Enhancing Higher Education is a compulsory core module which introduces you to recent research, key theories, concepts and critical perspectives about policy-making and change processes that are aimed at enhancing practices and outcomes in higher education.
This theoretical foundation will enable you to better understand issues in the management of change and help you to become a more effective change agent in your professional setting.
The skills that you will develop over the course of the module are vital to you as a researcher and as a practitioner; they benefit your employing institution when applied to the improvement of organisational performance and outcomes.
As a researcher, you will gain practical experience of the research process – the module assessment involves researching and writing a 7,000-word paper suitable for publication in an academic journal. As with the similar assignments for the other two core modules you are offered detailed formative feedback on a draft before final submission. A key feature of the module is that publications from module assignments are capable of making a real difference to policy and practice in higher education.
As a professional you will be capable of both critically addressing and initiating change in your own institution (at strategic policy, implementation and practice levels). You will also become a critical user of data provided via student evaluation and feedback mechanisms.
This module is currently taught by Professor Paul Trowler.
This core module will equip you as a professional working in higher education with a comprehensive understanding of evaluative practices. We will take a look at the contemporary field of evaluation and apply approaches to higher education at individual programme, institutional and at sector levels.
You'll also begin to consider the ways in which higher education impacts development, both nationally and internationally.
The knowledge you'll gain of evaluation approaches, methods and theories is both essential for your development as a higher education researcher and as a professional able to effectively lead evaluation of change initiatives in your own higher education institution.
This module will provide you with practical knowledge of how to conduct relevant evaluative research, which will strengthen your institution and be suitable for publication in a high-status journal.
Evaluative Practice in Social Policy Domains: Higher Education is assessed through a 7,000-research paper. This enhances your research experience in preparation for your thesis.
This module is currently taught by Professor Murray Saunders.
The core module Enhancing Learning Teaching and Assessment further improves your critical appreciation of the way that learning, teaching and assessment in higher education is perceived, implemented, organised, and intrinsically linked to policy and larger socio-cultural and political structures.
You'll scrutinise the latest critical developments in the ways that learning, teaching and assessment, and subsequently knowledge, are understood, explored and applied. You'll be encouraged to employ relevant theories and perspectives creatively as a lens in that process. This module is designed to push the boundaries of what it means to teach, learn and assess in higher education, and reach out beyond academia.
The module will also see you make significant progress as a professional in your employing institution - you will be capable of recognising and critically comprehending the relationship between higher education practice, research, policy, ideology and strategy.
This module is unique as it will give you a good grounding to develop a 7,000-word paper suitable for a) peer-reviewed publication in a targeted academic journal or b) presentation at conference, or c) a peer-reviewed book chapter, as a tangible outcome of your involvement in the module. This piece is the core means of assessment for this module.
Moreover, the module will provide you with insights into public engagement strategies, which are becoming increasingly important across higher education institutions worldwide to link tertiary practice to wider communities.
This module is currently taught by Dr Natasa Lackovic.