A collaborative approach for diplomas in building and construction
Status
Completed: 26 November 2012
Project Details
A project to explore the development and housing of shared online resources that support the delivery of three Level 6 Building and Construction National Diplomas across 10 collaborating institutes of technology and polytechnics (ITPs) in a cost-effective manner to ensure the viability and consistency of future delivery. A collaboration of The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand, Unitec, Wellington Institute of Technology, Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology, Bay of Plenty Polytechnic and NorthTec.
Aims:
The project aims were to:
- develop a shared base of online teaching courseware to align with the revised standards for three national diplomas in the domain of building and construction
- house the qualifications’ resources in a stand-alone website, and to provide mechanisms for the on-going maintenance and development of this online repository
- support consistent teaching of the building and construction diplomas, and so facilitate high-quality learner outcomes.
Methodology:
An environmental scanning approach was used to identify:
- those ITPs which offer current programmes in relevant qualifications
- the size of each programme in each ITP by EFTS
- the credit value of each qualification
- courses that are common to two or more qualifications
- resource issues (skills and staffing) relevant to each ITP delivering the qualifications
- the business needs required to be met, through consultation with the ITO and relevant business groups.
Team
Peter Butcher
Project Leader
The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand
Mushtak Dawood,
Unitec Institute of Technology
Mike Brannigan,
WelTec
Alison Holleyoak
The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand
Vaughan Maybury
WelTec
Alan Muxlow
The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand
Lee-Anne Powell
Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology (CPIT)
Keith Power
Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology (CPIT)
Paul Roberts
Bay of Plenty Polytechnic
Ian Swindells
NorthTecStatus
Funding
$19,200.00 (excl GST)
Key Findings
The findings identified five possible models of collaboration:
- Status quo: This option involves no specific collaboration between ITPs and is in effect a continuation of the process that is currently used. Each ITP continues to develop, update, and maintain their individual resources.
- Shared resources contributed and shared development: All ITPs pool their (shared) contributions towards the contents of all the unit standards in the current qualifications. This is distributed among self-managing working groups to review, amend, update, and expand as necessary to achieve the most comprehensive range of developed resources possible.
- Resources contributed jointly and developed by The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand: The Open Polytechnic offers its current paper-based teaching courseware, covering all the unit standards in the current qualifications, as the initial base documentation and the remaining ITPs pool their shared contributions towards the contents of all the unit standards. This information is distributed among Open Polytechnic-managed working groups (each comprising representatives from participating ITPs) to review, amend, update, and expand as necessary to achieve the most comprehensive range of developed resources possible.
- Resources contributed 100 per cent by The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand and developed jointly: The Open Polytechnic offers their current paper-based teaching courseware, covering all the unit standards in the current qualifications. This information is distributed among the self-managing working groups to review, amend, update, and expand as necessary to achieve the most comprehensive range of developed resources possible.
- Resources contributed and developed 100 per cent by The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand: The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand offers their current paper-based teaching courseware, covering all the unit standards in the current qualifications, and reviews, amends, updates, and expands as necessary to achieve the most comprehensive range of developed resources possible. External Peer review would be sought.
Key Recommendations
Teaching approach | Establishing the foundations for a more flexible and constructivist approach to teaching and learning by developing a website that enables future learners to access their personal learning environment.
Resource availability | Making available the best possible resources for building and construction qualifications offered by the ITP sector.
Learner choice| Learners having a choice of where and how to study, knowing that wherever that is, the quality of resource material will be the similar.
A research report prepared by Peter Butcher, Alison Holleyoak and Robbie Sutherland.
(PDF, 3.45 MB, 29-pages).
- 25 November 2012