Higher Professional Education - 2012 entry

Course content

The course’s taught modules explore a wide range of educational issues, including the nature of professional education, local, national and international factors impacting on curriculum development, and facilitating inter-professional learning and quality enhancement in education.

The practice-based modules provide a framework of learning outcomes. In these modules you will be encouraged to engage in educational activities at two institutions and you will receive support in doing this.

As the course progresses, increasing emphasis is placed on the support of learning through practice in order to ensure each course member feels confident in their role as an educator in the practice environment as well as in more formal classroom settings. This approach has proved effective in encouraging the development of creative and innovative facilitators of learning who have a strong sense of self-awareness and a commitment to personal development.

The final award depends upon the number of modules you take. A PGCert requires the successful completion of three modules and the PGDip requires the successful completion of six modules. The MSc requires the successful completion of nine modules, which must include Advanced Research Design and a Dissertation.

Nurses and midwives

Students who wish to meet the NMC standards to support learning and assessment in practice (NMC 2008) for teacher status will need to pass the compulsory modules Widening Perspectives through Educational Practice and Creating Frameworks for Learning.

Occupational therapists and physiotherapists

Students who wish to meet the APPLE and ACE standards for supporting students need to pass one of the following compulsory modules: Widening Perspectives through Educational Practice or Creating Frameworks for Learning.

All other health care professionals

Students taking the PGCert will need to take the compulsory module Creating Frameworks for Learning and can either choose to take the double module, Widening Perspectives through Educational Practice, or choose two single modules from the list of acceptable modules, including:

• Leadership in Health and Social Care
• Work-based Learning
• Independent Study
• Evidence-based Practice

Modules

• Creating Frameworks for Learning explores models of curricula, together with local, national and international policies and strategies, and the manner in which they impact on curriculum design, assessment, quality management and evaluation.
• Widening Perspectives through Educational Practice offers an intensive, practice-based opportunity to explore each of the following three strands in a student’s own place of work and also in another educational institution:
  • developing your own approach to teaching and learning in both clinical and more formal settings
  • exploring the learner’s experience and gaining direct experience of curriculum design
  • strategic planning in action.

For the PGDip you may choose two other relevant modules from across the postgraduate health and social care course portfolio.

Please note: as courses are reviewed regularly, the list of modules may vary from that shown here.

Faculty

Faculty of Health and Life Sciences

Department

Department of Social Work and Public Health

Course length

Full-time: MSc: 12 months
Part-time: MSc: up to 3 years. For PGDip and PGCert, please contact the Programme Administrator.

Teaching location

Headington Campus, Marston Road

Start date

September 2012
January 2013

UKPASS code

P018007

Entry requirements

You must:

• be a registered health or social care professional, with a registration acceptable to the relevant United Kingdom professional body
• have an honours degree or a professional qualification equivalent to a first degree, or be able to produce evidence of the ability to study at your proposed level of entry if requested
• have a minimum of two years' professional practice experience
• be employed or have access to a health care setting that will enable achievement of the learning outcomes, ie hold a post which includes a significant role as a teacher/facilitator in a health or social care setting. We recognise that the range of educational roles is wide and this may include formal and informal teaching of groups or facilitating the learning of individuals on a regular, ongoing basis.

Scholarships and funding

A limited number of scholarships are offered by Oxford Brookes University. Applicants who have been offered a full-time place on this master’s course are eligible to apply for the following scholarship:

John Henry Brookes Scholarship

The John Henry Brookes Scholarship is awarded to home and EU applicants for academic excellence. Each scholarship will be paid towards the tuition fee for a taught master's degree. The awards do not include a maintenance grant. For further details, email shscspgscholarship@brookes.ac.uk.

Funding

If you are a UK applicant, you may be eligible for funding or sponsorship to undertake the course through your local strategic health authority, your employer or another source. Please contact the Programme Administrator for more details.

Self-funding applicants are also welcome to apply.

All applicants will be required to provide details of their funding arrangements prior to enrolment on the course.

For general sources of financial support, see funding for Postgraduate students from the UK and EU.

Why Oxford is a great place to study Higher Professional Education

As a student in Oxford you'll be at the heart of the UK's most successful economic region and in a centre for leading industries which provides you with a host of learning opportunities.

Because Oxford is one of the world's great academic cities, it is a key centre of debate, with conferences, seminars and forums taking place across education, science, the arts and many other subjects.

In addition to our own excellent libraries and resource centres, our postgraduate students have access to the world-renowned Bodleian Library, the Bodleian Law Library and the Radcliffe Science Library.

Support for students studying Higher Professional Education

There is a range of support mechanisms for students, such as academic advisers, who will facilitate your academic development, and student support co-ordinators, who provide a drop-in service for queries about any aspect of student life, covering both academic and personal welfare.

The university’s support services include Upgrade, which provides advice on study skills such as planning and writing essays, assignments and dissertations, research, or preparing for an exam. They also give advice on statistics and maths. There is a dedicated Student Disability and Dyslexia Service, which provides support for students with disabilities including sensory and mobility impairments, dyslexia and other specific learning difficulties, mental health problems and medical conditions. Here, staff offer advice and support on a range of issues, including physical access, funding, alternative assessment arrangements and liaison with teaching staff to ensure that they are aware of your requirements.

EU/International students

As a new EU or international student you will join the Academic and Cultural Orientation Programme, which has been set up to enable you to make a smooth transition into study at the university. Within the sessions, you will explore the culture of the university, which will assist you in developing the appropriate academic skills required for your programme of study. The university also provides a comprehensive range of support networks and services to EU/international students. For more information, go to www.brookes.ac.uk/international/support

How Brookes supports postgraduate students

Supporting your learning

From academic advisers and support co-ordinators to specialist subject librarians and other learning support staff, we want to ensure that you get the best out of your studies.

Personal support services

We want your time at Brookes to be as enjoyable and successful as possible. That's why we provide all the facilities you need to be relaxed, happy and healthy throughout your studies.

Research excellence

We have a number of both promising and experienced researchers working in established areas including cancer care, children and families, drugs and alcohol, physical rehabilitation and enablement, and interprofessional education and collaborative practice. Over the past few years, these researchers have won external research and consultancy contracts including grants, fellowships and studentships for NHS staff. Our research staff collaborate with researchers from across Oxford Brookes University and from the Institute of Health Sciences at Oxford University, along with research teams from many other UK and international centres.

We are very pleased with the results received in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). 70% of our research in Allied Health Professions and Studies was rated as being of international significance in the assessment of research, of which 10% was rated as world-leading. The university has been careful to nurture emerging research strengths, and the international standing achieved by subjects allied to health demonstrates significant progress since 2001.

For more details about our research portfolio, go to our website.