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Q160/95

Quality Assessment Report by the HEFCE for

University of Lincolnshire and Humberside

Environmental Studies

February 1995

Contents

Introduction
Aims and Objectives
Student Learning Experience
Student Achievement
Conclusions and Recommendations

Introduction

  1. This Report presents the findings of an assessment in February 1995 of the quality of education provided in environmental studies by the University of Humberside.
  2. The University originated as the Hull College of Higher Education which was formed in 1976 by the merger of six local colleges. With the transfer of advanced courses from Grimsby College of Technology in 1983, the College was renamed Humberside College of Higher Education. The Institution became a polytechnic in 1990 and the University of Humberside in 1992. The University's academic structure was reorganised into 13 schools and the Food Research Centre in August 1994. Currently there are about 12,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) students at the University.
  3. The course assessed was the BA (Honours) in Environmental Studies. This course is the responsibility of the School of Applied Science and Technology which occupies the Grimsby campus alongside the Food Research Centre. The University's other schools are located at the three sites in Hull. The School is responsible for the education of around 580 FTE students and has 43 full-time teaching staff, eight of whom are seconded to the Food Research Centre, but continue to contribute to the delivery of the School's courses. There are around 150 FTE students on the degree course in environmental studies and about 30 staff contribute to the teaching with about 10 playing a major role.
  4. The course was approved for two intakes of students from September 1991 and underwent a thorough review and revision in 1993-94. The first cohort of students graduated from the course in July 1994. The School also offers a range of courses in food studies and technology and in 1993 introduced a BSc (Honours) degree in Food and Environmental Management. There is some common teaching between this course and the degree in environmental studies within the University's semesterised modular scheme, which was introduced in September 1994; all years of these courses moved into the scheme at that time.

    Aims and Objectives

  5. The self-assessment document outlines the mission of the University, that of the School and the aims of the degree course. The University's mission is currently under review. Within it, and the objectives stemming from it, there are commitments towards the local region, the widening of access, the development of students' skills and capabilities and to the provision of quality vocational education and applied research. The provision in environmental studies is broadly consistent with these aims, particularly with regard to the widening of access and the good attention given to the development of students' transferable and study skills through specific course units in the first two years. This is effective in developing the students as independent learners. There is a recognition amongst staff that further progress should be made in clarifying the vocational focus of the course and in developing a wider, applied research base in environmental studies. The former could be aided by the proposed introduction of a sandwich mode and increasing the availability of placements.
  6. The course is also consonant with the School's vision of consolidating its reputation in food science and technology whilst developing flexible and innovative courses through the integration of areas such as environmental studies with its core expertise. The self-assessment states that a holistic approach to environmental studies has been adopted. The course seeks to develop an understanding of the multidisciplinary nature of environmental studies with the intention that students should adopt a critical and analytical approach to environmental problem-solving. The revised scheme is, in general, well related to these aims. The science content of the course has been increased, greater use is being made of the range of expertise in the School, opportunities have been provided for choice and specialisation and the range of delivery and assessment methods used aids the development of a critical approach by the students. There is a need, however, for some clarification of the extent to which the revised course continues to aim to fulfil the original intention of providing a broadly-based holistic programme of study; further consideration could be given in the continuing evolution of the programme to the balance achieved between breadth and depth of study.
  7. Although certain features of the programme, such as the field courses and the well-developed case studies, aid integration, links between individual units are not always well developed. Further consideration should be given to ensuring that areas of the School's particular expertise, such as fish and fisheries, appear throughout the course and to making the links between units more visible through the greater use of a series of prerequisites. Consideration should also be given to increasing the continuity of individual staff contributions throughout the three years of the course and to strengthening students' grounding in the physical sciences. The broadening of their awareness of the physical science aspects of environmental studies is necessary.
  8. It is recommended that, as the course evolves, consideration should be given to the development of a particular regional niche for environmental studies at the University taking account of the overall national provision, the particular expertise in the School and the need to increase the employability of graduates from the programme.

    Student Learning Experience

  9. Of the classes attended, approximately 31 per cent were judged to be excellent and the remainder to be satisfactory. There were no unsatisfactory classes. Generally good features included: carefully prepared, structured and organised sessions; the good links made to a range of environmental considerations including economic, commercial and political aspects; the good use made by staff of their research and other experience; and the variety and integration of the wide range of teaching methods used. The rapport between staff and students was also good and considerable support was provided by staff for the students during group work. The support provided in one-to-one tutorial sessions on the preparation of curricula vitae and the feedback on oral presentations was excellent and supportive, but appropriately critical. There were, however, instances where good opportunities for interaction and discussion in classes were missed and where more widespread use of handouts to support the use of OHP foils would have been beneficial.
  10. Attendance by students was good. They were attentive, collaborated well in group work, were prepared to ask and respond to questions, but were variable in their contributions to plenary sessions and in their willingness to enter into debate. In one instance, they were inadequately prepared for a seminar, but were generally at ease and frank in discussions in the one-to-one tutorials.
  11. A broad range of assessment methods, appropriate to the aim of developing students' transferable skills, are used. Good support is generally provided for students by the rapid return of coursework and the detailed and formative comment provided. In the final year there is now a heavy reliance on coursework assessments including group work. It is recommended that this should be evaluated, in due course, to ensure that there is valid assessment of student attainment. Further consideration should also be given as to how the external examiners should operate to obtain an overview of students' performance.
  12. The support systems for students are well considered and implemented. Good written support and guidance is provided, particularly through the well-designed and substantial year handbooks. Students' perceptions are that staff are approachable and helpful, and communications have been improved through the provision of a course notice board and the encouragement given to students to use E-mail. Pastoral support is provided effectively by year tutors and a timetabled slot is provided for meetings. The University's student support services are well structured and integrated. The management of the service, operating at more than one site, has been carefully considered. A good feature is the appointment of a students revenue officer within student services thus ensuring that students with financial problems are immediately known to the student services staff. At the Grimsby campus the counselling service is assisted by the Chaplain, but overall the assessors judged that there were too few counselling staff and that the provision should be reviewed.
  13. The careers advice is perceived, by those students who seek it, to be good. However, the general awareness by students concerning career prospects and of the advice available is limited. On the basis of the preliminary first destination statistics for the first cohort of graduates, more support is needed, particularly for those who wish to obtain environmentally related employment. It is recommended that the careers advisors and the School's staff should be more proactive in providing careers advice and in eliciting details of first destinations.
  14. The general and specialist teaching accommodation and the accommodation for staff are good or better. Considerable refurbishment including the provision of an environmental science laboratory was carried out in 1991-92. The laboratory accommodation, its organisation and management and the equipment available are excellent in relation to the needs of the course, and greater use should be made of these facilities, particularly for project work. In contrast, the library and social and recreational facilities available to students are poor. The University shares the main teaching site with Grimsby College and improvements in social and recreational facilities are being explored with the College. The library provides inadequate accommodation for private study and group working. However, the University is reviewing its estate strategy with a possible view to consolidating on fewer sites. Until this is resolved it is unlikely that any new building will take place.
  15. The library stock provides good access to secondary sources including multiple copies of key texts, but only limited access to primary source material. However, the library staff provide good support for students including the production of audio-visual aids to support their presentations. It is recommended that consideration be given to increasing the access to scientific and environmental abstracting services at the Grimsby campus and to inter-library loan services to support final-year project work.
  16. The computer centre provides good access to up-to-date PCs. This provision is appreciated by the students who make good use of these excellent facilities in the preparation of coursework assignments. In addition, remote sensing and GIS capabilities are being developed on a small cluster of machines in the laboratory area.
  17. Overall, the number, expertise and experience of the teaching staff are adequate. Deficiencies have been and are being met through a mix of new appointments and targeted staff development. The valuable input from staff associated with the School's main areas of activity in food and fisheries technology enhances the provision. There are sound institutional policies regarding staff appraisal and its link to staff development and these extend to the technical and administrative staff. Research and consultancy are encouraged. However, there is a need for the core team of environmental studies staff to be identified more clearly, for the strategy for staff development and new appointments to be closely related to the development of the course, and, as recognised by the School, for a further broadening and strengthening of the research and consultancy base in environmental studies. It is also recommended that staff new to teaching should be required to attend appropriate training.
  18. The course is well managed and the University's quality assurance procedures are well considered and documented. The annual course reports are thorough and show that the course team has been responsive to comments from external examiners and students. The operation of the University's procedures has served the course well by requiring a full review in the third year of its operation. The course team made good use of this opportunity to reflect on initial difficulties and to revise and restructure the course substantially. Routes for students to provide feedback are offered by representation on the course committee, the School's staff-student consultative committee and the recently piloted computer-based questionnaire, the further development of which is encouraged. In general, the students are satisfied with the opportunities provided. Following the revision of the University's academic structure, it is recommended that the sub-structure finally adopted by the School should be such as to enhance the environmental studies focus.

    Student Achievement

  19. The admissions policy for the course reflects the University's mission in encouraging access and the admission of students with non-standard qualifications. Under 70 per cent of the students enrolled have GCE A-Level qualifications and an increasing number are entering through the University's foundation year. For the past three years there have been about 300 applicants for around 70 places. Until the current year, when only 34 students were enrolled in the first year, recruitment has been to target. It is suggested that the course team should continue to evaluate the reasons for the low representation of women and students from ethnic minorities on the course. It is also recommended that steps should be taken to raise the environmental studies profile of the University in the local region and to increase the effectiveness of the marketing of the part-time mode.
  20. The course team has recognised that the failure and withdrawal rates of the first, and to a lesser extent, the second cohort have been unacceptably high and they have responded appropriately to this. This has included the provision of supporting tutorials in science in the first year and keeping a careful check on attendance. Retention rates have improved, but remain less than satisfactory. However, the impact of the changes made as a result of the recent course review will only become apparent at the end of the current academic year.
  21. As judged by the external examiners, the standards now being achieved by students and the spread of degree classes obtained by the first graduating cohort are satisfactory; the assessors were able to confirm this. Project reports and written coursework are well presented with good use of information technology skills. Good attention is given to data presentation and the appropriate citation of sources from the early stages of the course. The better work showed that students have the ability to integrate material from a range of sources and to analyse environmental issues critically. However, as noted by the external examiners, there is some superficiality in the way students deal with the scientific aspects of environmental issues. Although well prepared within the transferable skills unit for applying for employment, the preliminary data for the first cohort of graduates suggests that they have so far been relatively unsuccessful in obtaining environmentally related employment.
  22. The current students are very appreciative of the efforts of staff and recognised that improvements had and were being made. The few employers met were satisfied with their experience of students on placements, but were divided as to the permanent environmentally related employment prospects for students from broad-based holistic environmental studies courses. Graduates were supportive of the aims of the course, which they felt had equipped them for environmentally related employment, although obtaining relevant, permanent employment was proving difficult.

    Conclusions and Recommendations

  23. The University of Humberside claims to provide a satisfactory education in environmental studies. The assessors come to the overall conclusion, based on the assessment visit and an analysis of the self-assessment, together with the statistical indicators, that the quality of education in environmental studies at the University of Humberside is satisfactory.
  24. The course provision is, in general, in accord with the University's mission and the School's vision. Students are recruited with a variety of academic attainments and backgrounds, and there is effective development of their intellectual and transferable skills. The course team has and is continuing to address the initial problems encountered, has been responsive to the comments of external examiners and students, and has carried out a thorough review and revision of the course. Learning outcomes have been incorporated into unit descriptions and this and the emphasis placed by the University on a student-centred approach to learning has had a strong impact on the development of a range of delivery and assessment methods. There is, however, a tension between the aim of providing a holistic approach to the subject and the offering of increased choice and opportunities for specialisation.
  25. The University has much to be proud of in respect of its environmental studies provision and the positive features include the following :
  26. The School of Applied Science and Technology can build on these positive features by considering the following recommendations:

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