PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
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AWARD and COURSE TITLE / BA (Hons) Education with Psychology and Counselling
INTERMEDIATE AWARDS / BA Education with Psychology and Counselling
Diploma of Higher Education – Education with Psychology and Counselling
Certificate of Higher Education – Education with Psychology and Counselling
Mode(s) of Attendance / FT
Name of Teaching Institution / Sheffield Hallam University
Location of Delivery / City Campus and Collegiate Campus
Faculty / Development and Society
Department / Education, Childhood and Inclusion
UCAS CODE / CX83
Professional/Statutory/Regulatory Body Recognising this Programme / n/a
QAA Subject Benchmark Statement or other relevant external reference point / Education Studies
Psychology
Date of Approval / 10/05/13

1PROGRAMME AIMS

The programme takes a critical approach to the study of education, psychology and counselling with a particular focus on social justice in education. The programme aims to prepare students for careers as professionals in a wide range of educational and therapeutic professional contexts. It does this by developing students’:

  • knowledge and understanding of discourses and practices in education, psychology and counselling;
  • ability to explore and evaluate issues related to the core disciplines;
  • ability to critically reflect on and theorise personal experiences and practices in relation to the core disciplines;
  • critical engagement with ethical, inclusive and anti-discriminatory practice;
  • capability to optimise future life and employment opportunities through the development of counselling skills and graduate-level transferable skills.

2PROGRAMME LEARNING OUTCOMES

2.1Knowledge and understanding covered within the Programme. By the end of the programme you will be able to:

  1. identify key historical and contemporary legislation, policies, issues and debates in education, psychology and counselling;
  2. explain the contribution of theory to the development of education, psychology and counselling culture and practice;
  3. explain issues related to the core areas of psychology (cognitive, developmental, social and individual differences);
  4. identify core counselling theories and perspectives;
  5. identify a range of research perspectives and methodologies applied to the study of education, psychology and counselling.

2.2 Intellectual/Subject/Professional/Key skills covered within the Programme. By the end of the programme you will be able to:

Intellectual Skills

  1. critically appraise key components of academic discourse (e.g. theories, ‘truth claims’, debates, proposals and policies) using a wide range of conceptual tools;
  2. relate perspectives and theories from education, psychology and counselling to wider intellectual, political and social contexts;
  3. analyse essential components and features of educational and counselling practices, structures and arrangements;
  4. synthesise understanding of education, psychology and counselling as inter-related disciplines and in relation to other cognate disciplines;
  5. reflect critically on personal, academic and professional experiences of theory and practice in education, psychology and counselling.

Subject Specific/ Professional Skills

  1. employ multi-disciplinary approaches to the study of education, psychology and counselling as appropriate;
  2. evaluate and conduct research with due regard for methodological, ethical and practical considerations;
  3. reflect on the process of working with others in university- and WBL contexts;
  4. demonstrate a degree of competence in generic counselling skills;
  5. reflect critically on personal growth and professional development, and evaluate own career choices, in relation to academic and work experience.

Key skills

  1. select, organise, critically evaluate and record a wide range of relevant sources;
  2. select and use digital and non-digital media as appropriate (including ICT applications and virtual learning environments);
  3. communicate information and ideas effectively in writing and orally, adhering to academic conventions as required*;
  4. collect, apply, analyse and interpret numerical data, as appropriate;
  5. Work effectively in groups and teams.

* Oral communication includes equivalent alternatives, e.g. British Sign Language (BSL) and augmented communication, throughout this document.

3LEARNING, TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT

3.1The approach to Learning and Teaching within the Programme

The approach to learning, teaching and assessment on the course relates to the key LTA strategies espoused by the faculty and university. To achieve the aims and outcomes listed above we:

  • take cognisance of the diversity of our students and work with them to construct a learning experience that meets their needs (QAA, 2010);
  • use a wide range of learning, teaching and assessment strategies;
  • encourage students to take responsibility for their own learning;
  • use a range of contexts to encourage learning, including traditional and innovative teaching contexts;
  • regard formative and summative feedback as an essential element of the learning experience;
  • draw upon expertise from across the university to enhance the learning experience of our students including the Learning Centre and Student Services;
  • use Blackboard and other forms of e-learning and encourage critical and responsible use of the Internet.

The QAA Code of Practice (2010) and the Equality Act (2010) require universities to act proactively on disability equality issues. We respond to that requirement through a varied menu of teaching, learning and assessment activities which are planned in order to meet the learning needs of all students and enable all students to demonstrate their understanding of course content, including, for example, oral presentation and viva (or equivalent, e.g. BSL or augmented communication), journal and portfolio. A range of learning support opportunities and assistive technology is available to all students, with additional backup for disabled students. Students are actively encouraged to avail themselves of these opportunities.

The ethos of the course is student-centred and learning and teaching strategies are consistent with this approach. A wide range of methods are used on the course including lectures, seminar discussion, practical classes and workshops, simulation and role play, microteaching, co-counselling, student presentations, group and individual tutorials, guided independent study, peer tutoring, tutor demonstration, fieldwork and project work, external visits and work-based learning placement (including overseas placement). A number of modules use multi-media resources including, for example, film, audio texts and digital Internet resources. All modules make use of a Virtual Learning Environment (Blackboard) and e-learning is extensively used on the course. Critical thinking, problem-solving and creativity are developed throughout the courses through an understanding that students do not take accepted ideas or practices for granted.

A key aim of the course is the promotion of learners’ self esteem and autonomy; the learning and teaching methods encountered during the course are therefore carefully designed to build students’ confidence and independence as they progress from the first to the third year. This is particularly the case within the counselling strand of the course where learner self esteem and autonomy is a focus of enquiry and considered both theoretically and reflexively in relation to personal development (for example through the L6 module Integrating Counselling Skills and Self). The programme takes into account the fact that students will have varying amounts of relevant experience by allowing for this in the way that modules are run, and building on the existing knowledge and experience of course members. Throughout the course students are encouraged to personalise their learning and assessment tasks to enhance motivation. A number of modules allow student choice, for example through individual topic selection, as part of our approach to developing learner autonomy.

The course also emphasises the importance of developing learner autonomy in relation to the integration of the three core disciplines within the course. In combining the study of education, psychology and counselling students are required to work across disciplinary boundaries and to negotiate the intellectual challenge of different approaches to the construction of knowledge. Furthermore, students are required to negotiate cultural and geographical boundaries at this disciplinary interface; this includes the practical challenge of working across different campus locations as well as the challenge of assimilating to different cultural practices in relation to learning, teaching and assessment. For example the psychology modules within this course are delivered at Collegiate Campus by colleagues in the Department of Psychology, Sociology and Politics (PSP). Some of these psychology modules are delivered in large lecture format and assessed by examination, which contrasts with the LTA culture within education and counselling where modules are delivered in small group sessions at City Campus and assessed entirely by coursework. Course tutors, and particularly academic advisors, support students to develop the learner autonomy and self-management strategies which help with the effective negotiation of this disciplinary interface. Through careful induction to the course in both locations, and with on-going support and advice (particularly through the first and second year modules Integrating Theory and Practice 1 and Integrating Theory and Practice 2) students are encouraged to identify the benefits they have gained from this experience, for example in relation to employability skills.

Although the course combines three disciplines and is delivered across two campus locations, the course is part of a portfolio of courses which sits within Education, Childhood and Inclusion (ECI). Students on the course are encouraged to engage meaningfully in both campus locations but for practical and administrative purposes (as well as academic, given the balance of study within the degree) are considered to belong to the learning community within the Education Studies programme area within ECI. The home course team is committed to providing a high quality, inclusive, vibrant and challenging learning experience by promoting a learning community in which tutors and students engage in a continuing dialogue about the learning experience, course processes and participants’ aspirations. All course tutors encourage students to take responsibility for developing the learning community and to actively participate in a constructive and critical dialogue as befits intending professionals. For example in class work and during online learning students are asked to work co-operatively and collaboratively toward shared group goals; to engage in peer tutoring and feedback; and to take responsibility for responding to each others' questions, requests and concerns. The skills involved in group and team working are a key feature of the course and students are required to work collaboratively throughout the course; these skills are explicitly addressed through a number of modules and through the work-based learning strand of the course. The counselling modules, in particular, stress the importance of working effectively with others, both in the consideration of theoretical models and in the development of core skills (L5 Developing Counselling Skills).

The emphasis on work-based learning in the course provides a concrete experience of varied professional contexts for students to link with the theoretical aspects of the course and their career aspirations. Students on the course undertake placements in a variety of educational and therapeutic settings including, for example, schools, exclusion units, youth and community organisations and voluntary organisations. Students are encouraged to undertake their annual work placements in a variety of settings and to develop their particular professional interests by sourcing and organising their own placements as they progress through the course. The work-based learning modules are supported by weekly seminar group discussions between an academic advisor and their tutees. Placement experiences are shared with peers and tutors to support cohesion and group identity as well as to encourage the co-construction of knowledge of key issues in professional practice. The seminar programme focuses on key themes linked to the five university-based learning modules delivered to students during the year. So, for example, the work-based learning module Integrating theory and practice 1 requires students to make explicit links between the material covered in the university-based modules Education Policy and Social Class, Learning to Learn, Cognitive Processes and Individual Differences, The Psychology of Development and Social Behaviour and Foundations of Counselling with their observations of practice while on placement. In this way students are encouraged to make links between their modules and to integrate their theoretical learning with their practical experience of the workplace.

In this process, the academic advisor is responsible for the orchestration of learning and for supporting students to record their developing skills, knowledge and understanding within their Personal Development Portfolio (PDP). This is particularly important, as noted above, in the context of a course which combines three disciplines and through which students develop a variety of employability-related skills. The PDP is a useful vehicle for reflecting on and recording student learning and for identifying the contribution of the three disciplines to students' developing profile. Through the PDP, students are encouraged to join up their learning across the disciplines and to individualise the way in which the disciplines combine for purposes of personal and professional development. This supported reflection on learning is clearly linked to the development of skills for employability through its location within the work-based learning strand of the course. The PDP, which is submitted for assessment as part of a reflective task associated with each of the three work-based learning modules, incorporates a range of negotiated and self-assessed resources including: skills-audit grids, action plan and target-setting document; CV; academic tutorial record sheets; and work-based learning record book. Central to the PDP is the focus on target-setting as we believe that this develops students’ ability to self-direct and take responsibility for their progress on the courses. Tutor feedback emphasises formative points for improvement which are used in target-setting as part of the academic advisor system.

The involvement of the academic advisor in this process reflects the significant role given to this relationship in the course. On enrolment to the course each student is matched with an academic advisor who, except for in unforeseen circumstances, remains their tutor throughout the course. The key principles of the academic advisory system are:

  • enabling students to build a key relationship with one member of staff;
  • offering enrichment activities for academic development (e.g. target-setting);
  • providing a mechanism which focuses on the development of personal development planning and employability;
  • monitoring and assessment of student PDPs (Personal Development Portfolios).

Students work with their tutor on the placement modules and during regular individual tutorials to review academic progress and negotiate learning targets. In this way, the academic advisor system is intended to help students use assessment feedback to support learning, and thus embeds the principle of assessment for learning within the course.

The course promotes flexible approaches to learning through a variety of learning experiences in sessions and within placements. Students are provided with a range of teaching and learning experiences and therefore need access to a range of learning resources and accommodation formats (tutorial, seminar and lecture) and spaces (workshop, break-out and studio). As noted above, students are inducted to learning resources in both campus locations and are supported to become familiar with their use and applications. Both campus locations have Learning Hubs which provide students with a physical learning space, as well as access to PCs and the virtual learning environment, allowing them to manage their time learning across locations. The programme leaders in both programme areas take the needs of students on this course into account when timetabling modules.

Students on the course encounter a balance of assessment tasks and modes, with e-learning being viewed as an essential aspect of all modules. The use of Blackboard is integral to the Education with Psychology and Counselling course and is a key vehicle for the development of learner autonomy. The Blackboard sites are used for module documentation, communication with students via announcements, emails and discussion forums and for the provision of learning resource such as notes, handouts, documents, and web-links. Students have access to a general site for course-level facilities and provision (for example the academic tutorial system, careers and study skills) as well as individual module sites. All module tutors provide an agreed menu of e-learning as minimum; this includes learning set discussion, collaboration, exchange of materials and information, and the provision of electronic resources. Blackboard sites are designed to be inclusive and offer ease of access and navigation. Initial support with Blackboard is offered to students through induction activities in year one and specific support is provided to students on modules which require students to access additional e-learning facilities (e.g. LCTV, VoD, Wikis and Blogs). Networked assistive technology is available and can be beneficial to all students. Facilities include screen readers and advanced spellcheckers (Texthelp) and mind mapping software (Inspiration) to assist with planning.

The enhancement of learner autonomy is further promoted by encouraging all students to take advantage of relevant facilities available within the university and beyond the course. Students are encouraged to be proactive in their development towards learner autonomy and advised to take advantage of services and facilities on offer in order to progress towards this aim. Provision available includes Study Skills sessions offered by Student and Learning Services; sessions run by Learning and Information Services (LIS) staff on referencing and literature searching and sessions on using assistive technology and careers advice. Because of the inter-disciplinary nature of the course, students require access to a range of staff expertise and library resources and the teaching staff collaborate with the Learning Centre and IT service staff so that student access to printed material is well supported by multiple book copies, a wide range of journal subscriptions and a substantial key text selection. Students have access to two learning centres, Collegiate Learning Centre and the Adsetts Centre. Both have a range of study spaces, i.e., individual, group spaces, bookable group rooms and access to bookable networked computers and laptops. In addition to this students can obtain help and support from the Helpdesks. All students are offered a library induction, and participate in a user education programme providing in-depth instruction in using both the resources available in the Learning Centre and other external resources.