Busy Bee in Hive

In December 2006, I have started interviewing our Foundation Degrees tutors regarding SURF WBL WAY project. This has taken place in the following faculties: Construction, Engineering Early Years, Complimentary Therapies, Addiction Studies, Social Care, Care Management and Computing

The goal of the interviews was to:
gather information about the current state of Foundation Degrees courses
understand how the work-based learning works in each faculty
highlight the problems that the learners/tutors face
invsetigate the available support and facilities to FD and WBL learners/tutors
recognise the employer involvement in FD
explain SURF WBL WAY concept and its benefits for (employer, mentor, tutor and learner)

retrieve their feedback and suggestions

The results were interesting, the whole faculties agreed that employer involvement is an essential role for course development and progression between the faculty tutors, however not many employers are interested in a continuous contact with the faculties. Most of of the tutors mentioned that the employer is involved at the validation stage of the course and in the learning outcomes of the course and sometimes contacts the faculty to recommend the learning expectations.

Issues with employers
Lack of communication with FD tutors
Employers’ commitments to the meetings are very poor
Employers argue that the college is responsible for training their employees

Issues with mentors
Involvement of the mentors is very limited towards the WBL learners because of the other work commitments.
Some mentors are reluctant to support the learners in the workplace simply because they do not get paid or credited.