Learning and Teaching Committee
LTC07-M3
Minutes
of the Meeting of the Committee held on 8 November 2007
Members: Morag Bell (in the Chair), Simon Austin, Paul
Byrne, John Dickens, Sophie Driscoll (ab),
John Harper (ab), Barry Howarth (ab), Martin Harrison, Helen Jacques, Ruth
Kinna (ab), Anne Mumford, Jennifer Nutkins, Jan Tennant, David Twigg, Andrew
Wilson (ab)
Apologies: Sophie Driscoll, John Harper, Barry
Howarth, Ruth Kinna, Andy Wilson
In
attendance: Robert
Bowyer, Howard Jones (for M.56 and M.57)
07/47 Welcome to new members
The Chair welcomed Helen Jacques to
her first meeting. Barry Howarth and
Sophie Driscoll had also joined the Committee for the first time though unable
to be present.
07/48 Business of the meeting
No items were unstarred.
07/49 Minutes
LTC07-M2
The Minutes of the meeting of the
Committee held on 7 June 2007 were confirmed.
07/50 Matters arising from the
Minutes not otherwise appearing on the Agenda
Senate
actions
It was noted that Senate had
approved the recommendations of the Committee in the following matters:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
Sharing
External Examiners’ reports with students (M.07/35)
(iv)
New
programmes and strategic changes (M.07/39)
07/51 Terms of reference
LTC07-P39
The Committee considered its terms of reference, reflecting on
(i) their fitness for purpose
(ii) members’ responsibilities
It was agreed to add the BUE Validation Sub-Committee to the bodies
listed in paragraph 8 and to add at the end of paragraph 9 ‘and from the
Associate Dean (Teaching) BUE on matters concerning the University’s
partnership with BUE within his area of responsibility’.
It was noted that the place filled by the Director of Media Services
had previously been allotted to the Director of DISS, who had nominated the
Director of Media Services to serve on her behalf. Following the dissolution of DISS, it had
been agreed amongst the individuals concerned that the Director of Media Services
should remain a member of the Committee ex officio and that the
Librarian and the Director of IT should receive all papers and a standing
invitation to attend for any items of business relating to the services they
provided. The Committee would
nevertheless be pleased to have the Director of Media Services represent the
interests of these other services as and when the Heads concerned wished her to
so.
07/52 Major issues for the
Committee 2007/08
LTC07-P40
The Committee noted that
the major issues for the Committee in 2007/08 were likely to flow from the
Learning and Teaching Implementation Plan.
Priority areas for action were listed in the paper. These were expanded upon by the PVC(T) and
discussed by the Committee:
(i)
Subject profile and student composition
Noted:
·
Intentions to broaden the subject profile, primarily in high
demand subjects including History which it had been agreed to introduce in
2009; a major/minor structure was envisaged (with History as the major) which
could provide scope for inputs from outside SSH
·
Possibilities for new programmes complementary to the ETI
·
Initiation of a strategic review to look at the desired
shape and composition of the University’s student population five years
hence
·
Concerns within the Committee that organisational changes
should not lessen the profile of Psychology within the University’s
portfolio
(ii)
Curriculum design, programme delivery and learning
opportunities
·
There was an emphasis on flexible approaches to programme
design and delivery, especially at the PG level, which could contribute to
Loughborough’s approach to employer engagement
·
The Powertrain Engineering Foundation Degree programme
currently under discussion was also an employer engagement initiative;
Foundation Degrees were not a strategic priority for the University but there
was a strong case in this instance for strengthening and building on an
existing industrial partnership
·
The Enterprise Office was leading the development of an
employer engagement strategy which would bring together research, learning and
teaching and enterprise; industry partners were most likely to be identified
through the Enterprise Office or staff research links
·
The
·
An observation that flexible provision at PG level would
typically have a high development cost and a short shelf-life
(iii)
Student support
·
A key development would be the creation of the proposed
Student Hub to bring together activities rooted in a range of services, in
support of student learning
·
The hub would have a web presence; some physical locations
would also be identified with it
·
The Director of Media Services was invited to talk to Mary
Morley and Wendy Llewellyn about proposals for the physical locations to see if
she might be able to offer assistance
ACTION: AMM
(iv)
Quality assurance and enhancement
·
The creation of a Centre to support staff in their
professional approach to learning was the most important development envisaged
under this heading
·
The Centre would have a strong emphasis on quality
enhancement and work with both individuals and departments
(v)
Staff recognition and reward
·
Discussions were taking place, primarily in the HR Working
Group, to align recognition and reward mechanisms with the new University
strategy
It was noted that a number of Key
Performance Indicators were incorporated in the implementation plan. Some of the relevant data, in areas such as
student recruitment, for example, had been regularly reviewed, but in other
areas data would need to be more systematically reviewed in the future than had
been the case up to now. It had yet to
be decided how best to approach such discussions.
It was noted that consideration
would be given in the course of the year to the rules and regulations for
reassessment, and their impact on departments.
07/53 QAA
Institutional Audit 2008
LTC07-P41
The Committee received a progress
report on arrangements. The
discontinuation of the ‘discipline audit trails’ which had featured
in the previous methodology was noted, as was their replacement by
‘sampling trails’ based on the University’s own periodic
review procedures and units of review. It was suggested that members of staff who
might be considered likely to be invited to meet the audit team be alerted to
the dates concerned.
ACTION: RAB
07/54 Learning
and teaching spaces
LTC07-P42
The Committee considered a report
from the Director of Media Services.
Attention was drawn to the loss of
the EHB rooms for teaching because of careers fairs, once each semester. The Committee agreed that both the teaching
and the careers fair were important and was keen to see a solution found to
avoid the competing claims on the same space.
Various suggestions were made and it was agreed to invite the Director
of Media Services to explore possible options further with the Head of the
Careers Centre.
ACTION: AMM
It was noted that increases in some
large group sizes had started to come up against the capacity limits of the
lecture rooms available.
The development of more flexible types
of programme would suggest a need to look at the sort of space that was
provided as well as its allocation.
Sophie Driscoll had drawn attention
to issues concerning student access to suitable study space. There were also issues concerning provision
of informal space for student use, which had been highlighted in the student
experience implementation plan. It was
RESOLVED that a small group be established covering both sets of issues, to
comprise Jennifer Nutkins, Anne Mumford, Mary Morley, Phil Richards, Nick
Slater, Sophie Driscoll and Sabrina Johnson.
It would need to make contact with Imago, Estates and the SDC.
ACTION: JCN
Favourable comments were passed on
the improvements made to various foyers and entrances across the campus to
create informal learning spaces. It was
felt that similar projects could be carried out in other buildings and the
Director of Media Services was encouraged to undertake an audit of foyers and
entrances to assess possibilities.
ACTION: AMM
Attention was drawn to the lack of
suitable learning spaces for staff, for example, for the probationary staff
programme, and for continuing professional development generally. It was suggested this be taken into
consideration in the development of the Centre for learning and teaching.
07/55 Periodic
Programme Reviews
The Committee considered
the reports of Periodic Programme Reviews held in the summer of 2007 and the
responses of the relevant departments:
55.1
LTC07-P43
The PPR overall had been very
positive and many features had been commended, including the
Attention was drawn to the space
problems referred to in paragraph 11.16 of the report. It was noted that the situation was getting
worse. Even minor percentage increases
in the size of student groups meant that room capacities were being exceeded
and fewer options were available.
It was agreed to ask the Director of
Media Services to use her good offices to have consideration given to the
panel’s recommendation concerning possible use of accommodation at
ACTION: AMM
The Committee noted the concerns
expressed by the panel regarding the time pressures under which the assessment
process was operating and the impact on the work of the external examiners
(13.10). It noted the efforts made by
the
ACTION: CMG
It was agreed to draw the
recommendation in 13.6 to the attention of Chris Backhouse as Director of
Internationalisation Strategy and invite him to follow it up.
ACTION: RAB, CJB
It was suggested that the AD(T) broker
discussion between the
ACTION: PLB
55.2 Chemistry
LTC07-P44
The panel had identified many
positive features and examples of good practice. Actions in response to the report would as usual
be followed up in APR.
Attention was drawn to the Head of
Department’s suggestion that the University should explore again the
possibility of central timetabling (14.2) and following discussion it was
agreed to ask the Director of Media Services to bring forward a paper to the
next meeting rehearsing the pros and cons of such a move.
ACTION: AMM
It was queried whether there had
been any comment within the panel about the volume of lab work, which might
exacerbate some of the department’s capacity problems; the Committee was
informed that there had been no criticism of this aspect of the programmes. It was reported that the Head of Department
had nevertheless recently set up a group to look at ways of streamlining
programmes.
It was suggested that the use of PhD
students as mentors for first-year UGs (10.8) should be brought to the
attention of Jenny Bell, Head of Counselling, who was working on mentoring
schemes elsewhere on campus.
ACTION: RAB, JB
07/56 English Language entry requirements
LTC07-P45
The Committee considered amendments
to English Language requirements for entry to postgraduate taught programmes.
It was noted that the paper came
forward against a background of increasing concern amongst staff about
standards of English amongst international students, and in discussion the
Committee identified a number of issues requiring further consideration in
relation to students who were admitted subject to attending a pre-sessional
English language programme or who on paper met the English language
requirements for entry to the University but were subsequently found to require
further language support.
It was reported that the Director of
the
ACTION: JFH
It was RESOLVED to RECOMMEND the
proposed amendments to Senate, with the addition of an appropriate amendment to
the Appendix to Regulation XXI.
07/57 Widening Participation
Strategy
LTC07-P46
The Committee considered a revised and
refocused widening participation strategy and supporting documentation, as
endorsed by the Student Recruitment Team.
It was noted that it sat alongside the University’s Access
Agreement with OFFA in which the University had set out various undertakings
and objectives in this area.
There was an increasing emphasis on
effectiveness and value for money in use of widening participation
funding. HEFCE had issued new targeting
guidelines and there might be tighter constraints on use of funds received in
future. The University Widening Participation
Office would be seeking more systematic feedback to help evaluate its work and
working with Aimhigher East Midlands on data collection and tracking
systems.
It was noted that the University was
performing very close to its benchmarks and Access Agreement milestones for
socio-economic groups, but it was behind its milestone for mature student
intake.
Attention was drawn to the new and
developing themes for 2007/08 linked to student recruitment, including gifted
and talented, sport, and looked-after children.
In the latter area, Loughborough had been granted a quality mark by the
Frank Buttle Trust; it was able to offer students scholarships and bursaries
from funds made available by the University Development Trust.
It was RESOLVED to ENDORSE the
strategy and forward it to Senate. It
was suggested that the Student Recruitment Team give further consideration to
ways of publicising more widely within the University the wide range of
activities undertaken by the Widening Participation Office.
07/58 Assessment of students
LTC07-P47
The Committee considered, on the
advice of the Programme Quality Team, amendments to University assessment
procedures as described in the AQPH.
These related to procedures for double marking and internal moderation,
and followed from a review of the revised section of the Code of Practice on the
Assessment of Students published by the QAA.
There had up to now been no stated requirement within the University for
the internal moderation of coursework, and PQT considered it important that
this issue was addressed.
The import of the contents of paragraph
(x) of the revised procedures was discussed and attention was drawn to the
practical difficulties of acting on issues that did not manifest themselves
until module marks were brought together in readiness for the programme board,
such as where the marks for one module were found to be markedly out of line
with the marks for other modules. It was
noted that student work marked by probationary staff would be covered by the
sampling procedures in preceding paragraphs, and that scripts containing widely
fluctuating marks were not out of the ordinary.
The threshold for internal
moderation of pieces of coursework other than projects and dissertations in
paragraph (ix) was also discussed.
In the light of the discussions, it
was RESOLVED to RECOMMEND to Senate that the revised procedures as set out in
the agenda paper be approved, subject to
(a)
the addition of ‘and borderline cases’ at the
end of paragraph (vii), and
(b)
the deletion of paragraph (x) in its entirety.
07/59 Curriculum Sub-Committee –
18 October 2007 (A)
LTC07-P48
It was RESOLVED to RECOMMEND to Senate on the advice of Curriculum Sub-Committee
(a) revised terms of reference for the Sub-Committee
(b) new programme proposals and other strategic changes.
07/60 Procedures
for the approval, monitoring and review of collaborative provision
LTC07-P49
It was RESOLVED to RECOMMEND to Senate
revised procedures, drawing together existing validation procedures and the
code of practice for collaborative provision.
07/61 Code of Practice on Use of the OMR CAA Bureau Service for
undergraduate and postgraduate examinations
LTC07-P50
It was RESOLVED to approve a revised version of the above
code, with the associated service level statement.
07/62 Code of Practice on the use
of Question Mark Perception for coursework testing
LTC07-P51
It was
RESOLVED to approve a revised version of the above code.
07/63 Constitution and membership
LTC07-P52
The Committee noted its constitution
and membership for 2007/08.
07/64 Curriculum Sub-Committee – 18 October
2007 (B)
LTC07-P53
Further discussions of the Sub-Committee were noted.
07/65 The
LTC07-P54
The Committee noted developments
since its previous meeting.
07/66 National Student Survey 2007
LTC07-P55
The results of the 2007 NSS were
noted.
07/67 ‘Beyond the Honours
degree classification’. The final report of the Burgess Group
The Committee noted the publication
of the above, available at:
http://bookshop.universitiesuk.ac.uk/downloads/Burgess_final.pdf
07/68 Dates of Meetings for the remainder of 2007/08
14
February 2008
5
June 2008
both meetings to begin at 9.30am.
Author – Robert Bowyer
Date – November 2007
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