1. Systems enablers for flexible,
responsive curricula
Professor Mark Stubbs
Head of Learning & Research Technologies
Manchester Metropolitan University
m.stubbs@mmu.ac.uk | http://twitter.com/thestubbs
Thursday, June 17, 2010 2010-05-20 1

2. Some observations
• HE admin systems
– typically islands: enrolment, prospectus, quality...
– often oriented towards audit, not curriculum or
competence development
– typically oriented around a repeating academic period
– data entry costs mitigated by “roll over”
– occasionally annoying for “steady state”
but ....
– what if more flexible, responsive curricula is to become
mainstream?
Thursday, June 17, 2010 2
Source JISC XCRI + CDD

3. A prelude to change?
• Within the JISC’s £8M Curriculum Design and Delivery
Programme, institutions are responding to the
challenge of innovating curricula in a diminishing
resource environment by scrutinising their business
processes and the systems that support them, and
questioning whether traditions of re-keying curricula
data across systems can be sustained
Thursday, June 17, 2010 3

4. Understanding the gap
Student Records QA / QE
+ Enrolment + Definitive documents
+ Transcript (HEAR) + Annual monitoring
Curriculum
Database
Marketing Curriculum Innovation
+ Prospectus + Learning Outcome mapping
+ UCAS + Competence development
Thursday, June 17, 2010 4

5. Versioning
• Past for transcript (snake)
• Present for enrolment (jaguar)
• Future for prospectus (condor)
• Approved transitions
2010/11 Old Yr1 Old Yr2
2011/12 New Yr1 Old Yr2
2012/13 New Yr1 New Yr2
Thursday, June 17, 2010 5

6. Lessons from MMU’s EQAL?
• MMU Enhancing Quality of Assessment & Learning
– Inspired by JISC SRC + threshold standards for student experience
– 4 strands
• Curriculum Framework
• Admin Systems + Business Processes
• Seamless Student Access
• Quality Processes
• Overcoming barriers to curriculum innovation
– Scaffolding development of a new UG curriculum
– Scrutinising new UG curriculum + setting up dependent systems:
• enrolment, timetable, submission, VLE, library …
Thursday, June 17, 2010 MLE Workshop, Aytoun Library Seminar Room 6
2009-05-13 14:00

7. Insights so far
• Approach
– SSM scoping: system to ... by means of ... in order to ...
– Consensus building: scenarios + data + process modelling +
prototyping
• Challenges
– Agreeing terminology: Quality, Student Records, Marketing…
• Programme / named Award / Course / Stage / Unit ?
– Understanding difference between “Spec” + “Instance”
• Spec: Curriculum Design – Quality Approval scrutiny
• Instance: Curriculum Delivery – Monitoring & Enhancement scrutiny
– Coping with inter-linkages without becoming overwhelmed !!
Thursday, June 17, 2010 MLE Workshop, Aytoun Library Seminar Room 7
2009-05-13 14:00

8. Some hope …
• USQ proved it’s not impossible
– http://www.usq.edu.au/extrafiles/ltsu/CPMS_JISC/
Thursday, June 17, 2010 MLE Workshop, Aytoun Library Seminar Room 8
2009-05-13 14:00