MDP has undergone significant change over the last academic year completely revising the content, delivery and assessment of the programme. The blended learning approach is based on social constructivist and experiential learning principles and exposes students to the reality of business through industry engagement as well as development of knowledge and understanding through dialogue.
The first year of the new programme, launched in 2012-13, is centred on the construction of knowledge in classroom setting with theoretical constructs developed. For each topic there is a video recorded by a Strathclyde academic who is a leading expert in the field. Students are required to watch these lectures in advance of each session and complete a pre-sessional activity. The pre-sessional work then forms the basis of team based activities work in the classroom (groups of 50 and teams of 6-7) where students develop an agreed understanding of the topic and present this to the group through a variety of media.
The second year of the programme, launched in 2013-14, concentrates on developing understanding through industry-specific contextualisation. The sessions are thematically linked to the pathways for individualised experience in third year whilst also drawing on the theoretical knowledge developed in MDP 1. Students have already worked on case studies delivered by Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Proctor and Gamble and Ernst Young. The companies deliver a one hour plenary introduction to all students where the company and case study are introduced and then assist with the facilitation of group sessions where students undertake activities in relation to the case study set by the company. In the coming weeks the following organisations will be involved in the programme:
The third year of the programme is undergoing a partial implementation in 2013-14 with full launch in 2014-15, and centres on individualised experience in organisational context for all students through one of the following pathways:
In addition to this, all students are required to undertake a social responsibility element to their programme which accounts for one quarter of the overall engagement. These have been designed to provide support to the Curriculum for Excellence and the Widening Access to Higher Education programme and include programmes with Barclays Lifeskills, Reachout!, Williamwood High School and Bannerman High School.
Fiona Conway, MDP Director is planning a series of engagement seminars and workshops over the next couple of months. If you would like to hear more about MDP then please contact her to discuss arranging a departmental presentation.
She added, "There will be an MDP launch event held soon where we will provide information on the programme and examine the impact of the changes. Watch this space for more information!"
The next MDP event event is on Wednesday 27th November at 2pm – Graeme Waddell, former Managing Director of Rolls Royce East Kilbride and current Executive Director at Skills Development Scotland, is presenting a seminar entitled "My Leadership Story". This event is open to staff and students and will be recorded for use in MDP online delivery. The lecture will be followed by light refreshments. Contact Fiona.conway@strath.ac.uk for further information.