Case Study 3 - Embedding LTI OER Into Academic Development for Transnational Partners

8/12/2019 Case Study 3 - Embedding LTI OER Into Academic Development for Transnational Partners

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Embedding Learning to Teach Inclusively(ELTI) Project

Case Study 3: EmbeddingLTI OER into academicdevelopment for

transnational partners

Megan Lawton & Christine Hockings

University of Wolverhampton


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Case study 3: Embedding LTI OER into academicdevelopment for transnational partners

OverviewThis case study focuses on the use of Learning to Teach Inclusively (LTI) OER for the

academic development of transnational partners whose delivery teams needed to become

fully au fait with the University of Wolverhamptons (UoW) inclusive ethos and approaches to

learning and teaching. In this case a colleague from the Institute for Learning Enhancement

(ILE) was seconded to the Universitys International Centre (IC) to develop transnational

academic development programmes and associated documentation into which the LTI OER

module and resources would be embedded. Two different forms of TNE academic

development are explored and the issues for the use of LTI OER discussed. The case

highlights technical, political, cultural and institutional issues that need to be addressed in

order to maximise the benefits of OER for international academic development. It also

highlights the potential of OERs as a springboard for future collaborative research and

development, a third space.

Background

In March 2011 the International Centre (IC) requested someone from the Institute for

Learning Enhancement (ILE) to work with them on developing two areas linked to

Internationalisation. Dr Megan Lawton from ILE was seconded to IC to carry out this work,

firstly supporting international students coming to study in the UK, and secondly supporting

transnational education (TNE) partnerships. This case study primarily looks at the second

issue, support for TNE partnerships but has also has had a knock-on effect on support for

international students coming to the UK.

Within the UoW there is a continuum of TNE provision from Flying Facultyat one end, (UK

staff going out to deliver learning and teaching in-country with minimal input from local staff)

through supported delivery to a form of distance education at the other end. All delivery

however, is centred on a UK pedagogical approach which in the case of the UoW, is

constructed in a blended learning environment. The definition used by the UoW for blended

learning is,an approach to learning and teaching which combines and aligns learning

undertaken in face-to-face sessions with learning opportunities created online(University of

Wolverhampton, 2008).


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The University has been working in partnership with HEIs overseas for many years but the

move away from the dominant flying faculty model to a more sustainable transnational

delivery model in which our transnational partners deliver our courses themselves. The goal

is to replicate as far as possible the UoW experience for students overseas but the extent to

which this can and should be replicated is under examination. For example, there is some

concern that the pedagogic approaches common in the teaching of UoW programmes (e.g.

problem / enquiry- based, experiential and blended learning) would not be familiar to nor

necessarily adopted by tutors in TNE partner institutions. Such differences could impact on

quality and equality of the learning experience.

Aims

The initial aim of this IC/ILE initiative was to share understanding of University of

Wolverhampton pedagogic approaches with TNE partnerships. This included:

offering examples of good practice

showing how blended learning is used

giving examples of learning and teaching environments in the UK

offering examples of engaging students in their learning

The aims of the embedding project were to: repurpose OER LTI for transnational (distance learning) delivery and implement in at

least one overseas partner institution by May 2012.

Reuse LTI OER in face to face sessions in a programme of familiarisation for our

partner institutions.

Method

One of Megans main tasks was to work with academics within the subject disciplines both at

Wolverhampton and within our partner institutions overseas, to explore the similarities and

differences in their understandings of learning and teaching, and to consider the effect that

might have on content delivery and assessment. The ultimate aim was to understand these

differences and to narrow the gap by explaining to our partners (and ultimately to their

students) why we do things the way that we do. This case study focuses on two

interventions with TNE partners in Xiaogan (China) and Sri Lanka.


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Academic d evelopment with Xiaogan TNE

In January 2012 an opportunity arose to work with four tutors from Xiaogan University

(China) for one month in the UK. These tutors were teaching UoW courses in Xiaogan in

Business and English as a Second Language. A staff development programme was put

together to bring the UK and Xiaogan subject tutors together to:

explore their respective understandings of the modules they would be teaching, and;

discuss, face to face, the issues that the TNE colleagues might encounter with

regards the content, pedagogy, resources, technology, assessment standards, etc.in

delivering the modules in their home university.

The TNE tutors also had the opportunity to observe a number of the classroom sessions in

which their UoW counterparts were teaching. The programme also offered the opportunity

for some team teaching so that the TNE tutors could experience, not just observe, teaching

in a UK university environment. These observational and team teaching experiences were

then followed up with workshops in which ILE colleagues facilitated discussion of, reflection

on, and comparison with aspects of learning and teaching in UK and China.

Throughout these workshops facilitators drew on the video clips of classroom practice from

the LTI OER video collection to trigger discussion or to illustrate some aspect of UoWpractice (see example TNE workshop presentation onwww.wlv.ac.uk/LTIEmbedding). For

example, the definitions and activities in LTI Unit 2 (Inclusive Pedagogy) were particularly

helpful to the discussion around concepts that are key for UoW such as widening

participation, inclusive pedagogy, diversity and difference, deep and surface learning. Whilst

these terms may have been strange to the Xiaogan tutors, the concepts were well

understood with the help of the video clips, such that colleagues could discuss how they

would apply in their own university context or more generally in the Chinese HE sector.

The LTI OER was offered to the Xiaogan staff as link via the UoW in house VLE (WOLF). A

WOLF topic was created specifically for them for self-study after the face-to-face sessions

for the duration of their time in the UK and afterwards for use back in Xiaogan. Permissions

were given to the four tutors to use any materials in this topic to set up their own in-house

staff development programmes if they wanted to.

So the workshop programme had been successful as a familiarisation and as a means to

develop shared understandings. The use and reuse of the OER outside of sessions is,

however, less evident. So far, according to Google Analytics (see Impact Data on side panel
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After this we tried an exercise of getting students to identify the similarities and differencebetween the roles of leadership and management. We then tried to get students to feedbackbut they were still reluctant so we (Tulasi and myself) then discussed how we might do thisto engage and included all students.

It would be too easy to just let the students not engage with the teaching. Showing me this(OER) has made me realise why we need to get them to take an active part in their learning.

Its great to see the classroom teaching that students would experience in the UK.

I think our students would like to see that UK staff expect their students to share theirexperiences and opinions with their tutor and each other.

The video clips showed whole groups sessions in which students were asking questions,

presenting ideas, discussing and debating issues, etc. yet this sort of whole group interaction

was not expected in Sri Lankan universities. This was not only something for which theywould need to prepare their students. It would also mean that Sri Lankan staff teaching on

the UoW courses would need to develop strategies for encouraging whole class interaction if

the learning experiences were to be mirrored in Sri Lanka. Here the potential for using the

LTI OER video clips was clear. This and other issues identified from the initial viewing of the

OERs will feed into further TNE academic development programmes. However, one of the

main barriers identified for use of the OER in a TNE setting is the use of video. This will be

discussed further.

Impact and evaluation

In this section we consider the effectiveness of the methods we used for embedding LTI

OER in TNE academic development (i.e. face to face blended learning workshops, and

optional self-study distance learning). Wealso raise some of the issues that users of LTI

OER overseas may encounter. The TNE initiative is in its early stages and there is still

much to learn. How we evaluate LTI OER as part of this initiative is yet to be decided,

nevertheless, in this section we offer some tentative findings from these early interventions.

Face to face works hop usin g LTI OER

The two TNE development interventions outlined in this case study included face to face

workshops. Where technology allowed, the LTI OER were used as part of these workshops

and recommended as self-study material following the sessions. These blended learning

workshops provided the key to the sharing of practice and ideas, which TNE partners really

valued:


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I do want to express my sincere gratitude to you, Chris and all those who had wonderful

discussions and talks with us. We do gained quite a lot from it. Also we have applied some of the

teaching, learning and assessment methods in our own teaching.(Deputy Dean, School of

International Education,Hubei Engineering University )

Whilst these workshops and the LTI videos triggered dialogue around issues of learning and

teaching, the key measure of their success has to be evaluated in terms of their impact on

pedagogical practice. How we do this is yet to be decided but there is a clear and urgent

need to set up systems of monitoring (or self-monitoring) and evaluation to assure that the

courses, that will soon be taught almost entirely by TNE staff, are pedagogically in line with

their equivalent in the UK.

LTI OER as op tional self-study

The recommendation to use the LTI OER for self-study following the workshops was too

loose. There was no specific task to carry out, no follow up intervention, nor any feedback

from the facilitator by a certain time. We have seen elsewhere (see Hockings and Gale

2012) that users need some kind of task, structure and time scale to work to, together with

the promise of some form of interaction and feedback on their contributions, if they are to

engage with LTI OER as distance learning. We had not fully developed such follow up

support at this early stage of the TNE initiative.

In addition to the lack of engagement with the LTI OER in self-study mode, there is another

potential risk of relying on distance learning / self-study as the only form of academic

development. These materials have been produced mainly for the UK HE sector and so the

terms, concepts and practices that they illustrate may not only require additional explanation,

they may come across as somewhat imperialistic i.e. the right way to do thingsalthough

they are intended to be challenged and critiqued. The issues of language, tone and

reciprocal development, are discussed later in Next Steps.

The interactive forum embedded within the LTI module is intended for participants to engage

in such discussion and debate as well as self-reflection. However, it is our view that

dialogue within on line forums do not generate such rich insights as do face to face

discussions. Nevertheless, forums do provide an excellent starting point for discussion that

can be followed upin more depth in face to face settings (e.g. action learning sets, facilitated

workshops, etc). It is during these sessions that participants really probe and explore key

and emerging issues, analyse and critique what might be happening in a video clip, why a

particular interaction was taking place, why a particular learning activity might achieve this


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and, crucially, how or whether this approach might work in a local setting. By doing this they

are then then encouraged to reflect on their own practice in light of the issues. We are not

saying that this cannot happen virtually or independent of the facilitator, however, the

evidence so far suggests that this is less likely unless some tutor intervention is made to

stimulate or initiate it.

Lesso ns learnt and next steps

As with all new programmes we have learnt a great deal from these early interventions into

TNE academic development using OER. From these experiences the LTI OER has been

developed for use within a TNE setting, looking in particular how it might support the

following:

1. an understanding of the pedagogic principles that were used for curriculum design

2. provision of examples of learning and teaching in different discipline settings

3. a rationale and explanation for assessment activities

4. an understanding of the expectations of studying for a University of Wolverhampton

qualification

The following issues and the lessons weve learnt from experiencing them may be of interestand relevance to other HEIs looking to develop partnerships with overseas institutions:

Technical and pol i t ical

The online activities and video clips can be troublesome for some countries. This might be

due to technical difficulties e.g. internet bandwidth. If these difficulties arise, the module and

resources may be accessed via an offline version e.g. burn to a CD, rather than online. This

will affect the interactive nature of the materials.

There may be some political restrictions on access to certain internet resources in some

countries that will affect the use of video clips hosted on sites such as You Tube. Those

who intend to use video clips from such providers should check that they can be accessed.

Over 100 of the LTI video clips are also available on Vimeo via the LTI Video Collection on

the side bar of www.wlv.ac.uk/LTImodule. However, all the LTI videos embedded within the

LTI OER module and deposited on Jorum can be accessed without restriction, as far as we

are aware.
http://www.wlv.ac.uk/LTImodulehttp://www.wlv.ac.uk/LTImodulehttp://www.wlv.ac.uk/LTImodule


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Cultural

OERs that have been developed for a UK market may need to be edited to suit the local

context. For example, the term inclusive pedagogy has been changed to engaging and

inclusive pedagogyfor TNE delivery in China and Sri Lanka as it was felt that the term

inclusiveper se, was not one that was widely recognised or had meaning outside of the UK

context. In addition, the language used within the OER needed additional explanations in

some parts and repurposing in other areas to be clearer to those not working full time in UK

HE.

Inst i tut ional

In order for OER and academic development to become fully embedded within the

institution, we would recommend that, where possible, both are written into policy and

operational documentation such as TNE memoranda of agreement, learning and teaching

and associated strategies and sub-strategies. For example, the UoW has recently developed

a new Internationalization sub-strategy (20122017) to develop joint research joint staff

development with our overseas partners. The development of the LTI OER for use by and

with TNE partners supports this strategy. Furthermore, the discussions leading up to this

have been recorded specifically in the minutes of University Quality Enhancement

Committee (see below). Such records and documentation reinforce changes in working

practices.

Extract from: Update on UQEC Schedule of Work 2011/12: Development of QualityFrameworks that move towards Quality Enhancement

OverviewThe University of Wolverhampton will also develop, and provide examples of, goodpractice in learning and teaching for transnational partnerships.

1. Improving / clarifying the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)/ Memo of Co-operation (MoC)Each MoU or MoC would include the expectation that the international staff would berequired to commit to participation in an appropriate CPD programme. The University ofWolverhampton would provide an outline of potential available programmes, includingaccredited and non-accredited programmes to be delivered in the UK, in the host country,at the relevant hub or on-line. In the spirit of equality and diversity, it is expected that UKstaff designing, delivering or supporting these programmes will commit themselves toaligning and negotiating these programmes with an awareness of the indigenous culture.

2. Increasing the availability of introductory learning and teaching material.The University of Wolverhampton will develop the use of introductory TransnationalEducation WOLF topics, for use particularly with new staff. This will include outlines andexamples of UK pedagogy in practice. This will include OER examples of classroompractice from the University of Wolverhampton project Learning to Teach Inclusively,

where we now have approximately 100 video clips of staff working with students or talkingabout their practice.
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Research and d evelopment

OERs can offer examples of UK practice which may need to be repurposed for particular in-

country delivery. However, in the spirit of open education practice, global citizenship, and

reciprocity, we would hope to capture local practices to add to our collective bank of

knowledge.

Re-purposing, in discussion with international staff and students, can also trigger important

debates about the concepts of learning and teaching that can lead to joint research on

learning and teaching. This is something that is seen as desirable by all parties and the re-

purposing of the OER can be the catalyst for this. Moreover, we see OERs as the third

space for the development of international pedagogic principles in which no one countrysviews dominate.

Next steps and new uses fo r OER for internat ional staff & stu dents

Following this pilot TNE academic practice intervention, there has been a move to develop

the LTI OER to form part of an new CPD programme - the International Academic Practice

(IAP) programme. This programme draws on PG Cert in Academic Practice (see Hockings

and Gale 2012) and Learning to Teach Inclusively OER specifically.It will be aimed at ourcurrent overseas partners primarily, but we also envisage a market for staff in other

overseas HEIs who are interested in learning and teaching but who are not currently offering

our courses. HEA accreditation and membership for transnational partners who complete

this programme is currently being negotiated.

As an unexpected result of the discussion with TNE staff an online resource based on the

LTI OER is being developed as a pre-entry assistantto help international students coming

to study in the UK. The OER will give them an insight into the kinds of learning and teaching

they might encounter. For example, in some of the video clips students are seen doing group

work, discussing their ideas in front of their tutors and peers, and joining in class room

debates. Feedback from students on an International Foundation Year shows that these

were areas for which that they were underprepared. Comparing his educational experiences

in Nigeria and England, one international student said that in Nigeria, education is mostly

didactic, the opinion of the student is never heard, and they are only allowed to ask

questions on areas where they are confused. By contrast, he found learning in England a


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two way thing, where group work is mandatory. Another student from Saudi Arabia

commented:

I was really shocked when all the UK students asked their tutor questions or called out

comments in the class, this would just not be done. It has taken me a while to get used to

offering my opinions which I really like to do. I think to start with I wasnt sure what I could or

couldnt do and almost needed my tutor to tell me it was OK to speak out in class.

We believe that the video clips in the LTI OER may be used by teachers overseas to prepare

their students for the sorts of learning and teaching strategies that they experience when

they come to universities in the UK.

Conclus ions and future work

TNE partnerships as they stand at the moment are about delivering a UK course to UK

standards and qualification frameworks. The academic development that we have described

in this case has come about, largely to meet a quality assurance imperative, i.e. that TNE

partners have their own pedagogic experiences and cultures which may be different from the

ones in which they must deliver these courses. The risk here is that TNE delivery may mean

that the two pedagogic cultures pass each other by, sharing an interest and curiosity in each

others practice, but never carving out a third space. We argue that this third space is free

from dominant traditions and pedagogies of either culture and instead allows for

collaboration and engagement in a wider notion of internationalisation and globalisation for

all partners. We believe that the LTI OER can be transformed to become a part of such

discussion and debate. In this respect we look forward to working with colleagues in China

and Japan where the appetite for collaborative pedagogical research supported by LTI OER

is growing:

These are the topics we like to research about this summer so far:

1. Teaching Inclusively; we like to know more details or concretely about learning and teachinginclusively. Could we see some videos professor Chris Hockings took to help our understandingsabout teaching inclusively?

2. Internationalization; could we be given more concrete examples of measures forinternationalization ? (Head of International office, Sapporo Gakuin University, Japan)


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References

Hockings, C. and Gale, H (2012) Embedding Professional Values in PG Certificate throughLTI OER.University of Wolverhampton. Available fromwww.wlv.ac.uk/LTIEmbedding

University of Wolverhampton (2008) What is Blended Learning? Available online fromhttp://www.wlv.ac.uk/default.aspx?page=18446accessed 02/04/2012

QAA (2008) The framework for higher education qualifications in England, Wales andNorthern Ireland. Available online fromhttp://www.qaa.ac.uk/Publications/InformationAndGuidance/Documents/FHEQ08.pdfAccessed 02/04/12
http://www.wlv.ac.uk/LTIEmbeddinghttp://www.wlv.ac.uk/LTIEmbeddinghttp://www.wlv.ac.uk/LTIEmbeddinghttp://www.wlv.ac.uk/default.aspx?page=18446http://www.wlv.ac.uk/default.aspx?page=18446http://www.qaa.ac.uk/Publications/InformationAndGuidance/Documents/FHEQ08.pdf%20Accessed%2002/04/12http://www.qaa.ac.uk/Publications/InformationAndGuidance/Documents/FHEQ08.pdf%20Accessed%2002/04/12http://www.qaa.ac.uk/Publications/InformationAndGuidance/Documents/FHEQ08.pdf%20Accessed%2002/04/12http://www.qaa.ac.uk/Publications/InformationAndGuidance/Documents/FHEQ08.pdf%20Accessed%2002/04/12http://www.qaa.ac.uk/Publications/InformationAndGuidance/Documents/FHEQ08.pdf%20Accessed%2002/04/12http://www.wlv.ac.uk/default.aspx?page=18446http://www.wlv.ac.uk/LTIEmbedding