An Roinn Oideachais agus Eolaíochta
Department of Education and Science
Subject Inspection of Communications
REPORT
Cavan Institute
Roll number: 76087R
Date of inspection: 07 March 2006
Date of issue of report: 29 June 2006
Report on the Quality of Learning and Teaching in Communications
Subject Provision and Whole School Support
Summary of Main Findings and Recommendations
This Subject Inspection report
This report has been written following a subject inspection in Cavan Institute. It presents the findings of an evaluation of the quality of teaching and learning in Communications (FETAC Module G20001) and makes recommendations for the further development of the teaching of this subject in the school. The evaluation was conducted over one day during which the inspector visited classrooms and observed teaching and learning. The inspector interacted with learners and tutors, examined learners’ work, and had discussions with the tutors. The inspector reviewed school planning documentation and tutors’ written preparation. Following the evaluation visit, the inspector provided oral feedback on the outcomes of the evaluation to the principal. The board of management of the Institute was given the opportunity to comment in writing on the findings and recommendations of the report, and the board’s response of the board will be found in the appendix to this report.
Cavan Institute offers over forty full-time further education courses. Administratively, it is divided into five schools: Business and Office Administration, Computing and Engineering, Caring Services, Services, Leisure and Tourism and Hairdressing and Beauty Therapy. The FETAC qualifications gained by learners allow them opportunities to progress through the Higher Education Links Scheme to further study in Institutes of Technology (ITs) and universities. Cavan Institute also has a link with Athlone IT, such that Year One of some HETAC national certificate courses can be taken at Cavan Institute.
The Institute is working towards Quality Assurance (QA) approval and the commitment to developing and maintaining best practice in all aspects of its operation was evident during the evaluation visit.
The Communications module G20001 is a required component of FETAC accredited courses and support for its delivery is very good. Tuition in Communications is generally available for sixty minutes twice a week. Where class enrolment is larger, an additional sixty minutes has been allocated to ensure that the tutors can deliver a consistent level of support to individual learners. While teaching resources such as TVs, DVD players and tape recorders are available in the Institute to support the delivery of the module, it can sometimes be difficult for Communications tutors to access them, given that the module is taught across all five schools in the Institute and in a number of locations. It is recommended that, as funds allow, consideration should be given to investing in additional equipment as identified by management and the tutor team.
The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) resources available to Communication tutors are very good. The e-learning platform, Moodle, is available to tutors to post assignment briefs and to share information. There are plans in the Institute to develop an e-portal and tutors have access to a suite of laptops and projectors which are used in the delivery of classes. There is very good access for both tutors and learners to the Institute’s computer rooms and these are used on a regular basis.
The Institute provides a range of student support services, including Career Guidance and Academic Support. Each learner also receives a student handbook which includes detailed information about the Institute and includes academic and assessment guidelines. Class tutors play an important role in identifying and pre-empting difficulties for learners and school management attribute the high course completion rates in the Institute to their intervention and the supports available.
Planning for delivery of the Communications module is excellent. While FETAC’s Communications module descriptor G20001 outlines the standards to be achieved by learners, expressed principally in terms of specific learning outcomes, course providers are responsible for the design of the Communications module. Cavan Institute has facilitated the development of a strong team spirit among the Communications tutors by providing time for formal planning of course content and assessment schedules. In addition, tutors in each school meet regularly to review progress. The tutors have made excellent use of these opportunities and have given of their own time to develop clear schemes of work and agreed assessment briefs. There is a clear and commendable linkage between the programmes planned for the module and the course descriptors published by FETAC.
The Institute has developed a number of strategies designed to support learners with learning difficulties. Learners’ needs are met, following discussion between the learner, the class tutor and others, through the provision of assistive or enabling technologies and the visiting teacher service, as appropriate. Special arrangements are also put in place during examinations to facilitate their needs. Where learners are non-English speaking, the Institute works to ensure that no learner is disadvantaged in assessments because of a specific difficulty with written English. Such learners may be accommodated by the provision of readers or scribes and the allocation of extra time during examinations. The very good practice evident is supported by the fact that all tutors have received in-service training in special education and is a practical expression of the Institute’s aim, expressed in the student handbook, to provide “in a caring and supportive environment.”
Tutors had prepared well for each class observed. The aims of the lessons were clearly outlined and lessons were very well structured and sequenced to suit the varying abilities of the students. In one class participants’ attention was drawn to aspects of style when making an oral presentation through the use of a handout. In another, the tutor used the whiteboard to remind learners of the functions of meetings in order to contextualise the core activity of the lesson. Opportunities for relating new material under discussion to the reality of learners’ lives were taken and this is commended as good practice.
Tutors draw on a variety of sources to identify relevant reading and writing material for participants. In line with best practice, a key influence on lesson content was the need to ensure that they provide participants with opportunities to acquire and practise specific communications skills relevant to the courses being studied. Thus, in one class, learners worked in small groups to develop an agenda for a meeting on a topic of relevance to their course and their work experience. In another, the learners were preparing relevant oral presentations and the tutor drew their attention to links between this task and the report writing assignment.
Throughout the lessons observed, teacher instruction was very clear and accurate and great effort was invested in ensuring that learners understood the concepts and principles of the lessons through the use of concrete examples, questioning and practical application. Care should be taken to ensure that the pacing of lessons is such that the phase of the lesson in which students are most actively involved is not hurried and the work planned can be completed.
Learners were clearly making very good progress through the module. Work in their folders was of a very good standard and there were some examples of excellent presentation of work. In all classes visited, learners had an opportunity to practice the skill being taught. Their participation in lessons was facilitated by tutor use of questions and a discursive approach. Tutors responded to learner contributions warmly and drew learners’ attention to the best aspects or key factors of work done in class by individual learners. It is suggested that skills demonstrations can provide further opportunities to facilitate learners’ acquisition of communications skills. Peer and self-evaluation promotes a key aim of FETAC courses, that is, that learners become independent and self-directed in their learning. It is recommended that tutors review their practice to identify where such evaluation activities are possible and appropriate.
Assessment is regarded as an integral part of the learning process in all FETAC courses. Learners are expected to produce a number of documents, including letters and short reports, which are presented in a portfolio. This is assessed locally at the end of the year and is accorded up to 50% of the marks available. Participants are also required to demonstrate mastery of a range of specified practical, organisational and inter-personal skills, for which the balance of the marks is awarded.
Arrangements for the assessment of learners’ progress in Cavan Institute are excellent. The schedule of assessments is carefully planned to ensure that learners are not overwhelmed by the volume of work to be completed in the modules which make up their courses. Learners are provided with a copy of the schedule early in the year and are regularly reminded of their responsibility to hand in work. Assignment briefs are well prepared and give detailed information to learners about the required task and the evaluation criteria to be applied. Timely notice is given of the final submission dates and the Institute has a system in place to ensure careful recording of the receipt of completed work.
All Communications tutors encourage learners to submit a first draft of work, thus providing an opportunity for them to receive feedback on their work and make appropriate amendments before final submission. The work in learner’s folders was of a good standard and had been marked in accordance with the module descriptors. An internal examinations board for each school in the Institute meets to review all learners’ work at the end of the year.
The experience of some of the tutors as external assessors for FETAC and the commitment of the Communications team has ensured that the quality of planning and the procedures for assessment of learners’ progress are typical of excellent practice.
The following are the main strengths and areas for development identified in the evaluation:
As a means of building on these strengths and to address areas for development, the following key recommendations are made:
Post-evaluation meetings were held with the principal at the conclusion of the evaluation when the draft findings and recommendations of the evaluation were presented and discussed.
Appendix
Submitted by the Board of Management
Area 1: Observations on the content of the inspection report
The Report makes reference to the fact that the qualifications obtained at the college ‘allow them opportunities to progress through the Higher Education Links Scheme to further study’. No reference is made to the fact that the Further Education qualifications acquired provide the students with the necessary skills to gain immediate employment in their relevant fields.
Area 2: Follow-up actions planned or undertaken since the completion of the inspection activity to implement the findings and recommendations of the inspection
The Inspection, in March 06, took place prior to the opening of the new college campus. From September 2006, delivery of modules will take place in a new purpose built facility where tutors will have excellent access to resources for Communications and all other modules.