The development teams have been busy over the summer period pulling together the revised HNC/D frameworks and making any last minute tweaks to each of the draft documents.
There has been a lot of discussions around the design of the awards and making sure we have five unique awards to take to validation. We also had to ensure that there was a certain amount of overlap to allow flexability and movement between awards given we now have one generic HNC.
The frameworks have been uploaded to a file sharing site for you to view: To access click on the links below:
HNC Computing Framework
HND Computing Framework
HND Computing: Software Development Framework
HND Computing: Technical Support Framework
HND Computing: Networking Framework
You will notice that we have added a third group (Group 3) to each of the frameworks for direct accreditation of vendor courses (pending appropriate SCQF credit and levelling). Bobby provided an update on this vendor pilot in an earlier blog posting here.
Please note that the frameworks shared above are not the final versions (only final drafts) and there may be more tweaks following feedback from centres.
Wednesday, 31 August 2011
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Meeting with lead developer
Me and Caroline met with Gerry Mackie, from Dundee College, this morning. Gerry was nominated by the Qualification Development Team to lead this development.
As the Lead Developer (LD), Gerry has overall responsibility for the shape of the new qualifications. This development is so big that we also selected Qualification Leaders (QLs). There is a QL for each of the individual awards that we are working on. It's a real strength of the Scottish education system that we use practising teachers to develop qualifications.
The purpose of the meeting was to plan the next steps in the project. We agreed that the validation date for the HNC award will be Friday, 9 December. It makes sense to separate the HNC validation from the HND validation(s) because the HNC is embedded within all of the HNDs and changes to the HNC will effect all of the HNDs. So we plan to get the HNC "sorted" first. We will be looking for members of the validation panel at some time in the next few weeks.
We also agreed to convene another meeting of the QDT on 21 October. This will be more of an update session rather than the usual discussion/decision making session since most of the decisions have already been made, but it will be a good opportunity to review progress at a critical time in the project.
I have previously written about our plans for the units. The units will be completed by end October and validated by end November. So, we should have a full set of units available for the time of the validation.
A key task for the Lead Developer is to produce the validation proposal document (VPD) and Gerry will be working on this during the next few weeks.
Contact Caroline if you want to know more about this development or see "beta" versions of the units.
As the Lead Developer (LD), Gerry has overall responsibility for the shape of the new qualifications. This development is so big that we also selected Qualification Leaders (QLs). There is a QL for each of the individual awards that we are working on. It's a real strength of the Scottish education system that we use practising teachers to develop qualifications.
The purpose of the meeting was to plan the next steps in the project. We agreed that the validation date for the HNC award will be Friday, 9 December. It makes sense to separate the HNC validation from the HND validation(s) because the HNC is embedded within all of the HNDs and changes to the HNC will effect all of the HNDs. So we plan to get the HNC "sorted" first. We will be looking for members of the validation panel at some time in the next few weeks.
We also agreed to convene another meeting of the QDT on 21 October. This will be more of an update session rather than the usual discussion/decision making session since most of the decisions have already been made, but it will be a good opportunity to review progress at a critical time in the project.
I have previously written about our plans for the units. The units will be completed by end October and validated by end November. So, we should have a full set of units available for the time of the validation.
A key task for the Lead Developer is to produce the validation proposal document (VPD) and Gerry will be working on this during the next few weeks.
Contact Caroline if you want to know more about this development or see "beta" versions of the units.
Thursday, 25 August 2011
Meeting with vendors
I posted something a few weeks ago about our plans to incorporate vendors qualifications into the new HN awards. Caroline subsequently invited all of the vendors that we work with to a meeting, which was held in the Glasgow office this morning. Representatives of Microsoft and Oracle, among others, attended.
I began by describing the progress-to-date with this review, but the majority of the time was spent explaining our plans for accrediting vendor qualifications within the new awards. The main change is that we plan to directly accredit vendor qualifications rather than, as we presently do, accredit them by "translating" them into SQA units (what we call "credit transfer").
I emphasised that the final decision for including, or not, a specific vendor's awards lay with the QDT, and that the QDT would only consider vendor awards that were SCQF accredited (few vendor awards are) so the proposed system has opportunities and challenges for vendors.
Our plans to directly accredit vendor awards will be piloted in one or more of the new HN awards to see how it goes. But it's an exciting idea and one that utilises the potential of SCQF to mix and match qualifications from various bodies to provide the best possible qualification for students.
The next stage is for vendors to put their awards onto SCQF, and formally request their inclusion in one or more of the new HN awards. We have a devised a process for this, culminating in the QDT approving, or not, their inclusion.
Contact Caroline if you want to know more about the proposed vendor accredition system.
The next stage is for vendors to put their awards onto SCQF, and formally request their inclusion in one or more of the new HN awards. We have a devised a process for this, culminating in the QDT approving, or not, their inclusion.
Contact Caroline if you want to know more about the proposed vendor accredition system.
Wednesday, 17 August 2011
Writing process
I've documented the process we will follow when we produce units.
There are some things worth noting. Unit writers will not only be helped by a vetter, but will also have assistance from an External Verifier and someone to advise them about e-assessment. Kenji Lamb, formerly of Jisc, is going to help writers to think about ways that they can utilise e-assessment. It's great to have Kenji as part of the team.
We plan to have draft units complete by the end of October, and final (validated) versions by the end of November. We hope to validate the group award in December.
If you're not a member of the QDT, the first time you will see the units is when they appear on the SQA website, but we're happy to accept "beta testers" if you want a preview of the units before they are finalised. Contact Caroline if you want to join the preview.
There are some things worth noting. Unit writers will not only be helped by a vetter, but will also have assistance from an External Verifier and someone to advise them about e-assessment. Kenji Lamb, formerly of Jisc, is going to help writers to think about ways that they can utilise e-assessment. It's great to have Kenji as part of the team.
We plan to have draft units complete by the end of October, and final (validated) versions by the end of November. We hope to validate the group award in December.
If you're not a member of the QDT, the first time you will see the units is when they appear on the SQA website, but we're happy to accept "beta testers" if you want a preview of the units before they are finalised. Contact Caroline if you want to join the preview.
Wednesday, 10 August 2011
Writers and vetters are now selected
I met with Caroline and Hilary yesterday afternoon to finalise the selection of unit writers and vetters.
We tried hard to be as inclusive as possible. The invitation to volunteer went out in July, and remained open for a few weeks, and we finished up with a great response. I used criteria to select individuals for each unit. I think the resulting team of writers and vetters is a good one. Most of the unit writers are members of the core or extended QDT, which represents 22 colleges, but there are also some new faces on the list.
Caroline will now issue contracts to the individuals who can now, at last, get down to the real business of writing the new curriculum.
The deadline for completing the units is the end of October. The units will be available to centres by December.
Contact Caroline is you want to know how the units are shaping up.
Monday, 25 July 2011
Vendor qualifications
I've been meaning to post something about how we plan to incorporate vendor qualifications for some time.
We currently do this through "credit transfer", whereby centres can claim SQA units for passing vendor qualifications. We achieve this by maintaining shadow units that incorporate vendor skills - but can also be delivered in a more generic way.
By way of a pilot, we plan to change this. We intend to directly accredit vendor qualifications by giving them SQA credits without going through the process of credit transfer. The approved vendor qualifications would sit in a separate (optional) group of units. Vendors would be responsible for ensuring their qualifications are on SCQF. The number of vendor units that could contribute to any HN award would be limited.
This doesn't mean that you have to deliver any vendor qualifications to get one of the new HNs but it does mean that students who possess these qualifications will receive recognition for their achievements.
The scheme is a pilot because we have to see how it goes. There may be academic and operational issues to resolve. But, if it works, it will be one of the most flexible vendor-accreditation schemes (within national qualifications) in the world.
If you are a vendor and you want to know more about this pilot scheme please contact Caroline.
We currently do this through "credit transfer", whereby centres can claim SQA units for passing vendor qualifications. We achieve this by maintaining shadow units that incorporate vendor skills - but can also be delivered in a more generic way.
By way of a pilot, we plan to change this. We intend to directly accredit vendor qualifications by giving them SQA credits without going through the process of credit transfer. The approved vendor qualifications would sit in a separate (optional) group of units. Vendors would be responsible for ensuring their qualifications are on SCQF. The number of vendor units that could contribute to any HN award would be limited.
This doesn't mean that you have to deliver any vendor qualifications to get one of the new HNs but it does mean that students who possess these qualifications will receive recognition for their achievements.
The scheme is a pilot because we have to see how it goes. There may be academic and operational issues to resolve. But, if it works, it will be one of the most flexible vendor-accreditation schemes (within national qualifications) in the world.
If you are a vendor and you want to know more about this pilot scheme please contact Caroline.
Wednesday, 20 July 2011
Selecting unit writers
We have had a good response to the call for volunteers to write units. So, we are almost in a position to begin matching volunteers to units.
We will use the following criteria to match people to units:
We will use this criteria to choose one person when we have several volunteers for a single unit. The criteria is not in order of importance.
You do not have to meet all of the criteria. Some are essential (such as number 1 and number 6) but most are not. Criterion 9 is not designed to exclude inexperienced people. Quite the opposite, in fact. It is there to encourage inexperienced people (such as part time lecturers) or minorities (such as women, who are under-represented in these developments) to volunteer since it permits us to choose someone in spite of their relative inexperience in order to achieve a good balance for the writing team as a whole.
Selections will be made in the near future. It's not too late to volunteer.
We will use the following criteria to match people to units:
- the person has attended unit writing training*
- the person has previous experience of unit writing and/or vetting
- the person is a member of the QDT (core or extended)
- the person is has played a lead or active role in developments to date
- the person is recognised as a subject expert
- the person has relevant teaching experience*
- the person has relevant curriculum development experience (such as involvement in previous qualification developments)
- the person has relevant experience of working with SQA (such as external verification)
- an appropriate overall balance of age/experience/gender/position/location is achieved
We will use this criteria to choose one person when we have several volunteers for a single unit. The criteria is not in order of importance.
You do not have to meet all of the criteria. Some are essential (such as number 1 and number 6) but most are not. Criterion 9 is not designed to exclude inexperienced people. Quite the opposite, in fact. It is there to encourage inexperienced people (such as part time lecturers) or minorities (such as women, who are under-represented in these developments) to volunteer since it permits us to choose someone in spite of their relative inexperience in order to achieve a good balance for the writing team as a whole.
Selections will be made in the near future. It's not too late to volunteer.
Thursday, 14 July 2011
Unit Development
As you will be aware, we have been unable to commence with unit development work due to a delay in confirmation of our internal budget. On Tuesday of this week Bobby, Gerry and myself met to discuss the list of definitive Units that will be taken forward for development as part of the HN Review for Computing/Networking.
We are now at the stage where we are seeking unit writers & vetters.
I have collated a list of the agreed units that will go forward for development into three categories:
1. New
2. Major Revision
3. Minor Revision
We have a large QDT (core and extended) which will take on a significant chunk of writing and vetting of units over the forthcoming months. However, if you are interested in being involved, please select the units you would be interested in by clicking on the URL below:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/computingwriting
I know many of you have already e-mailed myself, Gerry MacKie (or group leaders) with your preferred areas of interest but in order to be considered as part of the writing/vetting team you must make your selections using this URL.
We are now at the stage where we are seeking unit writers & vetters.
I have collated a list of the agreed units that will go forward for development into three categories:
1. New
2. Major Revision
3. Minor Revision
We have a large QDT (core and extended) which will take on a significant chunk of writing and vetting of units over the forthcoming months. However, if you are interested in being involved, please select the units you would be interested in by clicking on the URL below:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/computingwriting
I know many of you have already e-mailed myself, Gerry MacKie (or group leaders) with your preferred areas of interest but in order to be considered as part of the writing/vetting team you must make your selections using this URL.
Friday, 8 July 2011
Unit writing update
The frameworks for the new awards have been done-and-dusted for some time now, and I had hoped to rapidly move on to unit writing, since the training has been carried out, but we ran into financial problems.
In common with most public sector organisations, money is tight right now within SQA, so our plans for writing new and revised units were unaffordable. I've spent the last few weeks trying to finalise the budget for this phase of the development.
I got good news yesterday. While I didn't get enough money to develop every new and revised unit in the frameworks, there is now sufficient budget to develop the majority of units, and all of the important units. There may be more funding later for a second phase of unit writing when we can complete all of the units.
So, we can now get down to unit writing. Me and Caroline are meeting with Gerry next week to create a definitive list of units that we plan to write. We will then ask for volunteers to write (or vet) the units. If you are a member of the QDT, you will get early notice about this, but I will also post something on this blog, so keep your eyes peeled if you want to be involved.
In common with most public sector organisations, money is tight right now within SQA, so our plans for writing new and revised units were unaffordable. I've spent the last few weeks trying to finalise the budget for this phase of the development.
I got good news yesterday. While I didn't get enough money to develop every new and revised unit in the frameworks, there is now sufficient budget to develop the majority of units, and all of the important units. There may be more funding later for a second phase of unit writing when we can complete all of the units.
So, we can now get down to unit writing. Me and Caroline are meeting with Gerry next week to create a definitive list of units that we plan to write. We will then ask for volunteers to write (or vet) the units. If you are a member of the QDT, you will get early notice about this, but I will also post something on this blog, so keep your eyes peeled if you want to be involved.
Thursday, 23 June 2011
Computing & IT Subject Network event
Scotland's College's organised a full day event at the City of Glasgow College to provide an IT Subject Network Conference. These events run annually and are popular with college lecturers.
There was an excellent turn-out, with more than 70 people attending. John Connell gave the keynote talk, discussing changes in education, specifically those brought on by changes in technology. John is passionate about the need for education to modernise.
This was followed by a presentation from me and Gerry Mackie about the on-going review of HNC/D Computing and HNC/D Computer Networking. My presentation focussed on how qualifications are developed.
Gerry talked about how the new qualifications are shaping up and the tasks that lie ahead.
I pointed out that the new awards should be validated at the end of 2010 and available to centres from early 2012.
The day also included a number of workshops, many based around recent SQA developments such as the new NC in Computer Games Development, led by Fiona Jackson of Forth Valley College. Korima Audish, of Kilmarnock College, gave the presentation.
and the new NPA in Mobile Technology, led by Jim Kriegar of Anniesland College.
I thought that the event was excellent and it was good to see SQA developments play such a central role to the event.
Contact Gerry Dougan for more information about Scotland's Colleges.
There was an excellent turn-out, with more than 70 people attending. John Connell gave the keynote talk, discussing changes in education, specifically those brought on by changes in technology. John is passionate about the need for education to modernise.
This was followed by a presentation from me and Gerry Mackie about the on-going review of HNC/D Computing and HNC/D Computer Networking. My presentation focussed on how qualifications are developed.
View more presentations from bobbyelliott.
The day also included a number of workshops, many based around recent SQA developments such as the new NC in Computer Games Development, led by Fiona Jackson of Forth Valley College. Korima Audish, of Kilmarnock College, gave the presentation.
and the new NPA in Mobile Technology, led by Jim Kriegar of Anniesland College.
I thought that the event was excellent and it was good to see SQA developments play such a central role to the event.
Contact Gerry Dougan for more information about Scotland's Colleges.
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