SERC host Walsall and Sunderland Colleges for PBL Training Visit

For the last two years, South Eastern Regional College in Northern Ireland (SERC) has been supporting Walsall and Sunderland Colleges in England, with training on Project Based Learning (PBL) funded through the Edge Foundation.

We were delighted to host 19 delegates in total from each College, from 4 – 6 April, for the culmination of the project.   The visit, funded by the Edge Foundation, included a full programme or training, the opportunity to talk to staff and meet students involved in PBL projects from a range of courses such as Performing Arts (Glass Umbrella), Computing (FixIT) to Hospitality and Catering (College Kitchen, SERC Food Truck). Delegates also got an insight into student engagement outside of the curriculum through the Eco Committee, Go Green and the Entrepreneur Club.

The training also included an overview of SERC’s framework around Meta skills, 21st century skills for Higher education students and Transversal skills, 21st century skills for FE students.  The delegates were able to see how these have been embedded into all our programmes, and also to quiz management in an Ask Me Anything forum.

Paula Philpott, Head of SERC’s Learning Academy said, “As part of the visit, each College set a PBL challenge for our catering and hospitality students. The lunch and dinner served on the 5 April reflected their solution to the challenges set.   It was a fantastic opportunity for the visiting delegates to see PBL in action and how it works for our students’ learning.”

She added, “The training was a great opportunity, not only for us to share our expertise, but for the visitors to see how PBL positively impacts our students. Thank you to all the staff and student teams who made the visit such a success.”

Feedback from delegates:

“Thank you for the wonderful hospitality and the time that staff and students have in given in showcasing PBL. It was great to be able to speak to people involved in projects and see examples of the student companies. Very inspiring!” Walsall College delegate

“Inspired by SERCs commitment to PBL and how well this was articulated by staff and students.” Walsall College Delegate

“I would like to extend my gratitude and thanks for all the staff at SERC who have given up (their very valuable time) to share what they did with us. All the staff I have spoken to over the last 3 days have been passionate and authentic in all their conversations.” Sunderland College delegate

“Really useful to have such a wide range of staff and students involved – you could clearly see how PBL is embedded throughout SERC.” Sunderland College delegate