lrt talks ucas 20110125
DESCRIPTION
The slide deck was written to accompany a workshop at the UCAS Data Matters 2011 conference about preparing to deliver better pre-entry information to those interested in a place at university. It draws lessons from the JISC's Curriculum Design and Delivery Programme and contextualises themese raised with a case study of how Manchester Metropolitan University is responding to the agenda of informed choice. Links to reports and consultations mentioned are provided from the logos of the organisations referenced within the slides.TRANSCRIPT
Thursday, April 13, 2023 1
Preparing for better pre-entry informationUCAS Data Matters – the data journeyHotel Russell, London, January 2011
Professor Mark StubbsHead of Learning & Research Technologies
Manchester Metropolitan University
[email protected] | http://twitter.com/thestubbs
Informed Choice‘Many prospective students do not get adequate advice or information to help them choose a course of study’Browne, Oct 2010
‘The consultation proposes that providers of higher education should review their approach to publishing information for prospective students. It suggests that a standardised set of key facts for each course should be published on institutions’ web-sites. This information would be called the Key Information Set (KIS)’HEFCE, Dec 2010
‘In our 2008 report, we suggested that universities should publish a standard set of information setting out what students can expect from their academic programme – we are pleased to see that the coalition government will be taking this forward’National Student Forum, Annual Report 2010
closes Mar 7
Informed Choice | not a new agenda
• In 2005, UCAS supported a JISC project to address– National agenda of ‘informed choice’ about learning opportunities but– feeling that education lags behind other sectors in making its ‘products’ easy
to discover and compare.– Standards exist for exchanging information about people, groups,
membership and learning objects but– no standard way to exchange information about courses.– Institutions developing ways to populate their prospectus from definitive data
but– resorting to primitive data entry to populate aggregator sites, regional
portals, area prospectuses…– Genuine interest from the community in a standard for exchanging course
info that facilitates joined-up thinking
• called eXchanging Course-Related Information
XCRI | project
• Opened dialogue with European partners in a search for best practice
• Surveyed prospectus websites & underpinning business processes
• Evolved a data exchange specification based on best practice and large-scale trials
• Proposed an XML specification that drove EU-level negotiations on a common information model for advertising learning opportunities
• Endorsed by UK ISB for ESCS in Feb 2009• Building XCRI-readiness amongst UK providers
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XCRI | relationship shift
Thursday, April 13, 2023 5
LearningProvider
UCAS LLN
WebProspectus
ProviderRe-keys & Pushes for eachAggregator
NLD
LearningProvider
UCAS LLN
WebProspectus
XML
AggregatorsPoll & Harvest fromProviders
ProviderpublishesXCRI prospectusas well as webprospectus
NLD
XCRI | significance
• A European Norm on metadata for advertising learning opportunities will be established in 2011– MLO prEN 15982
• Member states should drop any competing standards and pursue compliance
• Good news!– XCRI 1.2 earmarked as UK implementation of MLO– XCRI 1.2 can deliver Key Information Sets– Significant XCRI capacity building in place– BUT ... some sectoral process & systems hurdles
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Course Info | state of the art
• Interim findings from the JISC’s £8M 4 Year Curriculum Design & Delivery Programme…
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‘Many problems with the management of course-related information can be put down to the fact that this is still a document-based rather than a data-based system (and paper-based at most institutions). This gives rise to duplication of effort and of information, lack of version control, poor re-use of relevant information for different purposes, and a tendency for information to be designed for approval rather than any other purpose.’
Course Info | systemic problems
8
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
Ingredients for change
• Introduction of market mechanisms– Fees: “What will we get for our money?”– Information: web-accessible Key Information Sets
• CSR questioning value of re-keying jobs– Compelling argument for XCRI-CAP 1.2 data upload
• Recognition that curriculum needs managing– Systems vendors stepping up to the challenge
Case Study | MMU
• Largest campus-based undergraduate university in England• Comprehensive range of courses serving national and
regional needs (2nd most popular for UCAS applications)• 37,000+ students | 1,000+ courses | 7 sites• www.mmu.ac.uk
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Case Study | XCRI-readiness audit
• 2007 report highlighted importance of: – devising new business processes to unite previously disparate domains of
quality, marketing & enrolment; – establishing clarity about ownership & maintenance of definitive course data;– coordinating activity through suitable leadership
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ADVERTISED
APPROVED ENROLLED
Prospectus435
UCAS1813
QLS1333
UFI3267
PAPERWEB
PROGSPECS
TRANSFORM
ADVERTISED
APPROVED ENROLLED
AcademicDB
QLS
UCAS UFI GMSAPAPERWEB
PROGSPECS
Case Study | preparing to do better
MMU’s comprehensive “EQAL” change programme• New Curriculum Framework• New Admin Systems + Business Processes• Seamless Access• Streamlined Quality Processes
Outcomes• Every UG course & module will be re-written
– Entirely new first year goes live September 2011– Data-based, not document-based course information
Case Study | joined-up design
• Co-designing an alternative to the status quo• Blending specialist expertise without blinkers!
Student Records+ Enrolment+ Transcript (HEAR)
QA / QE+ Definitive documents+ Annual monitoring
Marketing+ Prospectus+ UCAS
Curriculum Innovation+ Learning Outcome mapping+ Competence development
CurriculumDatabase
Case Study | foundations for better info
CurriculumDatabase
BI / Data Warehouse
+
Web Services Prospectus
Aggregators
data.mmu.ac.uk?
[Meerkat at Adelaide Zoo by Adam Jenkins, 2010]
Further reading• XCRI
– Knowledge: http://xcri.co.uk– Development forums: http://xcri.org
• JISC – Curriculum Design & Delivery Programme: Design Studio
http://jiscdesignstudio.pbworks.com/w/page/12458422/Welcome-to-the-Design-Studio
– Cumulus: Curriculum Management in the Cloud http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/flexibleservicedelivery/cumulus.aspx
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KIS | proposed timeline
Thursday, April 13, 2023 MLE Workshop, Aytoun Library Seminar Room 2009-05-13 14:00
17
Dec 2010 to Mar 2011 •Consultation open.
Nov 2010 to Mar 2011 •Work underway to pilot the KIS.
18 Feb and 3 Mar 2011 •Consultation seminars.
7 Mar 2011 •Consultation closes.
Mar to May 2011 •Analysis of consultation responses and discussion at Boards of sponsor bodies.
April to July 2011 •User testing of the KIS with prospective students begins.
July 2011 •Outcomes of consultation published, with guidance on development of information sets.
July 2011 to July 2012•Institutions develop key information sets, revise other information and start to publish this.
August 2012•Final deadline for publication on institutional web-sites of revised information and the key information sets.