This course is taught by friendly and experienced tutors including subject-specialist academic staff, study skills tutors, library and IT specialists, ensuring that you develop the key skills needed for HE. Within your first week, you will be assigned a personal tutor who will nurture you, provide feedback and develop your academic skills throughout the programme.
The course leader for the Step Up to HE programme will be your main personal contact throughout, helping you find your feet and offering guidance, advice and tuition on your learning development and possible future study routes that may be open to you.
This course consists of two separate modules which are designed to introduce you to a variety of skills and provide a firm academic foundation to build on.
Module 1: Skills Know-How: Review and Development
This introductory module will help you as a learner to reflect on your existing life, work and pre-existing learning experiences to date, enabling you to develop a firm sense of self-belief to support your transition to further study. This module will get you to grips with key Higher Education topics such as reflective practice and applicable learning theories. Coupled with this to further supplement your learning development as a student, you will also be gently introduced to the processes of carrying out research, reading and referencing at a University level. The overarching ethos of this introductory module is to help you understand yourself more as a learner, while allowing you to aptly apply various theoretical concepts to your own personal and professional practice. At its heart, this module will enable you to see the links to your own past experiences in relation to learning, alongside realising the importance your past experiences play in facilitating your future success at University. In terms of assessment, you will be supported in writing a 1,500-word self-reflective assessment which will hone your writing skills ready for University-level study. You will also be supported and guided on the effective use of IT in a digitally focused Higher Education environment.
Module 2: Research and Evaluation
Within this concluding module, you will build upon and hone the skills you have gained and developed within Module The overarching ethos of this module is to enable you as a learner to think critically and enquire with confidence on a range of complex theoretical areas. In addition, you will be guided on how to research, read analytically and reference using reliable and evidenced-based information. Through active engagement, your writing ability will grow more readily as you work closely with the support, guidance and encouragement of Course Tutors. You will be introduced to a variety of workshops, seminars and tutorials on the development of grammar, essay planning, structure and presentation, academic and critical writing, in addition critical thinking skills. As the weeks progress, your level of autonomy as a student will grow, with an increased level of confidence developing as you become accustomed to the nature and conventions of objective, evidenced and researched based writing. In terms of assessment, you will be supported in writing a 1000-word Critical Assessment alongside preparing for a 10 Minute Reflective Verbal Discussion with a supporting 500-word Reflective Written Diary as supporting evidence which will enable you to reflect on your learning journey to date. This will allow you as a learner to identify any areas for further development, improvement and areas which you have excelled in over the duration of your studies. You will also be supported and guided on the effective use of IT in a digitally focused Higher Education environment.
Throughout the programme, students will be able to attend timetabled assignment support sessions. There you will get one-to-one support, feedback opportunities with experienced course tutors; these sessions will improve and develop your academic skillset and confidence to succeed within a Higher Education setting.