September 2024

Higher Education - PG Cert

Postgraduate, Postgraduate Certificate, September 2024

Key Details

  • 1 -1.5 Years
group work

Subject to revalidation in 22/23

The Postgraduate Certificate in HE practice is an experiential work-based learning programme that addresses the early career development needs of HE professionals. You should therefore be someone who has a role in supporting teaching and/or student learning, being able to draw on this experience in discussion sessions and take back ideas from the course into your practice. Your development as an effective, reflective, and questioning practitioner through this cycle of drawing on practice and feeding back into practice is vital to the course and enables you to further develop your capacity to study and learn independently for the rest of your professional life.

The Certificate comprises three modules:

  • Higher Education Practice
  • Programme Design in Higher Education
  • Academic Practice Development

You can begin the course in either September or January (cohort number dependent) studying in either ‘Blended’ or ‘Distance’ mode.

Learning on the programme is supported through a variety of means:

  • Fortnightly independent online activities.
    • These provide material, activities, and opportunities for engagement in wider resources as the basis for discussion during our live study sessions. They also work directly to support your assessment tasks. Teaching is online and completed independently.
  • Fortnightly live study afternoons.
    • These build on the independent online activities, containing short inputs with extensive workshop and discussion activity explicitly linked to the module curriculum led outcomes. Teaching is ‘live’ meaning that you must be present as scheduled in your timetable to engage in learning activities together with your peers.
  • Individual tutorials and peer observations.
  • Peer observations to encourage discourse and debate around our shared and situated practices.

Attendance at Live study sessions are mandatory. If you are studying in ‘Blended’ mode, this will be on the Newman campus. If you are in ‘Distance’ mode, this will take place online via MS Teams*

 

*Newman colleagues are expected to study in Blended mode

Subject to revalidation in 22/23

Higher Education Practice

A patchwork text (Winter, 2004) consisting of six blog entries [2500 words in total] and short professional context statement [300 words]. The patches are undertaken throughout the module to allow formative feedback to be given. Each patch will usually consist of material generated through your ongoing teaching or professional practice that supports student learning in HE.

 

Programme Design in Higher Education

A 2000-word equivalent assignment on course design generated over the course of the module theorising practice. This should establish a relationship to appropriate literature and demonstrating the learning outcomes have been met and values addressed.

Academic Practice Development

There are two parts to this assessment:

  1. An overarching critically reflective commentary [1500 words] of your academic development across the programme. You will demonstrate your scholarly development through theorising practice and relating the practices contained in module assessments to significant, relevant scholarly literature.
  2. A 15-minute conference-style presentation discussing a small research project into a particular aspect of your HE practice.

If you are a student who is also Newman University staff member, from a collaborative partner or working in a health/clinical setting, successful completion of the PG Cert in Higher Education Practice also awards Advance HE Fellowship at Descriptor 2* level to you.

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Entry Requirements

The PG Cert Higher Education Practice is open to graduates who are professionally engaged in a Higher Education setting who will be able to reflect on their practice in teaching and/or the support of learning of students in higher education.

You should ideally have an Honours degree in a relevant subject area from a UK university or an overseas university agreed by NARIC as equivalent and subject to IELTS and EU requirements. Consideration will be given if you have a lower-level qualifications but relevant range of professional experience. Here, the relevance of any professional experience that equates to degree level will be considered by the Programme Leader, with successful application determined by completion of pre-entry tasks.

International Students

Newman University is not licenced by the UK Government to sponsor migrant students under the Student route and is therefore unable to accept applications from international students wishing to study in ‘Blended’ mode. We will accept applications from international students wishing to study in ‘Distance’ mode.

Course Fees

2024

Course fee UK students – £2,600

N.B. A minimum of 60 credits are required to complete the post graduate certificate.

 

General Academic Regulations: Terms and Conditions for students attending our courses

Modules

Please be aware that, as with any course, there may be changes to the modules delivered, for information view our Changes to Programmes of Module Changes page.

Timetables: find out when information is available to students

 

Subject to revalidation in 22/23

 

  1. This module introduces the issues and principles that emerge with, in, and through Higher Education Practice. It examines the purposes of Higher Education, relevant adult learning theories, and encourages you to critically reflect on how these interact with your values that shape your teaching and/or practice that support learners in HE. The practices explored will include session design cognisant of your discipline or professional support area, support for informal learning, as well as evaluation and enhancement of your own teaching and/or practices that support student learning.
  2. This module delves deeper into higher education practice, exploring the context in which HE operates as it relates to professional expertise, experience, subject knowledge, and course design. It will encourage you to critically reflect on your own professional identity(ies) and context(s) that relates to in-depth examination of values-based curriculum design.
  3. This module specifically engages you in the design, conduct, and dissemination of a small research project into an element of your own HE Practice. You will also critically reflect on your own professional identity(ies) in relation to the scholarship of teaching and/or learning support in HE, alongside your own professional development across the PG Cert in Higher Education Practice.