I stole the idea of a blog about the process from a presentation a colleague was doing. Ever the magpie, I’m completely unashamed of the fact but will credit fellow magpie Eliot Lloyd here to avoid plagiarism.
On the same day we had to come up with a solution to the fact that it was impossible to share our ideas with colleagues and gain feedback in the way we planned: A large open meeting simply wasn’t possible: no rooms available at times when a reasonable number of people could come. So, as my office seemed the only available option at Luton, what could we do? Small was the logical conclusion and drop-in sessions were born. Different members of the core group have met with groups of two, four, five colleagues. And it was quickly clear that this was in fact a better approach, more personal, more likely to generate a thoughtful response and application to specific courses. Feedback on the process as well as content has been good so far.
Thursday 22 November 2012
The Undergraduate Portfolio Review
The University of Bedfordshire Business School is taking its entire undergraduate portfolio of courses to periodic review. We are looking back at how well our current courses are meeting student needs and designing courses which will put us at the forefront of practice-based business education. This blog is intended to record the reflections of those involved in the process and invites comments on our posts.
This is a major exercise for the Faculty and a major initiative in combining management practice, business academic theory and sound, innovative pedagogy. We want to blog about this for two reasons. Firstly it helps us reach and gain responses from a wide range of people. Secondly it is part of the record of what we are doing which we will be able to use later when we write up our method more formally for publication.
We have already worked on the review process for some weeks. Two parts are running in parallel. The review of the current provision has started now that the Annual Monitoring Reports for the undergraduate courses are coming in and the Student Voice focus groups have been held by the Students Union. At the same time, a core group of course leaders and a few others have been working on the future course design. We have thought about what we want to focus on in the short term and the kind of graduates we want to develop. We have also designed the broad structure of the third year. Now we are trying out these ideas in a series of drop-in sessions at Luton and Bedford as we also embark on designing the second year.
So, that is the catch-up on what we have been doing before we started to blog. Now there are some posts of notes made before we set up the blog then can continue in something approaching real time.
About the Author: Elizabeth Parkin
Elizabeth had a 25 year career in management before joining the University seven years ago as Manager for “Pod” Programmes. She also held the post of MBA Academic Director before moving on to becoming Head of Department for Management and Business Systems.
This is a major exercise for the Faculty and a major initiative in combining management practice, business academic theory and sound, innovative pedagogy. We want to blog about this for two reasons. Firstly it helps us reach and gain responses from a wide range of people. Secondly it is part of the record of what we are doing which we will be able to use later when we write up our method more formally for publication.
We have already worked on the review process for some weeks. Two parts are running in parallel. The review of the current provision has started now that the Annual Monitoring Reports for the undergraduate courses are coming in and the Student Voice focus groups have been held by the Students Union. At the same time, a core group of course leaders and a few others have been working on the future course design. We have thought about what we want to focus on in the short term and the kind of graduates we want to develop. We have also designed the broad structure of the third year. Now we are trying out these ideas in a series of drop-in sessions at Luton and Bedford as we also embark on designing the second year.
So, that is the catch-up on what we have been doing before we started to blog. Now there are some posts of notes made before we set up the blog then can continue in something approaching real time.
About the Author: Elizabeth ParkinElizabeth had a 25 year career in management before joining the University seven years ago as Manager for “Pod” Programmes. She also held the post of MBA Academic Director before moving on to becoming Head of Department for Management and Business Systems.
Wednesday 14 November 2012
Eating Soup with a Fork: Teaching Entrepreneurship to Business Students
More and more people are getting aware of the benefits of “inventing a job rather than finding a job”. Across the world, universities and colleges are rushing to introduce entrepreneurship classes. This phenomenon has rekindled the age-old debate, whether entrepreneurship can be taught in business schools or one is better off learning it ‘by doing’?
Thursday 30 August 2012
The MBA Legacy
As if a day at the Olympics wasn’t exciting enough, I happened across a couple of MBA classmates there. It was as uplifting as being in the stadium.
There is a special quality to meeting up with people who went through an MBA experience together. It hardly takes any time at all to reclaim the mutual support and respect which ran through the year I spent studying. I did my MBA course because I needed to learn more about strategy and finance. Like most people, I came away with that and so much more including the self-understanding which underpins leadership.
There is a special quality to meeting up with people who went through an MBA experience together. It hardly takes any time at all to reclaim the mutual support and respect which ran through the year I spent studying. I did my MBA course because I needed to learn more about strategy and finance. Like most people, I came away with that and so much more including the self-understanding which underpins leadership.
Tuesday 3 July 2012
Have you fostered someone’s aspirations today?
At the University of Bedfordshire we understand very well that some of our students come to our classrooms with narrow, constrained aspirations and one of our roles is to show what is possible for them. We all relish the moments when students realise what they can achieve. It’s a hard but crucial part of our role as higher education tutors to create those glimpses of possible futures but maybe it’s even harder for any of us to see the constraints to our own aspirations, both our individual and our collective aspirations.
Can we recognise when we have faded? When we have allowed ourselves to be beaten back? When we have consented to be constrained because it is too hard to fight the world all the time? I suggest we can’t usually do that until something happens to re-invigorate us and to realise how we had reduced ourselves. We too need the equivalent of a tutor to release us sometimes.
Can we recognise when we have faded? When we have allowed ourselves to be beaten back? When we have consented to be constrained because it is too hard to fight the world all the time? I suggest we can’t usually do that until something happens to re-invigorate us and to realise how we had reduced ourselves. We too need the equivalent of a tutor to release us sometimes.
Wednesday 27 June 2012
A Deliberately Opaque Piece
I was thinking about the value of opacity last week, something I haven’t done since I worked in the paint industry. Opacity is crucial in paint but elsewhere transparency is the order of the day. Whether it’s open government, shining a light on corruption or businesses demonstrating attention to stakeholder interests transparency’s credentials as a liberal value and part of a healthy civil society rule supreme.
As part of a package of proposals on directors’ pay last week Vince Cable, Business Secretary, said that companies would be required to disclose the total value of a director’s pay, a further transparent step in this troubled area. Transparent so of course a good thing? Perhaps not unequivocally, I suggest.
As part of a package of proposals on directors’ pay last week Vince Cable, Business Secretary, said that companies would be required to disclose the total value of a director’s pay, a further transparent step in this troubled area. Transparent so of course a good thing? Perhaps not unequivocally, I suggest.
Monday 14 May 2012
The business case for fiction
In a recent blog I passed on Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s praise of philosophy and other serious reading. I want to make the case for reading fiction.
There are good reasons for reading including novels of all kinds – basically it’s enjoyable. More than that though, I suggest there is a business case for fiction. So much of business is about people – your colleagues, your customers, your business partners – and a good novel provides insight into their hearts.
So, when friend asked me recently what to read before she went to China, I lent her three novels. I could have recommended a textbook which explains what it means to live in a communist country with a rampant capitalist economy but stories make it much more real.
There are good reasons for reading including novels of all kinds – basically it’s enjoyable. More than that though, I suggest there is a business case for fiction. So much of business is about people – your colleagues, your customers, your business partners – and a good novel provides insight into their hearts.
So, when friend asked me recently what to read before she went to China, I lent her three novels. I could have recommended a textbook which explains what it means to live in a communist country with a rampant capitalist economy but stories make it much more real.
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