KIS Lunchtime Briefing Professor Jeff Bale Chris Matterface and Rachel Shapton 15 March 2012

Aims for 2012/13 Consistent application of principles Allocation of appropriate number of hours to different types of teaching, including those with ‘independent’ student effort Intro from Jeff Bale: Overall – content with position Main issues arising from last year are to ensure consistency Most obvious one is around projects

Key Information Set (KIS) Comparable sets of information about full or part time undergraduate courses and are designed to meet the information needs of prospective students Contain information which prospective students have identified as useful, such as student satisfaction, graduate outcomes, learning and teaching activities, assessment methods, tuition fees and student finance, accommodation and professional accreditation. RAS Reminder of scope of KIS

KIS content – for entry in 2014/15 Student satisfaction – 2013 HEFCE NSS Destinations data – 2013 HESA DLHE data Finance – fees and support (UoB) Accommodation – availability and cost (UoB) Course (Programme) structure by year – contact hours and assessment methods (UoB) Overview of where information comes from – highlighting what is in scope for UoB and what external

Usage of KIS – research findings Around 40% of enquirers/applicants use KIS Its importance in decision-making process of our acceptors is similar to that of other official and quasi-official data such as league tables Those who use it are slightly more likely to use it to help short list universities than to make a final decision Reminder of scope of KIS

Timescale for 2013 collection 29 May – submission system opens June/July (tbc) – NSS/DLHE data added August (tbc) – final submission deadline (last year it was 22nd) September (tbc) – KIS system re-opens for updates (last year it was 27th) National data collection timescales

HEFCE changes since last year Enhancements to location data Changes to way accreditation is handled Changes to way course titles are reported Other minor changes Changes in data specification – none of great significance for UoB, other than accreditation should be reflected more consistently. Full detail will be published by HESA on accreditation after 21 March (after confirmation with HEBRG) and we can then assess impact at UoB. Hopefully, most mappings from current text to this new format will be self-evident

Contact hours Contact hours data is collected for active modules Collected via spreadsheets and stored in an Access database last year Contact hours for modules with most students for each programme year used to generate Typical Student Pathway Rehearse TSP

Typical Student Pathway (TSP) List compiled of all modules taken by students on a given programme year Modules are ranked in descending order of enrolments Work down the list until appropriate total credits reached, count all modules to that point and none below Rehearse TSP

Example TSP BA Latin literature, year 2 – students do three compulsory modules then choose a further three from five Module Credits Students Use in KIS? Cicero 20 Y Catullus Virgil Plautus 15 Horace 14 Juvenal 12 Livy 11 N Seneca 8 Rehearse TSP

Contact hours 120 credits = 1200 total hours Therefore to achieve a 1% increase in contact hours within a given year requires an additional 12 contact hours The headline figure shown is the average across all years therefore an extra 12 hours in one year = an extra 0.33% on the headline figure

Data collection 2013 Proposed to collect contact hours data during April Opportunity to check data during June/July

Data collection 2013 Immediate focus on modules with no data Existing data from last year will be rolled forward Opportunity to amend modules with revised data Workload for academic and administrative staff in Colleges, Schools and Departments should be substantially reduced Reassure that this year is much more straightforward

Updating data Modules with missing data will be circulated next week Contact hours – spreadsheet Assessment – via BIRMS Programmes with missing data – as last year, estimates will be provided base on other programmes within departments Updates possible throughout summer Single source is TBC

Data collection 2013 Proposed to collect missing contact hours data during April Opportunity to check all data during June/July Timescales at UOB. Note that scale is much smaller – approx 100 modules with missing data this year, and not several thousand as last year

Project Work Laboratory based projects Computer/literature based projects Laboratory projects – looking at typical times and timetabled times (recognising that individual projects may very, intending to get a realistic view for applicants of commitment needed The detail of how modules are constructed, and typical patterns of takeup within modules, can be significant

Workshop/studio work Other forms of independent study: “Examples might include time spent in an art or design studio, or in a rehearsal space such as a workshop theatre. It could be timetabled or take place on an ad hoc basis. Peers as well as staff or affiliates may be involved. Due to the nature of the activity, it is unlikely to take place virtually. Supervised time in a studio/workshop might involve a group or individual.” Note that peer group work will occur in many programmes across Colleges Note from HESA guidance – workshops are broad in definition, and can include peer learning

Field Work and Seminars Number of days, number of hours Seminars Honours programme symposia Office hours and tutorials Including all fieldwork Seminars – may be an option Tutorials can be included, but ‘drop in’ sessions cannot