Geoff Timmins - NTFS project


Just one damn thing after another? Progression in higher education history teaching

NTFS Award: 2004

Project team:

Professor Geoff Timmins, Project Director, University of Central Lancashire
Dept of Humanities, email: JGTimmins@uclan.ac.uk, Tel: 3043

Susan Pomfret, Research Assistant, University of Central Lancashire
Dept of Humanities, email: SMPomfret1@uclan.ac.uk

Introduction

This web site presents and discusses the findings arising from an NTF-funded research project into how degree-level history programmes are made more demanding for students as they progress from one level to the next. The project builds on earlier research into this issue, the results of which are outlined in Section 3, and are presented fully in Geoffrey Timmins, Keith Vernon and Christine Kinealy, Teaching and Learning History (Sage, 2005).

The research has been extended in two main ways. Firstly, further surveying of undergraduate history courses has been undertaken, both with regard to determining general patterns of provision and examining particular examples of practice. As a result, a fuller picture has been obtained of how progression is being achieved in these courses, both in Britain and overseas, and of the under-pinning rationale. Secondly, consideration is given to how progression is being promoted at undergraduate level in other subject areas, with a view to identifying practices and ideas that might be useful in helping to design history courses.

The hope is that the website will act as a point of reference for anyone interested in progression matters, whatever their subject discipline and degree of teaching experience. In fulfilling this function, the site will become more valuable as an aid to curriculum development if contributions are made to it, both in relation to offering examples of how progression is being achieved in key curricular areas and to discussion of the concept of progression in general. The web site will be updated periodically as new material becomes available.

To contribute, please contact Geoff Timmins by email at: jgtimmins@uclan.ac.uk   We look forward to hearing from you!

Section 1: Project Outline

  • Introduction
  • History benchmarking
  • Project scope
  • Project aims
  • Project rationale

Section 2: Research approach

  • Introduction
  • Outline surveys of history practice
  • Follow-up enquiries into history practice
  • Presenting the findings

Section 3: History teaching Literature Review

  • Introduction
  • Overall approaches
  • Elements of progression
  • Prior learning and progression

Section 4: General guidance on progression

  • Introduction
  • QAA subject benchmarking statements
  • QAA frameworks for higher educational qualifications
  • EHEA framework for educational qualifications
  • Other general guidance

Section 5: The general surveys - outline of results

  • Introduction
  • The UK results
  • The overseas results

Section 6: Matters arising - stages in teaching the research process

  • Introduction
  • Teaching history research at Berkeley
  • Teaching geography research at Otago
  • Teaching sociology research at Santa Clare

Section 7: Other matters arising from the surveys

  • Introduction
  • Moving from breadth to depth in content coverage
  • Progression in ICT competency
  • Number of differentiation levels

Section 8: History progression statements

  • Introduction
  • The Birmingham University statements
  • The UCLAN history progression framework
  • The Indiana University progression framework
  • The Tuning Project competency level

Acknowledgements