Applicants will normally be graduates working in a teaching or support role with students on Higher Education programmes. These roles could include:

• lecturers and tutors
• teaching assistants
• research fellows and research assistants with a teaching role
• graduates and research students with a teaching or tutoring role
• staff who support student learning, e.g. learner development advisors, faculty student support officers, IT and media technicians, library staff

Applicants must also be able to demonstrate the following to the satisfaction of the Programme Leader:

• A first degree in any subject or alternative educational qualifications that are deemed equivalent
• Sufficient teaching or related activities with students that will allow them to meet the learning outcomes of the programme (an average of 4 hours per week).

It is important to note that, reflecting the University’s commitment to the quality of the student experience; all Manchester Metropolitan University staff new to teaching who do not have an equivalent qualification are required to complete the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice.

Additionally, those seeking entry to the NMC Teacher Route must meet NMC (2008:25) entry requirements as follows:

• Be registered in the same part or sub-part of the register as the students they (will) support.
• Have completed at least 3 years post-registration experience.
• Have gained additional professional knowledge and skills (through CPD).
• Have experience in an area where (nurse) students are gaining practice experience relevant to their registration.
• Have extended their professional knowledge, relevant to their field of practice, to at least first degree level.
• Normally be carrying out sufficient teaching or related activities with students in HE that will enable the programme learning outcomes to be met (a minimum of 3 hours each week). (Also see below).
• Be able to negotiate a period of assessed teaching activity to include experience in both academic and practice settings, at least equivalent to a minimum of 12 weeks (360 hours).
• Students must be able to be supervised, supported and assessed in relation to NMC requirements, by a NMC approved Teacher from the relevant part of the NMC register.
  

The Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PGC AP) provides a nationally recognised qualification for teaching and academic practice in Higher Education. The Programme is accredited by the professional body for Higher Education practitioners, the Higher Education Academy ( HEA ). After successful completion of the PGC AP, participants will automatically be recognised as Fellows of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA). The Programme has therefore been designed to meet the academy’s requirements stated in the UK Professional Standards Framework for Teaching and Supporting Learning in Higher Education: Standard Descriptors 1 and 2.

On successful completion of the PGC AP you will gain 60 masters’ level credits. The exit award for this Programme is a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice. You then have the option to proceed to the Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip AP) and Master of Arts in Academic Practice (MA AP). The 60 credits are also ‘transportable’ to other comparable Masters level programmes. Participants who exit the Programme having successfully completed the Understanding Academic Practice Unit will also be automatically eligible for Associate Fellow status with the Higher Education Academy.

The programme is designed to develop a sound academic grounding in pedagogical theories and linking these to the practical experience and skills necessary for carrying out a professional role in teaching and supporting learning in Higher Education. Participants gain a deep understanding of the core activities that comprise academic practice and the relationship between them.

A ‘holistic’ approach is taken to the role of the academic practitioner focussed on enhancing the student experience in a modern university. This is achieved through engagement with the scholarship of learning, teaching and assessment, critical reflection and reflective practice, research informed teaching, the implications of the widening participation agenda, practices that promote diversity and inclusion, academic enterprise and knowledge transfer together with an emphasis on teamwork involving both academic and support services.

A premium is placed on equipping participants to take a proactive approach in creating excellent and inclusive learning and teaching opportunities, and in the formation of learning communities designed to enable all students to become independent adult learners.

Throughout the Programme participants will be provided with opportunities to gain an understanding of the theory and practice of the use of some of the new technologies in teaching and learning, innovative and flexible delivery strategies and the contribution an academic practitioner can make to the managed learning environment.

Programme Aim

It is the aim of the Master of Arts in Academic Practice (MA AP), of which the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PGC AP) forms the first stage:

‘To develop knowledgeable, skilled and reflective academic practitioners, able to adopt a scholarly and evidence based approach to the theory and practice of, and research into, teaching and learning for the enhancement of student learning ’ .

(MA AP Definitive Document, 2010)

Programme Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the PGC AP programme you will be able to:

• systematically and critically engage with the pedagogic theories and models which underpin student learning, teaching and assessment;
• apply effective teaching, learning and assessment strategies to the design, delivery and evaluation of teaching in a range of contexts;
• make appropriate and creative use of technology to support student learning;
• apply inclusive teaching, learning and assessment strategies to enhance the learning of a diverse student body;
• critically engage with institutional and national policy and practice in the context of a rapidly changing educational environment;
• adopt a scholarly and evidence based approach to academic practice and to the enhancement of the student experience;
• engage in continuing professional development as critical and reflective practitioners;

Programme participants completing the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice ( NMC Teacher Route ) will meet the outcomes listed above and additionally:

• Achieve all NMC Teacher outcomes ( NMC 2008).

The PGC AP consists of three Core Units and one Option Unit. The Programme, in its core and optional units constitutes a coherent whole, providing the appropriate balance between academic and practice elements.

The next PGC AP delivery will start in September and follows a day release model with classroom sessions on Wednesday mornings. The programme will be delivered over four terms. There is an expectation that the participant carries out independent study and online activities between these sessions and it is recommended that they dedicate at least half a day a week for this purpose.

The programme is delivered using a blended approach based around face to face classroom sessions. These are supported with online activities and a range of materials specifically designed to facilitate independent study and enable the development of participants as autonomous learners and reflective practitioners. The use of a variety of technologies to support learning is integrated into the programme delivery to facilitate a blended learning approach. Participants will need to engage with online activities to support the face to face activities.Participants will be required to carry out weekly independent study and preparation for the sessions.

Time to complete the programme

You will need to commit time to completing the Programme units. Participants are advised to agree their participation with their line manager and negotiate recognition of this time in their work allocation. For most participants this qualification is a requirement of employment as a Lecturer in HE and there is an expectation therefore that they are supported by their home department and allocated appropriate study time to attend the compulsory sessions and complete the self-study required. Information for managers is supplied in a Managers’ Information Handbook.

In the final term there will be less focus on face to face sessions and participants will work independently for the most part. However, it will be necessary for participants to continue to work on assignments and other elements of required work during this period. So ensure you still negotiate appropriate study time with your manager during this term.

Core Unit: Understanding Academic Practice (20 Credits)

This unit, through the dissemination of examples of innovatory good practice, provides an introduction to learning and teaching and support for learning in Higher Education. The unit provides grounding for the understanding of academic practice in higher education and of the theoretical, conceptual and pedagogic frameworks that underpin learning, teaching and assessment. This unit also provides participants with an advanced understanding of the principles, philosophy, ethics and values that influence the creation of equitable and inclusive experiences for a diverse student body. There are also opportunities for participants to engage and receive peer and tutor feedback on short episodes of both individual and group teaching activities.

Core Unit: The Context of Academic Practice (10 Credits)

This unit contextualises the role of the academic within a higher education setting and focuses on how this impacts on teaching and learning and the academic curriculum. It explores institutional and national systems and strategies, quality assurance and enhancement, and the change agenda in higher education, and considers how this impacts on our practice and on the student experience.

Core Unit: Critical Reflective Practice (20 Credits)

This unit runs concurrently with the other programme units and makes a core contribution to the reflective practice element of the programme. Participants are introduced to the theoretical frameworks of reflective practice and supported to complete a detailed Academic Practice ePortfolio. Within this they evidence reflection on the influence of the programme on their academic practice and professional development. These reflections also draw upon peer mentoring activities, examples from their practice, formal observation of practice and professional development planning.

Option Unit (10 Credits)

The Option Units offer a choice of units covering a range of focussed aspects of academic practice. Options will build on, and develop, key aspects of the Programme and are designed to further enable participants to meet core learning outcomes of the Programme.

In addition, an Independent Study option is available, which will allow participants the flexibility to identify a viable learning opportunity (e.g. discipline-specific and / or from another programme of study) to capitalise on prior learning, to specialise or to explore new areas of study.

The Options are organised into the following themes:

• Employability, Enterprise and Public Engagement;
• Academic Leadership;
• Inclusive Practice; Using technology to Enhance Learning,
• Research and Scholarship and the Student Experience.

Options will be offered subject to viability. Normally, at least one option will be available from each theme.