Blog Article
This project, starting in 2025, will focus exclusively on college-based higher education (CBHE) providers. Led by Birmingham City University, the project will include a partnership of 5 Further Education Colleges from across England: Bishop Burton College Derby College Nottingham College Solihull College & University Centre and Walsall College.
This is one of one of the 18 successful projects internationally selected for funding by The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education Collaborative Enhancement Project fund.
Students and staff from a range of courses at each college will participate in a student-staff collaborative partnership approach to exploring the core theme of supporting flexible pathways and effective student transitions in CBHE. Building on a recent CEP project "Enhancing Learning and Teaching Quality through Collaborative Observation (ELTQCO)", this project will use the established Cycle of Collaborative Observation (CoCO) as the central methodology for exploring the project’s core theme.
Using a case-study approach, the project will explore several areas of focus related to the overarching theme of supporting effective student transitions in college-based HE. These will include areas already identified by college-based HE providers such as building students’ confidence in transitioning to higher level study, differences in approaches to studying in HE compared to FE, fostering learner independence, use of technology and hybrid approaches in studying HE in FE. Students will make direct, active contributions to inform wider understanding about their learning experiences of their transitions into HE study, which will be captured across a range of subject areas in student-staff case studies.
Project Team
For further information on the project, please contact Matthew.oleary@bcu.ac.uk