Engaging with quality via the CEM model: Enhancing the content and performance management of postgraduate in-sessional academic skills provision

Abstract

This research contributes to practice in the field of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) by demonstrating how business management approaches and tools can enhance the content and performance management of in-sessional academic skills provision. It was the result of a teaching and research collaboration between a Business Management (Logistics) lecturer and an EAP lecturer. The framework used in this research to evaluate student engagement with in-sessional provision is the CEM Model (Sloan & Porter, 2010) (Conceptualisation, Embedding and Mapping), and forms the basis for an evaluation, using a Best-Worst Discrete Choice Survey, to uncover from a student perspective the most valued academic skills content. From the Business Management perspective, the findings led to a reconceptualization of the CEM Model as a balanced scorecard, a strategic performance measurement tool to assess levels of student, staff and institutional engagement. For EAP practitioners the findings inform identification of in-sessional EAP provision to support international postgraduate students through enhancing the content and performance management of in-sessional EAP provision.