The study days, online activity and preparation for assessment are designed as opportunities for you to engage with the aims and outcomes of the module.
The study days provide a platform for participants to develop their knowledge of the module content and to model good teaching practice/skills.
The online activity between the last study day and the date of submission are designed to deepen that knowledge.
The assignments are focused on capturing and reflecting upon the activities that participants will be already undertaking as part of your ongoing development as a teacher. At the heart of these processes is the way in which you re-visit and re-think your experience in the light of your learning from the Postgraduate Certificate and your reading. We ask that you ‘test’ your experience against the literature and in turn, the literature against your experience. Hence, your work becomes a dialogue between your development as a teacher and your engagement with the literature.
Throughout the programme your professional development is also encouraged through exposure to a range teaching techniques, styles of learning, application of principles of good practice in design, assessment feedback, advice from experienced colleagues, self-evaluation and teaching practice, participating in teaching observations and becoming members of the learning and teaching community at the University and beyond.
Each of the modules is assessed independently via submission of written work. In addition, within module 2, participants will be required to undertake a peer review of their teaching, which will be assessed formatively and also provide a signed testimonial of an observed teaching session (part of a summative assessment). You do not have to ‘pass’ the teaching observation but you must undertake it and reflect upon it.
We say more about the term "portfolio” in the assessment section but it can be regarded as an established way of capturing the development of professional expertise. Portfolios are essentially a collection of experiences, reflection and evidences, woven around four extended narratives. They allow for choice in what is included whilst at the same time affording the opportunity to demonstrate that the Learning Outcome for each module have been met.
The assessment criteria, which we will describe later, will guide you in terms of how well you have engaged with each of those Learning Outcome.
As we stated earlier, we ask that you stay with academic conventions such as a clear structure, paragraphing and good reflective writing. The difference between this and an academic essay is that the content and focus is driven by your experience and not by a specific title or simply appraising the literature
We view the Postgraduate Certificate programme as a process with which to engage rather than a qualification that you ‘get’. Consistent with the philosophy outlined above, we ask that you commit to that process through active participation in all group activities and a scholarly engagement with ideas/literature. Participants often ask about the standards expected of students on a taught postgraduate qualification course, compared with, say, a first degree or its equivalent. We would make the following points
We cannot stress strongly enough that part-time postgraduates are expected to be skilled time managers. You are responsible for managing your own time, more so because much of the course is studied at a distance. You must try to ensure that you set realistic amounts of time aside from your job and family commitments to complete work. You will find the dates of deadlines and meetings published on the website.
Self direction is a vital attribute. At postgraduate level you must show a high degree of independence from ‘teachers’. The course team are there for support and guidance, not necessarily as ‘experts’. Even though between them they may have considerable expertise in certain areas they cannot know everything. They are certainly not to be regarded as research assistants for obtaining books, papers and so on. Regard them as helpful, knowledgeable colleagues rather than ‘teachers’ in any traditional sense.
A postgraduate participant is expected to demonstrate a greater depth of academic and practical understanding than an undergraduate. In written work, for example, the postgraduate is likely to refer to a greater number, and a wider range, of sources – books, articles and papers, aiming to show that you have read them and understood their implications.
Postgraduates are not expected to simply ‘assimilate’ and ‘regurgitate’ knowledge. You are expected to challenge or support knowledge in the light of your extended reading and relevant professional experience. In your portfolios’, for example, we expect you not just to produce a list of things you have found out, but to reflect on them in the light of your own learning and experience.
Postgraduates must accept uncertainty. In some areas of study, answers are highly contentious. In others, theory, let alone practice, are not well developed or unanimous. The postgraduate participant must accept a degree of uncertainty in these areas
The Postgraduate Certificate is a postgraduate programme and is not purely academic. Although the course is an academic course and we expect a high degree of adherence to academic conventions, it is intended for participants who want to apply their knowledge and critical abilities back at work. Be mindful at all times of the insights you gain as a result of the course and how these might be used in a practical setting.
Postgraduates should attend to their own development needs. If you discover, for example, that you lack certain skills (e.g. the use of information technology for literature review and referencing) it is up to you to recognise the act and do something about it. The University provides a wide range of support for all aspects development for students.
There are other ways in which this course may be different from others that you may have undertaken. Firstly, it is a qualification that draws heavily on your experience. Your work as a teacher and experience as a learner constitute a significant part of the course. Secondly, we ask that you re-visit and reflect critically upon what happens in your teaching through the testing of your assumptions and your approach through selected parts of the literature. In this sense the course asks you to apply your knowledge and critical abilities in the workplace and to reflect upon these processes in your assignments. Thirdly, we expect a high degree of adherence to academic conventions as they pertain to the study of education with a critical stance being adopted to both the research evidence and your own practice. Finally, we ask you to advance your own practice as a teacher having gained new insights from the course – in a process of critical and reflective engagement. We say more about the assignments in a later section but we hope you regard the course as a process with which to engage rather than as a qualification to be acquired.
The immediate aim of the programme is to produce academically informed and practically strong educators within the field of medical and healthcare education.
The ultimate aim of the programme is to contribute to the improvement of undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing education, through the professional development of those who undertake the Programme.
The programme will provide participants with the knowledge, skills and academic grounding necessary to work professionally within the environment of medical & healthcare education. By the end of the Programme participants will:
Develop an understanding of learning and knowledge and how theories of learning inform practice in medical & healthcare teaching.
Develop knowledge of the major policies governing the conduct of medical education and how these policies influence both medical education in the UK and influence their own practice.
Demonstrate an understanding of a range of appropriate teaching methods within medical education.
Develop an understanding of assessment, curriculum design, evaluation and feedback methods within medical education. Develop the skills of reflective practice and appraisal of professional development.
Demonstrate the skills of critical analysis of educational research