Conference report - PADSHE Project - University of Nottingham

PADSHE national invitation seminar, University of Nottingham, 9 June 1999

The significance of the PADSHE Project in relation to the post-Dearing agenda for Higher Education was highlighted when speakers including Lord Dearing and John Randall addressed senior colleagues from thirty-seven UK universities at PADSHE's invitation seminar. The theme was 'National policies for student development: transcripts, recording achievement and the role of Communications and Information Technology'. Discussion focused on the draft policy proposals from CVCP/SCoP/QAA on transcripts and Personal Development Planning and on the implications for universities of creating a national IT infrastructure to support lifelong learning.

The role of Higher Education in lifelong learning

Lord Dearing, Chancellor, University of Nottingham

Lord Dearing urges universities to enhance opportunities for students to develop learning for life. He supports the use of personal and academic records to help students manage their learning and develop their skills, discussing the expansion of adult learning signalled by the establishment of the University for Industry, Learning Centres and partnerships between major companies and universities.
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The QAA: developing quality outcomes, developing students

John Randall, Chief Executive, Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education

John Randall sets out the rationale behind the new quality framework embodied in the development of subject benchmarking and programme specifications. Critical of the fragmentation of learning produced by modularisation, he argues that benchmarking heralds a return to a more synoptic approach, making time for reflective study and promoting coherent programmes with clear outcomes which will enhance student achievement and be welcomed by employers.
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PADSHE: the academic-driven initiative

Professor Stephen Bailey, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, University of Nottingham and Dr Angela Smallwood, PADSHE Project Director

PADSHE's PARs (Personal and Academic Records) flow from personal tutor systems remade at Nottingham by academic staff and students after modularisation, within the framework of quality assessment. How have they achieved their unprecedentedly high level of take-up by students? And why have the universities of both Nottingham and Newcastle committed themselves to institution-wide implementation by 2002?
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Lifelong learning: the business perspective

Professor Ken Mortimer, formerly Manager Education Programmes, Ford Motor Company

Ken Mortimer's slide presentation calls for HE institutions in the UK to increase their collaborations with companies and to take on board the implications of the lifelong learning regimes developed by corporate universities.
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Records of achievement and the Internet

Dr Geoff Hammond, Director, and Paul Drummond, IT Advisor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Newcastle, present a slide-show illustrating the work in progress on the DfEE-funded Newcastle-Nottingham Internet-PARs project which builds on the PADSHE work. They also highlight national issues for the technological support of lifelong learning.
Slides