.ac.uk/about/governance/committees/academic-council/sub- commitees/faculty-quality-enhancement-health-and-social-care-sub- committee
Professor V Maehle, C May 2013