Hi Rob,
Many thanks for your speedy and very interesting (albeit rather depressing) 
reply.
Margaret


--On 26 November 2003 10:11 +0000 "R.J. CHAPMAN" 
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Hi Margaret
>
> hope this helps- it was quite depressing looking at the list of
> modules running here only 3 years ago. However our current
> situation was entirely predictable from about 1996. In some ways it
> is an achievement to have lasted so long.
>
> Rob
>
> Date sent:              Tue, 25 Nov 2003 08:57:48 +0000
> Send reply to:          Science and Lifelong Learning
> <[log in to unmask]> From:                   Margaret Pilkington
> <[log in to unmask]> Subject:                CE science
> provision questionnaire
> To:                     [log in to unmask]
>
> Dear All,
> Below is the short CE science provision questionnaire (to provide
> information on the state of CE science for my forthcoming book exploring
> science teaching in the countryside which is to be published by NIACE).
> I have tried to make the questions quick to answer (for example I am not
> asking for numbers of students)and hope that you will be able to respond
> using what is in your heads rather than having to look up figures.
> I would very much appreciate an immediate reply and will keep you posted
> on major findings.
> With best wishes,
> Margaret
>
>
> The State of CE Science Provision, November 2003
> Email questionnaire
>
> Please answer all the questions by adding or deleting as appropriate, and
> return to <[log in to unmask]> by beginning of December.
>
> 1. Your name: Rob Chapman
>
> 2. What is your subject speciality? Earth Sciences/metallurgy
> and status?  full-time
> faculty.
>
> 3. Name of institution: U of Leeds
>
> 4. How long have you been involved with CE science provision at this
> institution? 13 years
>
> 5. Have you or your department undergone reorganisation in the last 3 or 4
> years? No
> If yes, please give details.
>
> 6. If yes, how has this affected your ability to deliver CE science
> teaching?
>
> 7. If no, Do you expect to be reorganised in the near future?  No
> If yes, please give details.
>
> 8. Name of department: School Of Continuing Education
>
> 9. Is this:
> a CE department?  Yes
> a mainstream university department?  Yes/No
> other?  Please give details.
>
> 10. How long have you been in this department? 13 years
>
> 11. How many part-time, adult education science courses is your
> institution running this year (2003-04)?  Please fill in the table below.
>
>                        Short courses, 5-12 credits      Long courses,
> 20-36 credits Open course,
> (general interest)
> HE Level1               1                               3
> HE Level 2
> HE Level 3
>
> Please give details of any post-graduate provision.
>
> 12. Subjects covered in this year’s provision.  Please delete/add to list.
> Astronomy
> Geology/Geomorphology
> Botanical illustration
>
> 13. Is your provision contracting?  Please delete as
> appropriate.
> Please add any details you have to hand.
>
> Rapid decline from 2000. From 1994- 2000 between 20 and 30
> courses per year, about 50% 10 cr, 30% 20 and 20% 30 cr.
>
>
> 14. Why do you think this is happening?
>
> Many reasons:
>
> 1. Increase in cost- SCE courses now equivalent price of p/t degree
> modules
> 2. Increase in viable number threshold to 14 students,
> (consequence of being a deficit department)
> 3. Unclear remit- the courses are accreditted, but do not fit into a
> broader degree scheme. Students who study out of interest resent
> the assessment load, (usually equivalent to science u/g teaching
> not arts) , students interested in sustained serious study have no
> provision past level 1. Why not? - i. resourcing issues. ii.
> duplicationof on campu sprovision, iii. only 1 science staff member
> in CE at Leeds so no opportunity to cross fertilize and develop
> programmes such as your own BA Landscape studies.
> Archaeology is irritatingly and stubbornly fixed in BA mode. (dont
> quote me on that bit!)
>
> 15. Apart from you, how many other science tutors help to deliver your CE
> science programme?
> Hourly paid part-time tutors: 4
> Fraction-post faculty   0
> Full-time faculty         0
>
> 16.  Please add any other comments you have about the current state of CE
> science provision.
>
> My own feeling is that to fulfill its true potential accreditted science
> CE really needs to be regional rather than local. Only this way can
> an appropriate audience be aquired. This requires collaboration with
> other CE providers, and the disparity of individual practices has
> hampered this, together with the demise/ reorganisation of the
> most obvious potential partners for us in Leeds. The only way
> forward I see now, (assuming a return to the broader science
> education remit remains inadmissable as a funded activity) is to
> work closely with internal depts in a WP context to to generate
> dedicated access routes which double as CE provision. There is
> some interest in this at Leeds- depending upon the state of
> undergraduate recruitment. Design and delivery are certainly
> possible, but whether the market exists is another question. there
> are also timetabling issues making CE provision equivalent to u/g
> science teaching.
>
>
>
>
> 17.  Please indicate whether you would be happy for me to quote comments
> from your response in my book.
> I am happy for you to quote my comments in your book, Science in the
> Countryside.   Yes/.
>
>
> Thank you very much.
>
> Margaret Pilkington
> Centre for Continuing Education
> University of Sussex