College/university subject partnership

I attended a meeting at Glasgow Caledonian University this morning about college/university links. Anne Russell is leading a project that aims to improve the links between colleges and universities in the Glasgow area. Representatives of universities and colleges attended. The project is funded - by the Funding Council - until July 2011.

It was a productive meeting. We identified some of the issues facing students who move from college to university, issues such as self-confidence, critical thinking skills, independent learning, and examination technique.

One of the ideas to come out of the meeting was to develop an HN unit expressly for this purpose -- to teach college students the essential skills required for surviving in university. This unit would focus on soft skills, such as presentation skills, self-confidence, and essay writing skills that are essential at university. I offered to liaise with the QDT for the HN Computing review to see if such a unit could be included in the new HN qualifications. If it's felt that a unit like this would be beneficial, Anne thought it could be produced pretty quickly (by April of next year).

I'd be interested to know your thoughts of including a unit like this in the new awards.