Mechanisms to support students learning across the FE/HE divide are not always in place. But much can be achieved by the different institutions’ professionals working together, says Jessica Warner.
At Kingston College, in line with government proposals1 and in common with other FE colleges, we are delivering an increasing number of HE courses: at least one in eight of our students are now studying at HE level. The college as a whole has had to adapt to meet the different needs of HE students and consequently so has the learning resources centre (LRC).
The government White Paper on the future of higher education made an economic case to widen participation in HE. The aim is 50 per cent participation in the 18-30 age group by the end of the decade. Much of this increase will be delivered through new two-year vocational and work-based qualifications – foundation degrees (FD).
Foundation degrees are extensively delivered in FE colleges, but franchised out by local HE institutions. FDs have posed some new and specific challenges. Availability of resources has been highlighted as a potential weakness, including access issues and cross-consortia virtual learning environment (VLE) compatibility problems.2 At Kingston we have found that the greatest barrier to overcome has been how to deliver services to students who are entitled to use facilities provided by two institutions, but who only regularly attend the college.
The LRC has always analysed student learning needs and behaviour. We regularly discuss services with students and staff both formally and informally to ensure we cater for all our learners. The FDs have certainly demanded this practice, and this has led to the development of some innovative schemes to ensure student requirements are met.
Issues concerning the delivery of foundation degrees include:
- FD students study mainly at Kingston, with occasional visits to partner institutions; students consequently identify themselves as Kingston College students.
- As an FE college (FEC) LRC we have a more limited budget than our HE counterparts and cannot provide the diverse range of databases and e-journals they offer, many of which are vital to support the FDs. The potential problem of adequate library resourcing was recognised as an issue by CILIP3 following the White Paper.
- There is a geographical barrier which discourages students, who are often local to the college, from visiting resource centres at the partner institutions. Even when it’s only a five-minute walk, students are reluctant to make use of resources available to them. This may be in part because they do not feel comfortable in the larger HEI environment.
- The profile of the FD student is different from the average FE or HE student. Learners are often mature, with family and work commitments,4 and may lack the skills and confidence to make full and effective use of resources, especially electronic resources. Many FD students have been out of education for a number of years, so are unaware of the massive increase in resources available electronically, and may even fear using them.
- FD students often study on a part-time basis and the days scheduled in college are extremely full. This means that there is not much time for students to come into the LRC during their days at college to make use of services on site. Other commitments like work and family may also restrict LRC use at other times.
- Students’ expectations do not always match reality. Many students have been surprised by the extent of the theoretical component of their course. So students are often not well prepared to undertake academic research, and consequently need more LRC support.
- Licensing restrictions on electronic resources prevent the college LRC (where students feel at home) from providing full support to students using unfamiliar and complex e-journals and databases.
- The significant role that electronic resources and VLEs can play in FD delivery has been recognised.5 However, because the partner institutions have separate VLEs, support for courses cannot easily be provided by the college LRC staff.
Maximising the potential
The benefit that the FE environment as a whole can bring to foundation degrees is well recorded.6 There are also benefits specific to learning resource provision in the FE LRC – for example we are used to working very closely with students who lack information retrieval and research skills. Students are put at ease, and are not intimidated by preconceptions of what they should already know and be able to do.
The FE LRC also benefits from a wide selection of study skills and other ‘catch-up’ resources, which should enable the student to pick up in areas of potential weakness.
Equally the FD should be able to take advantage of the LRC environment within higher education. Bigger budgets allow the HEI LRC to provide access to a greater diversity of resources and at a higher level. These high-level resources become increasingly significant in the FD programme as the level of academic attainment and research increases.
At Kingston we try to see that the most is made of each institution. We have been working increasingly closely with our partner institutions to create as many links as possible between the LRCs and their staff. The QAA highlights close collaboration between partner institutions as good practice in delivery of FDs.7 However, this does not emphasise that the collaboration needs to be written into wider strategies to include learning resource centres, not simply surrounding curricula issues.
There is a danger that, without the LRC initiating these close links, they will not develop. The aim of the college LRC is to remain student-focused in service provision rather than institution-focused: we try and supply the student needs rather than limit their support to what one institution can offer.
We have a number of HE services already in place, but we have to make sure that these services are targeted directly at FD students, and adapted if necessary. For example we have a new HE resources centre with PCs and access to books and journals for HE courses. This is available to HE students outside the standard LRC opening hours. FD students have been encouraged to use this centre and will find many of their essential texts kept there. We are also able to liaise via email directly with students to make other resources available on request for collection at specified times. The key to other developments has been to increase collaboration wherever possible between the college LRC and the resource centres of our partner institutions.
Regular contact
Our experience has been extremely positive – partner LRCs have been willing to discuss schemes and try to develop plans. There hasn’t been the sense of competition experienced by some colleges trying to collaborate with higher education institutions.8 We have made visits to the other LRCs and are in regular contact to discuss resources. We focus on inductions, promotion of resources and how to improve student access to resources located at two sites.
FD students have definitely benefited from the LRC staff working in closer liaison to produce a more uniform service. Through the librarians meeting directly we have been able to highlight the common concerns which might otherwise go unaired and unaddressed.
We are lucky to be next door to one of our partner institutions. However, with more distant institutions, I was able to go in a minibus with the students on an induction/visit. This provided an ideal opportunity not only to talk directly with students and discuss their needs, but also to get to know the resources at other institutions, and meet LRC staff.
In co-operation with partner institution librarians we ensure that students receive inductions from both LRCs and, at each induction, services from each LRC are highlighted and promoted. At Kingston we are now offering more in-depth inductions throughout the year to help students tackle specific assignments, make use of more complex resources and brush up on referencing and research skills. Where more in-depth material is only available via the HEI we aim to include those LRC staff to help deliver the sessions.
Athens (the access authentication system for electronic resources) enables students to access externally e-resources subscribed to by their institution. Remote access is extremely useful for FD students who may not have time to visit the LRCs for all their research. Yet it is not clear how obstacles such as licensing regulations can be overcome when delivering cross-consortia courses. Students must register with each institution as Athens users: this may need to be on site at the appropriate institution. Although students can have Athens passwords through the college, due to smaller college budgets we are unable to subscribe to the bigger and more expensive e-resources, many of which are vital to support the FD students. Consequently, despite potential inconvenience, we strongly advise students to get Athens passwords from both institutions.
Athens enables access but it cannot provide the support that a professional librarian can offer in using the databases or searching on e-journals. This is particularly significant for the FD students, who are often reluctant and inexperienced electronic resource users. Licensing restrictions mean that the staff at the college are not automatically entitled to access the databases and e-journals available to students via Athens and subscribed to by our partner institutions. So, despite the college LRC staff building up close working relationships with the students, and seeing them on a regular basis, they cannot provide support and encourage access to the electronic resources the students are entitled to use.
Separate licensing agreements
We have worked with our partner institutions to try and overcome these problems. First, we have been able to set up Athens accounts for the LRC staff that support FD students. However, in order to gain access to all relevant databases, our partner institutions have often had to negotiate separate licensing agreements with the providers – a time-consuming inconvenience. Where possible we have also set up Athens accounts remotely to save students visiting the partner HEI. It is an area of concern that traditional publishing arrangements and licences are a barrier to the modern delivery of courses that span institutions and make extensive use of e-learning.
The LRC provides extensive support to academic staff in developing VLE pages. Most notably, HE courses have benefited from research support, such as putting links to appropriate databases and selected articles on the VLE pages. This provides examples to inexperienced users of the value of databases.
FD students and staff are based at the college, and so that’s where the relevant VLE course pages are. But licensing agreements prevent college staff (even when individual access agreements have been made) from placing links to relevant databases on these pages. This obviously limits the support that can be provided to FD students and which is available to our other HE students. We have begun working with one of our partner institutions to ensure access rights to their VLE, thus enabling us, who work more closely with the students, to provide more detailed support.
The close proximity of one of our partner institutions means we have a well-established informal inter-library lending system in place, with ‘van drop-offs’ organised between the two institutions. However, where no inter-institution delivery is in place, we have negotiated directly with the LRC about lending books between the two institutions, to save the students travelling. It has been agreed that staff can pick up books on behalf of students.
By increasing the liaison between LRC staff, it has been possible to co-ordinate buying some of the more expensive and specialised book resources. By putting links on our VLE to online catalogues of the partner institutions, students can readily see where the material they want is held. Where foundation degrees have only a few students enrolled on them, we are able to operate a quite personal service, getting books from partner institutions via individual email requests. We can also send journals between institutions following individual student requests.
Many of our strategies are in their infancy. However, now that we have recognised where the problems lie, it should be possible to continue to build and develop them further. Collaboration has proved vital and LRC staff have had to initiate this collaboration. But our experience is that, where we have been able initiate contact, the results have been encouraging and beneficial for the FD students.
References
1 The Future of Higher Education. DfES, 2003 (www.dfes.gov.uk/hegateway/strategy/hestrategy/
expand.shtml).
2 Overview Report on Foundation Degree Reviews. Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, 2003 (www.qaa.ac.uk/public/foundation/overview/
foundation_overview.htm#areas).
3 A Response to the Government White Paper on the Future of Higher Education. CILIP, 2004 (www.cilip.org.uk/professionalguidance/lobbying/
responses/highereducation.htm).
4 L. Wagner. Foundation Degree Task Force Report to Ministers – a summary. 2004 (www.foundationdegree.org.uk/docs/
task_force_summary.pdf).
5 See 2.
6 See 1.
7 Foundation Degree: qualification benchmark (final draft). Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, 2002 (www.qaa.ac.uk/public/foundation/
foundation_statement.pdf).
8 Validation and Quality Assurance – information on the quality of foundation degrees. Foundation Degree Forward, 2004 (www.fdf.ac.uk/valid_qaa.php).
Jessica Warner is Learning Resources Assistant, Learning Resources Centre, Kingston College (jessica.warner@kingston-college.ac.uk).
Updated: 16 March 2005