Hello everyone,
To all members of capability-forum, SEDA and Staff-development networks -
apologies for cross posting. 

>From John Stephenson.

The first event in this year's series of HEC conferences on DELIVERING
DEARING will be on KEY SKILLS ACROSS THE CURRICULUM at Northampton on
February 27th. This notice includes:

CONTEXT
PROGRAMME
HOW TO APPLY
HOW TO SUBMIT A PAPER

CONTEXT:

Background
For several years the "Skills" debate has progressed. The Dearing Report
has accepted developing practice and identified the key skills which HE
providers should incorporate in the curriculum to enable students to
realise their potential through their professional work:-

'Key skills of communication, both oral and written,  numeracy, the use of
communications and information technology, and learning how to learn.......
 we see these as necessary outcomes of all higher education programmes....'
along with. cognitive skills 'such as an understanding of methodologies or
an ability in critical analysis.'

If Dearing's statement of 'key' and 'cognitive'  skills represents a
developing consensus between academic gatekeepers and employment that HE
curricula should equip students to meet the demands of the professional
world more overtly than in the past, we need to look at how best to enable
that learning to take place in a meaningful way for students.

The issues
Definitions and boundaries
* Is the distinction between key and cognitive skills a useful one in all
cases?
* Are there other relevant generic skills?
* How do we conceive of these skills: academic skills? Career development
skills? Study skills?
* What does the institutional mission have to say about our approach to
this?

Enabling students to recognize and develop skills 
* Are they inherent in subject studies? Should they be? Can they be?
* What kind of dialogue (and with whom) and processes can most usefully be
undertaken to explore and then implement this?

* Do we offer discrete modules? How do we motivate students on these
modules?
* What contribution has IT to make to developing a range of skills, e.g.
research, self reliance skills and so on?
* How can work experience be incorporated into "non-vocational" programmes?

Assessing and certificating skills
* Should we assess skills? Should we assess them discretely, or integrally
within subjects? Formatively only or also summatively?
* How can Profiling be used in this?
* Could we prejudice students because they had not met the demands of the
skills part of the curriculum?
*^How can we most usefully certificate skills?
* What instruments of delivery and assessment of key skills are available?
*^Should key skills be assessed for degree classification?

How can HE institutions be publicly explicit about students' level of
attainment in key skills in the prospectus and in its awards?

This conference aims to:
* Share existing and developing practice in this area
* Stimulate debate on these issues
* Identify with the perspectives of the various stakeholders in HE. 
* Enable participants to develop practice in their own institution informed
by thinking elsewhere.

Who should come?
Academics               
Curriculum leaders
Skills developers       
Staff and educational developers
Senior academic managers

PROGRAMME

The Programme

Coffee and Registration from (10.00 to 10.30)

The morning session: Issues
10.30   Welcome
 
10.40   Definitions and boundaries: Lawrie Walker, Thames Valley University

11.10   Enabling students: Jenny Gilbert, Wolverhampton University

11.40   Group discussions and sharing experience
                (including coffee)

12.30   Plenary discussion- a Capability perspective: John Stephenson, HEC

13.00    LUNCH

The afternoon session: Sharing Experience
14.00   Assessment and Certification: Dr Mike Daniel, Associate Director,
Nene College

14.30   Workshop sessions, sharing experience

16.00   Final plenary - issues and actions

16.30   Tea and Close

HOW TO APPLY
Send email request for an application form to [log in to unmask]

Return form to 
Middlesex University Services Ltd
Bounds Green Road
London N11 2NQ
Fax: 0181 362 5736;  Tel 0181 362 5734

Fees 
Members of HEC: #115 incl. VAT per event
Non HEC Members:        #130  incl.VAT per event

HOW TO SUBMIT A PAPER
Send email request for AN OFFER OF PAPER FORM to [log in to unmask]
Give your Postal address.

Papers and workshops from delegates are welcome.  We normally allow 25
minutes per session (50 in exceptional cases).

To be included in the programme, offers must be received at least 4 weeks
before the date of the event. The Conference convenor's decision to include
items is final.

Final descriptions of sessions for inclusion in the Conference Programme
must be submitted at least 2 weeks before the event.

Items may be considered for publication in the HEC Journal or in a post
conference report. Authors of selected items must provide clean proof-read
copy according to an HEC format.

Items will be accepted only from accredited delegates.


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