Case Study

Scotland

 Napier University 

Prepared by  :Sally Anderson

Brief description of the programme

Napier is one of the largest universities in Scotland, with more than 11,000 students. The university is organised into five faculties: Arts and Social Science, Engineering, Health Studies, Science, and the Napier Business School. The university takes its name from John Napier, inventor of logarithms, who was born in the Tower of Merchiston in 1550. The Tower is now an integral part of the Merchiston campus.

From its early days as the Napier College of Science and Technology, which opened in 1964, Napier has grown steadily, in 1974 merging with another institution to become the Napier College of Commerce and Technology and later becoming a polytechnic. In 1992, in recognition of its achievements, the polytechnic was given consent to adopt the title Napier University.

Delivery in Mauritius

Napier University is offering a number of courses in Mauritius in areas such as Economics, Computer Studies, and Management. These courses cover a range of levels, including the higher national certificate, a full Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Economics, and a post-graduate diploma in computer studies.

It is an important feature of all Napier’s flexible learning projects that the courses are owned and delivered by the relevant academic department, rather than by a central unit. There is, however, a central support team who work with the academic department by providing advice, editorial and production assistance, project management expertise and staff development and training where required. 

Quality assurance procedures for distant courses follow the same route within the university as does any conventionally delivered course. The media used for delivering flexible learning in the university are varied, and are chosen with careful investigation of what is available to students. In the case of Mauritius, print-based delivery was the most accessible, with some limited computer and software usage.

For students at such a distance, with cultural and language differences from the delivery institution, support was of some concern, and a comprehensive strategy was developed.

• To establish a local base, we work with the Ministry of Education and related

• organisations (such as the National Computing and Information Technology

• ResourceCentre) for each course a local administrator acts as liaison with Napier.

• Local tutors are recruited in accordance with requirements laid down by Napier,

• and they provide frequent and regular tutorials throughout the year.

• E-mail and fax allow local tutors and the local administrator relatively easy contact

• with Napier staff in Scotland.

• Napier staff travel to Mauritius at least twice per academic year.

• Not only do they work with students there, more importantly, 

• they provide training and assistance to local tutors.

• All study materials are scrutinised by the project consultant, who is,

• both a member of Napier staff and a Mauritian national,

• to ensure their applicability culturally and with regard to language level.

So, the course runs as follows: students attend a summer school at which they meet local tutors and Napier staff. This is an opportunity for students to explore exactly how they will study and develop some study skills appropriate for flexible learning, as well as to cover some initial content. 

They then study by means of flexible learning study materials prepared and supplied by Napier, with regular tutorials and opportunities to use computer facilities. A winter school with Napier staff and local tutors allows examination revision and clarification of problems. 

Formative assessment is done by local tutors with Napier moderating a random selection of written assignments, and final assessment is set and marked by Napier staff.This model has proved very effective and a number of cohorts have graduated successfully.