Bridge across the skills gap

Richard Latimer, Barry Lee, Margaret Noble and Penny Wolff describe how they devised a guide on how to develop a competence-based degree. After the age of 16 there is no coherent, credit-based, unified framework for the lifelong learning espoused by educators and politicians alike. But one is needed if designers of higher education courses are to bridge the academic/vocational divide.

There is potential for dual accreditation across three frameworks - CATS, the higher education credit accumulation and transfer scheme, and NVQs and GNVQs, the national and general national vocational qualifications.

To achieve this it is important that course designers have an in-depth understanding of the structural details of the frameworks, as well as the ability to foster genuine and open collaboration between universities, employers, and professional, statutory and regulatory bodies.

Skill is needed in devising an outcomes-based curriculum and in undertaking complex mapping exercises across academic and vocational frameworks. Learning wherever it occurs should be accredited, work-based learning promoted and innovative ways of assessing evidence introduced.

A set of learning materials to be launched next month will help course designers develop programmes that bridge the academic-vocational divide through the promotion of dual accreditation within the CATacademic framework and the GNVQ/NVQ vocational framework.

The project shows that dual accreditation offers both general and specific benefits to practitioners, employers and students.

General benefits include: * the development of a "common language", often via the national standards between academic staff and employers

* the promotion of examples of good practice in bridging the academic/vocational divide

* raising the levels of understanding and use of competence-based approach within institutions and organisations,

Specific benefits include:

* the added value to the learner (learners benefit from processes of dual accreditation in that they can provide certificated evidence to employers which attests to their skills and competence)

* the promotion of greater flexibility and independence in approaches to learning and assessment

* potential tax advantages for some learners

* the added value to the future employer (the employer has evidence that the employee has achieved skills and competences to national standards).

The learning materials (comprising a guidance manual and 14 support packs) are the fruit of a two-year project undertaken by researchers at the University of Huddersfield and the University of Lincolnshire and Humberside.

The aim of the Department for Education and Employment-funded project was to "design and disseminate a learning resource package which will enable staff to design learning programmes which construct two-way bridges between academic and vocational credit frameworks and which explore the possibility of dual accreditation of learning within graduate and postgraduate programmes".

The project was designed in three discrete phases each of which involved extensive evaluation. First, was the curriculum design phase of competence-based programmes in both universities.

Second, was the programme delivery phase. At the end of each semester, the programmes were evaluated using focus group discussions, questionnaires and interviews with staff and students. The outcomes of this informed the writing of the support packs, which provide a "bottom-up" account of various aspects of delivering competence-based degrees.

The third and final stage comprised the writing, editing and extensive evaluation of the guidance manual and support packs, the structure of which is illustrated in figure 1.

The design, delivery and evaluation of the pilot programmes gave rise to a model in which three subtypes of dual accreditation were identified.

First, programmes can qualify for separate dual accreditation. This occurs when students enrolled on an existing academic programme undertake additional work in putting together a portfolio of evidence for GNVQ/NVQ unit accreditation.

Second, programmes can qualify for additional dual accreditation. This occurs where GNVQ/NVQ units are mapped on to the academic programme with a view to creating assessment opportunities which generate evidence appropriate for a GNVQ/NVQ portfolio.

Finally, programmes can qualify for integrated dual accreditation. As with additional accreditation, a mapping process is undertaken. However, in contrast to additional accreditation, assessment modes are identical for accreditation within both the academic and the vocational framework, and submission for GNVQ/NVQ accreditation is likely to be obligatory.

A World Wide Web site for the project is being developed using the latest Internet production techniques. The site is designed to take advantage of the increasing availability of Internet access, particularly to academics in higher education.

Richard Latimer, Barry Lee, Margaret Noble and Penny Wolff comprise the materials development group for the DfEE competence-based degrees project.