Mapping generic skills curricula: a recommended methodology

Abstract

Since the 1997 Dearing Report generic skills development has become an essential part of higher education in the UK. Generic skills programmes are, in the main, either run in parallel with existing curricula or ‘embedded’ within them. In 1993 the General Medical Council introduced student selected components (SSCs) into the UK medical curriculum with the intention of ‘embedding’ generic skills into undergraduate medical study. The SSC programme at Leeds School of Medicine was designed to develop specific generic skills in early focused projects and then allow students to practise these skills in clinical settings in later projects. In order to evaluate this programme, a methodology was devised to map the generic skills curriculum to an externally derived consensus on SSC outcomes. English's model, mapping ‘declared’, ‘delivered’ and ‘learned’ curricula, was used and a fourth, ‘assessed’ map added to check the ‘alignment’ of the curriculum through all its stages. Data for the maps were gathered from curriculum documentation, project supervisors and students using document scrutiny, questionnaires, interviews and focus groups. The methodology was run over a complete academic year for the entire programme. It proved valuable for mapping any ‘embedded’ generic skills programme to evaluate its success by collecting data from all stakeholders.