1. Questions of liminality and transition on Foundation Programmes in the UK Part 2: Martin Millar
UP AN OVER: the foundation learning experience and the UG threshold
Overview
1 Organisation and history of general Foundation courses at Brookes
2 Alternative compulsory modules at level 4 - rationale
3 Comparative analysis of performance on u/g modules
4 Being and becoming – transition and change at the institutional level

2. 1 Organisation and history of general Foundation courses at Brookes
A. FIP = International Foundation Diploma
B. IFP= International Foundation Diploma Plus
C. IFA= International Foundation for the Arts, Humanities and Law
D. IFB=International Foundation for Business and Technology

3. FIP – International Foundation Diploma
New general course for international students in 1992
IELTS entry
Enrollment = 25 – 130 students,
Slow decline , but only 18 this year
(10 in Sep, 8 in Jan)
U71501 – Orientation to University Studies Level 1
Compulsory double-credit core module

4. FIP acceptable modules LEVEL 3
Foundations of Computer Programming
Semester 2
U08013
Foundations of Computer Systems
Semester 1
U70500
Introduction to International Development
U70505
Perspectives on Macroeconomics
U70506
Foundations of Modern Theory and Belief
Semester 1 or 2
U70510
Perspectives on Business Studies
U70511
Foundation Economics
Semester 1 or Summer
U70512
Foundation Tourism and Hospitality

5. IFIP acceptable + compulsory modules LEVEL 3 contd.
Foundation Media Studies
Semester 1
U70517
Modern British Cinema and Society
Semester 2
U70518
Foundation Law
U70519
Foundation Politics
U70520
Foundation International Relations
Semester 1 or 2 or Summer
U70521
Literature and Arts in Context
U70523
Foundations of Cell and Human Biology
U70524
Foundations of Chemistry
U70525
Foundations of Genetics and Ecology
U70526
Perspectives on Modern Britain
U70509
International Foundation Project
Semester 1 or 2 or Summer
U70515
Inter-Cultural Communication
Semester 2 or Summer

6. FIP alternative compulsory LEVEL 4
1 module from U00810 Foundation Engineering Mathematics(double) Semesters 1 and 2  U00811 Foundation Engineering Mathematics 2 Semester 2  U08400 Basic Survey Methods Semester 2  U08403 Basic Data Analysis Semester 1  U08702 Multimedia IT Skills Semester 2  U08800 Video Production Semester 1  U08814 Digital Cinematography 1 Semester 1  U23102 Politics in Comparative Perspective Semester 2  U24101 Foundations of Cognitive Psychology Semester 2  U24102 Foundations of Social Psychology Semester 1  U24104 Foundations of Developmental Psychology Semester 2  U50013 Raising Individual Financial Awareness Semester 1 or 2 or Summer 

7. IFD Level 4 alt. comp. (contd)
U51002 Foundations of Business Semester 1 or 2
U58003 Global Business Communications Semester 1 or 2
U58004 Planning a Successful Event Semester 1
U65000 Publishing Principles Semester 1
U65001 Publishing Principles & Practice: Author to Reader Semester 2
U66002 Introduction to Popular Music Semester 2
U67503 The Rise of the Modern World Semester 2
U70507 Contemporary British Studies Summer Session
U72500 Introduction to Language and Society Summer Session

8. IFP- International Foundation Diploma PLUS
Origins: FDLA – Foundation Diploma in Liberal Arts 1998
Anglosphere market + other int’l students ⋜ IELTS 6.0
No. of students = ( ) ⇗ 75 in 2013
Same suite of modules as FIP except for double credit core module
IFP must take
Orientation to University Studies Level 2
PLUS optional modern language modules
French, German, Chinese, Japanese + Spanish

9. IFA + IFB 2011 – Tier 4 visas + differentiation in pathways to u/g
similar profile of students to IFP, but offer of 4-year made only to students with ‘stronger evidence of potential success’
IFA + IFB -> same acceptable and compulsory level 3 modules as IFP
IFA – no level 4 business modules
IFB – no level 4 philosophy or publishing modules

10. IFA + IFB -> big change in 2015
Central admissions -> offer of integrated courses to existing u/g candidates not meeting conditions
Large uptake by English students (60 out of 120 cohort)
Teething problems:
1 mismatch of student expectations
2 tutors uncertain about value of
course

11. 2016-2017 + 2017-2018 Brookes’ statement on Active Citizenship:
Brookes’ statement on Active Citizenship:
3.5 On successful completion of their studies, graduates will have achieved the following learning outcome[s]:
demonstrate sensitivity to the diversity in culture, lifestyle and viewpoints of others;
recognise the potential for discrimination and sensitively explore issues of equity and diversity.

12. 2 Rationale for inclusion of Level 4 modules in Foundation courses
Pre-existing principle in specialised foundation courses in science and technology, construction management and engineering
The limina of ‘toughness’ = ‘academic rigour’
Evidence of capability of reaching up and over u/g limina
Limited engagement with greater level of difficulty
- passing ONE level 4 module COMPULSORY
- passing TWO, but NO MORE than two OPTIONAL

13. 3 Comparative analysis – 2017-18
65 students -> 2 u/g modules
‘’ > 1 u/g module

14. 3 Comparative analysis (case study of four modules)
A. 31 Foundation students -> Founds of Bus (104 in cohort)
Av. = 50% v 48% for cohort.
B. 20 Foundation students -> Global Bus Communication (98)
Av. = 55% v 52%
C. 9 Foundation students -> Planning a Successful Event (234)
Av. = 50.6% v 56%
D. 9 Foundation students -> Founds of Soc Psych (169)
Av = 49% v 56%

15. 3 Comparative analysis – failure rates
6 students taking two u/g modules failed ONE
2 students failed BOTH
9 students failed ONE level 3 module
5 students failed TWO

16. 4 Being and becoming: the University in a permanent state of transition…
Barnett (2011 passim)
1 metaphysical (man – God – universe)
2 science (systematic investigation of the knowable)
3 entrepreneurial (knowledge capital, risk, and markets)
4 bureaucratic (administration, regulation and surveillance)
What remains?
1 TRUTH-ORIENTED ACTIVITIES
2 STANDARDS

17. Barnett (2011:116 ) and limina
‘Students may and will get things wrong but their wrongness is precisely an outcome of their being tested against [certain] standards, and it is within the horizon of those standards that students are expected to progress’
‘The quality of work expected of a final year student is more than that of a first year student’
To demonstrate advanced knowledge and skills ‘with any authority or approbation, [they] must pass muster against several criteria’

18. Foundation courses – crossing over from school to university
(Bloom, Wilson, 2001)
PACE
QUANTITY
LEVEL
COGNITIVE
AFFECTIVE
BEHAVIOURAL

19. Ball (2015 and 2016)
Critique of the neo-liberal university (cf. Barnett’s entrepreneurial + bureaucratic university above)
‘My home in the ivory tower is being flattened by neo-liberal bulldozers to make way for a fast-fact HE franchise in which all knowledge has its price…’
Foundation courses – entrepreneurial roots, yes
Educationally invalid – no
Up and over, small steps then bigger, with all eyes on the prize….

21. References: Barnett, R. (2011) Being a University Abingdon: Routledge
Ball, S.J. (2015) ‘Living the Neo-Liberal University’ European Journal of Education Vol. 50 Issue 3
Ball, S.J. (2016) ‘Subjectivity as a site of struggle: refusing Neo-Liberalism’ British Journal of the Sociology of Education Vol. 37 Issue 8
Wilson, L.O. (2016) ‘Anderson and Krathwohl – Bloom’s taxonomy revisited’ Accessed 20/06/18 at
behavioral-objectives/