College Prospectus

Certificate of Personal Effectiveness (CoPE)

Overview

Achieving excellent academic qualifications for a good university is a priority for all of our students. However, students of all academic abilities often find themselves at university lacking some of the basic life skills to thrive and succeed in this new environment and in life in general. The Certificate of Personal Effectiveness enables students to:

- Develop and demonstrate a range of skills leading to personal effectiveness
- Broaden their experience and manage learning through enrichment activities
- Receive formal recognition and accreditation for the above.

This is an externally recognised qualification accredited by ASDAN in which students gain credits by completing challenges from a choice of modules and provide evidence to demonstrate skills development in six areas:

• Working with Others
• Improving Own Learning and Performance
• Problem Solving
• Planning and Carrying Out a Piece of Research
• Communicating Through Discussion
• Planning and Giving an Oral Presentation

Course Aims and Objectives

  1. To enable students to improve their learning and to develop and demonstrate a range of skills that increases personal effectiveness.
  2. To enable students to broaden and manage learning through enrichment activities.
  3. To allow students to improve their personal organisation and time management - skills which are essential for university life.
  4. To help students in their future work.
  5. To enable students to receive formal recognition and accreditation for the above.

Candidates must gain credits by completing challenges from a choice of modules and provide evidence to demonstrate skills development in six areas at the appropriate level.

Assessment

The six assessment units are:
Introduction to Working with Others
Communicating Through Discussion
Introduction to Improving Own Learning and Performance
Planning and Carrying out Research
Introduction to Problem Solving
Planning and Giving an Oral Presentation

Students choose a minimum of three Challenges from the following six modules;

  Module Challenge A Challenge B
1. Active Citizenship Community Action Community Placement
2. Work Related Activities Work Experience Business Enterprise
3. Career Planning Career Options Application for Higher Education
4. Global Awareness International Travel and Experience Global Research
5. Enrichment Activities Skills Development Leisure Pursuits
6. Extended Project Extended study Free Options


Within each module there are two challenges (A and B). Students gain credits for challenges completed. Students must gain a minimum of 15 credits to complete the full qualification.
One credit is awarded for 10 hours of activity.

Portfolio of Evidence

Students have to produce a Portfolio of Evidence which must demonstrate competence in: the Wider Key Skills at Level 3; (Working with Others, Improving Own Learning and Performance, and Problem Solving) and Level 3 for Planning and Carrying out Research, Communication through Discussion and Planning and Giving an Oral Presentation. For each completed challenge the student must collect together supporting evidence in their portfolio. All evidence must be labelled and cross referenced. All mandatory paperwork must be present and signed off e.g.: assessment check list.

For each challenge Planning, Doing and Review sheets also need to be completed and signed off.

Stated Targets must be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timed) and have a defined goal.

Assessment is by both Internal and External Moderation.

The number of candidates needs to be pre-registered.

Candidate details are provided one month before external moderation. If the student cohort is small then all portfolios will be externally moderated. If the student cohort is large then an externally selected representative sample will be moderated. External Moderation is available three times per year (November, March and June). Support and standardisation meetings are available each term. Standardisation meetings are available to ensure that tutor and students are on the correct track.

Student ‘Achievements’ Portfolio of Evidence

You will need to produce a clearly cross-referenced portfolio of evidence which will demonstrate your achievements. This student book must also contain important information which will be checked at moderation alongside your portfolio. The evidence in the student book will include:

1. Your personal review of recent achievements and current interests.
2. Student and tutor signatures.
3. Record of progress.

Your portfolio will contain the evidence to support your record of progress, such as:
- Plan, do and review sheets
- Student Evidence Sheets
- Observation check lists
- Statements made by those who have seen your work
- Your written assignments, worksheets, letters
- Extracts from your diaries
- Photographs, drawings, diagrams, charts or graphs
- Audio tapes or video recordings

It is very important that you make it as easy as possible for the moderator to verify how you have obtained the required 15 credits, and to see how your evidence in the portfolio relates to the challenges you have completed and to the development of skills statements. Where appropriate, the same piece of evidence may be used to provide evidence of more than one skill.

You will need to give some thought to layout and page numbering, so that there is a straightforward system of cross referencing between the Record of Progress on page 5 of this book, the Assessment Checklist and your portfolio.
It is suggested that you put all the information relating to each challenge in separate sections of your portfolio.

Planning, Doing and Reviewing the Challenges

The ASDAN website www.asdan.org.uk or the CoPE CD Rom provide a full set of Plan, Do, Review sheets (IPDRs) and other recording documents specifically designed to provide focused evidence for all six skills.

Skills to be Evidenced for CoPE

You need to show that you can:

1. Work with others, by:
- Planning work, agreeing objectives, responsibilities and working arrangements.
- Seek to establish and maintain co-operative working relationships.
- Review work and agree ways of improving future collaborative work.

2. Improve your own learning and performance, by:
- Agreeing targets and planning how these will be met.
- Using your plan, seeking feedback and support from others to help meet targets.
- Reviewing your progress and establish evidence of your achievements.

3. Problem solve, by:
- Exploring problems, comparing different ways of solving them and selecting options.
- Planning and implementing options.
- Applying agreed methods of checking problems have been solved and reviewing approaches to tackling problems.

4. Research, by:
- Undertaking research into an area that is of special interest.
- Carrying out research independently.
- Presenting and evaluating the findings of research appropriately.

5. Discuss, by:
- Making clear and relevant contributions
- Listening and responding sensitively to others and developing ideas.
- Creating opportunities for others to contribute.

6. Oral presentation, by:
- Preparing the presentation to suit the purpose.
- Matching the language and style to suit the situation.
- Using a variety of methods to engage the audience.

Quick Links: