The Taught Degrees Framework (TDF)

Since gaining Degree Awarding Powers and University title in 2006 Edge Hill University has seen significant growth in numbers encompassing students from a wide range of geographical, social and educational settings; at the same time the Institution has taken seriously its commitment to deliver an inclusive learning experience in which all students are supported to succeed irrespective of their individual backgrounds and entry qualifications. Edge Hill’s Taught Degrees Framework (TDF) represents a ‘whole-University’ approach to supporting programme development, approval and review in which a cross-faculty Project Group including students was convened to review and overhaul pre-existing curriculum frameworks and replace them with a single unified architecture presented as a ‘student journey’ from admission to completion and into employment or further study. The TDF requires all curricula to be viewed through the following ‘lenses’: • Induction and Transition • Learning, Teaching and Assessment • Graduate Attributes, Employability and Work-Related/ Work-Based Learning • Education for Personal Development and Enhancement • Global Citizenship Academic departments and professional services came together to research relevant scholarship and evidence-based practice and produce descriptors, guidance and exemplars for each lens, while a searchable wiki and blog provided access to practical resources and a space for staff to share their own ideas, innovations and practice. Promotion of the TDF is via Edge Hill’s Centre for Learning and Teaching and Learning & Teaching Fellowship which lead the development of effective pedagogic practice within the University. A related professional development programme provides additional opportunities for knowledge exchange, and the Institution’s programme validation process within which the TDF is embedded was peer reviewed by the QAA during 2017 and identified as good and innovative practice in curriculum design and approval. This brief presentation will review and demonstrate the TDF lenses, guidance and resources and consider how they may be applied to any new degree programme development.