Administrative & pedagogic challenges
In theory, this scheme appeared workable but there were a number of challenges to implementing such an approach:
• For a VT to monitor a student's work closely there needed to be a clear and simple communication channel established between the two geographically separated stakeholders; ideally, this would also include the work supervisor.
• Communication via the postal system was seen to be slow, time-consuming and administratively cumbersome. Although email addressed the issue of speed, difficulties in organizing and administering the PPM via this method remained.
• How could we expect students successfully to take an active part in the formulation and justification of learning at L3 when they had only experienced L2?
For traditional taught modules, the learning outcomes and assessments are designed by the academic staff. In our approach to assessing work-based learning, it is the student who, through negotiation with the work supervisor and academic tutor, sets the learning outcomes and produces the evidence used to assess their attainment. This reflects the paradigm shift from the traditional role of the learner as a passive recipient to one where the learner takes active responsibility for and ownership of the learning objectives. But how could this process be managed?
