CREDIT FRAMEWORK ARRANGEMENTS FOR LSHTM TAUGHT COURSES

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1 CREDIT FRAMEWORK ARRANGEMENTS FOR LSHTM TAUGHT COURSES Introduction about the credit framework LSHTM is introducing a credit framework from September This is something all universities in England are being expected to do, and ties in to higher education developments across Europe (the Bologna process ) is Phase 1 and covers all our Masters courses (except HPPF). Developments planned for subsequent years are outlined in section 4 below. Essentially, this simply means assigning a credit value e.g. 15 credits for a standard module or 45 credits for a project to elements of a course which contribute towards an award. To obtain a Masters degree from the School, students will need to obtain 180 credits by successful completion of prescribed elements of a course. Our MSc courses will remain structured in much the same way as they are at present, and with all content at Masters level. The amount of credit assigned for an element of work is based on the average learning time for it (inclusive of direct teaching, directed work, personal study, revision, assessment etc.) Credit-based degrees are increasingly the norm in many countries. There are various practical and educational benefits to the use of credits, the main ones being: Providing a means for courses to be more flexible e.g. making part-time study more feasible, and facilitating students moving between courses and institutions with greater ease. This is critical if we are to address the growing competition for our courses; Being better able to recognise modules within awards and also qualifications nested within larger qualifications; Achieving greater consistency in how qualifications are set out and described (both in terms of course details and student results helpful for further study and employment); The School will be using the UK credit framework which aligns with the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System, ECTS ; every two UK credits received from the School equate to one ECTS credit. 2. What the changes mean for teaching in These changes will not particularly affect how and what the School teaches day-to-day. For the most part courses will continue as they have before, only now with a credit number attached. However, we have used this as an opportunity to review our curriculum structure and delivery, and are making some changes to ensure that credits consistently match up to learning time. Key changes are: Masters students will now take one fewer Term 2/3 (London-based) or advanced (DL) module than previously. This is because after conducting an in-depth review of learning times, the mix of module to project work wasn t felt to offer the most appropriate balance for a Masters degree and so one module is being dropped from MSc requirements. For London-based students this means the summer exam dates will be earlier and there will be more time available for the project to fully reflect its importance. Module timetables are also changing for London-based courses, as there will only be five module slots - four in Term 2 (as now) and one in Term 3 (in the former E1 slot, Monday to Weds lunchtime for 5 weeks). DL courses will now cover 3 awards - a Postgraduate Certificate, a Postgraduate Diploma and a MSc. Note that what we used to call a Diploma, corresponding to the initial core modules of an MSc, is now a PGCert worth 60 credits. We will now offer a new PGDip award, 1

2 consisting of the core modules plus a further 4 advanced modules, worth 120 credits (twothirds of an MSc). The assessment structure - o o o Degrees will now be awarded based on gaining sufficient credits, rather than sufficient grade point averages (GPAs). This creates a more direct link between pass requirements for course elements and the degree overall, and is a more common model in higher education. A summary of the new structure and how elements will be assessed is given on pages 4 5 (note some courses have specific requirements which vary slightly on this general depiction). These pass requirements have changed more substantially for London-based courses than for DL courses (which were set up with a credit-type model from the start). Many students will be used to this type of assessment structure from previous studies. To support the credit framework and improve existing arrangements, some changes to arrangements for re-sit of assessments are being made Separately to credits, a GPA score will continue to be calculated for the overall degree result. This will no longer determine overall pass or fail; but it will indicate overall performance, appearing on transcripts and being used to determine distinction awards. In addition, the planning has prompted some re-organisation of Term 1 content and/or summer exam paper structures for London-based courses, and other structure changes for some DL courses. All continuing students have been contacted and offered the option of continuing with their previous course structure, with no credits awarded, or changing to the new arrangements. This means that especially will be a transition year with most London-based students under the new arrangements and a few continuing part-timers under the old arrangements. For DL, the picture is likely to be more mixed. 3. How a credit framework works A credit framework provides the principles and agreed format which guide credit-based curriculum design. We can think of credit as a type of currency which puts a quantitative and qualitative value on learning awarded for achievement of learning outcomes in a course or a course element such as a module. Credit is an indicator of the amount and level of learning that is expected or has been achieved, its value indicates both 'how much' learning (the amount) is expected [cf how many coins for a specific module] and 'how hard' it is (the relative level of difficulty) [cf whether you get copper or gold coins for that module]. At LSHTM the level of award we are concerned with for credit purposes is M level (Masters). This is also known as Level 7 in the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications (FHEQ). Credit is awarded on demonstration of achieving learning outcomes by a suitable form of assessment with a minimum level of attainment to be awarded the credit. Building up of credit to achieve a qualification is known as credit accumulation. Credit can be used to help student mobility - using credit gained in one HEI to transfer to another HEI or from one study programme to another known as credit transfer. Determining whether learning undertaken elsewhere, for example at another university or in the workplace, can be formally recognised to count towards a qualification is known as Accreditation of Prior (Experiential) Learning (AP(E)L). 2

3 The rules of the game In the UK system, one credit is awarded for every 10 assessed notional learning hours (NLHs) at the level of the award. NLHs are the number of hours a student will need to spend, on average, in a range of activities to achieve the learning outcomes of a module or other course element. For a Masters degree these should sum to 1800 NLHs across all the different learning activities. There are, understandably, difficulties in trying to allocate notional learning hours to large and diverse student groups engaged in varied subject disciplines and study methods. All modules have now indicated their NLHs for A Masters degree is a 180-credit award (1,800 learning hours) at Level 7 or M level. Credits are grouped in study modules and sometimes half-modules. These are the smallest denominations in which credits are normally available. Among UK HEIs which already operate a credit system, Masters degrees typically comprise modules of 30 credits (300 notional learning hours) or half-modules of 15 credits (150 hours). Each credit-bearing element must have its own specifically linked assessment. This can be through assessment during the module, at the end of the module, or examination at a later date. The assessment must, though, be clearly identifiable. A minimum pass level must be set to gain the credits but a spectrum of grades is still maintained. Some compensation is allowed in many credit systems (e.g. a borderline fail in one module being compensated by a higher grade in another) The other main study components which can bear credits are projects and dissertations. Like modules these must have their own separately identifiable assessment. Various credit tariffs can be set for these components depending on the weighting the institution gives to them within the overall curriculum. The credits for the modules and the other components when added together must come to at least 180 for a full Masters degree. There is a European credit system known as ECTS. The UK s system maps to ECTS on a 2:1 basis so that 180 UK credits for a Masters degree equates to 90 ECTS. Credit myths A common misperception is that provided a student has gained the requisite number of credits then they are automatically awarded a degree. The presence of a credit framework does not remove the need to define the content of a particular Masters degree, as the School does at present. It will not, for example, mean that students would have a free choice of modules or that learning undertaken elsewhere could automatically be counted towards the degree. Nested awards There are a range of qualifications that can be awarded at M level in addition to a full Masters, and these are often designed by universities to fit like a nest of tables within Masters degrees, hence the term nested awards. The usual model is Postgraduate Certificate (60 credits the smallest table), followed by Postgraduate Diploma (a further 60 credits making a total of 120 the middle table), finishing with the Masters degree (a further 60 credits making a total of 180 the full set of tables). They are all M level awards based on M level credits and the student exits with only one award the furthest they have reached of the nest. Our DL courses already had a partial nested award structure and we have reorganised them to cover the full range - PGCert, PGDip and MSc. 3

4 4. Next steps Considerable planning work has been required to launch the framework for and we anticipate needing to do substantial monitoring of its implementation and tweaking in this first year. Future plans, which we will start discussions on in , include: i. Incorporating assessed short courses into the framework ii. Procedures to assess prior learning so that credit transfer into our courses can take place iii. iv. Scope for introducing nested awards for London-based Masters courses Consider identifying larger, more manageable learning units for credit allocation, with some combining and reshaping of Modules and other MSc components. We will particularly be looking at Term 1 teaching and the summer exams for London-based courses, which are currently grouped together as a 60-credit super-module for each MSc. More information is available as follows at including a glossary of terms and some common questions about credit. September

5 Fig 1 - Credit Framework for DL Courses 5

6 Fig 2 - Credit Framework for London-based MSc Courses 6