This interprofessional mentorship course is for practitioners who support and assess learners in practice in health and/or social care settings. It will enable you to become a credible, effective, valued supporter of learning and an assessor of achievement in practice. You’ll undertake activities to develop mentoring commitment, confidence and competence – drawing directly on your own experience. You’ll need access to an appropriate practitioner to support your learning in practice.
Allied Health Professionals registered with the Health Professions Council (HPC) will find this course particularly useful with its focus on professional portfolio development. This course is Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) approved (2007) and will be subject to NMC reapproval in 2012.
See fees and funding options for study from September 2012.
Course facts
An undergraduate course in Health and Social Care.
| About this course: | |
|---|---|
| Course code | K320 |
| Credits | 30 |
| OU Level | 3 |
| SCQF level | 10 |
| FHEQ level | 6 |
| Course work includes: |
|---|
| 2 Tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) |
| End-of-module assessment |
| No residential school |
This course is available for study in the countries shown. Fees and financial support may vary by country.
The study materials use case studies and audio recordings of learners, practitioners and educators to illustrate the role of mentorship in supporting learning and performing assessment in health and social care environments. Toolkits help you to enhance your skills and knowledge in your evolving role as a mentor.
The learning activities relate the study materials to your practice to further develop understanding of educational issues of mentorship and experience of mentoring practice. The majority of the learning activities are to be completed in practice so you need to ensure you have access to students and/or colleagues who are in a learning situation. It is these practice activities that make up the five days protected learning time, these are clearly marked in the module material.
Online forums provide the opportunity to reflect on your experiences of mentoring and receive peer and tutor support. You will consider the effects of national and organisational policies and critically analyse standards underpinning mentoring practice.
The course is structured around three study blocks:
Block 1 Getting your Bearings enables you to examine the complexity and context of mentoring in practice. The activities direct you to critically evaluate your workplace as a learning environment that supports mentorship. It explores mentorship from the perspective of learners and discusses strategies to promote effective mentoring practice.
Block 2 Trying Things Out requires you to identify your mentorship learning needs and then put in place a development plan to direct your individual progress through the course. You will examine facilitation of learning and plan how learners can develop in practice and utilise the portfolio approach to learning. You will explore ‘teachable’, ‘assessable’ and ‘learning’ situations in practice, appropriate for learners.
Block 3 The Bigger Picture directs you to analyse the context and complexity of mentorship from a range of perspectives. This block addresses quality assurance, fitness for practice and assessment as an educo-legal process.
You will learn
When you have successfully completed the course, you will be able to:
To ensure relevant statutory and professional body standards for mentorship and practice-based learning are addressed, this course has been mapped against the:
The K320 team monitor the external environment for emerging educo-legal requirements to ensure the module remains current.
The course emphasises the mentor’s integral and accountable role in the education, supervision and assessment of learners in health and social care settings.
The study materials enable you to critically evaluate mentorship in your practice setting from personal, organisational and practice contexts.
This is a Level 3 course. Level 3 courses build on study skills and subject knowledge acquired from studies at Levels 1 and 2. Study at Level 2 would put you in a strong position to enjoy the course and rise to its challenges through the study skills you have already developed. Its academic content engages you in your practice.
The Open University requires that NMC nurses or midwives seeking entry to their local mentor database/register demonstrate compliance with the NMC’s standards for ‘Supporting Learning and Assessment in Practice’ (SLAiP) (2008) by identifying themselves and stating which part of the register they are on and confirming that they have:
Additional requirements for midwives only
Midwives undertaking mentor preparation courses are required to achieve sign-off mentor status by the end of the course. Therefore the following additional confirmation is required. Midwives entering K320 must also confirm that they will have the opportunity to undertake signing-off competencies on three occasions with a student or students undertaking a NMC approved programme.
NMC registrants entering K320 will be asked to complete and return a form detailing how they demonstrate compliance with the NMC standards on commencement of the course.
During the course NMC nurses and midwives must complete five days’ protected learning negotiated with their employer. This is achieved through completion of the module activities as indicated in the module materials. On completion of this course nurses and midwives would be required to also comply with any local mentor arrangements including demonstrating to your employer that you have met the entry requirements for K320 as above.
If you have any doubt about the suitability of the course, please contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service.
You will receive guidance of how to get started online in your first course mailing. This will provide you with information on using your computer for OU study and working with the Computing Guide. For example, it explains how to access and use your website and online discussion forums. If you have time before the course starts, you can work through this and explore all the online services available to you.
Written transcripts of any audio components and Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) versions of printed material are available. Some Adobe PDF components may not be available or fully accessible using a screen reader. Other alternative formats of the study materials may be available in the future. Our Services for disabled students website has the latest information about availability.
If you are a new student, or new to courses using a computer or the internet, you will need to inform us of your particular needs as soon as possible, as some of our support services may take several weeks to arrange. Details of how to do this and our range of support services are described in our publication Meeting Your Needs.
You can also find information about accessible study materials, financial support and the Disabled Students' Allowance, equipment and other services, on our Services for disabled students website. It also includes our contact details for advice and support both before you register and while you are studying.
Course books, other printed materials, audio CD. There are online tutor-group discussion forums where you can discuss course content and your student mentoring experiences as well as receive support.
You will have access to a website through which teaching and Library resources are available. Electronic versions of most of the printed study materials are also provided on the website.
A CD player.
This course includes online computer activities – you can access these using a web browser that can play Flash and Shockwave.
You will need internet access and a computer. If you have purchased a new computer since 2005 it should meet your course computing requirements. Check our Technical Requirements section if your computer is older than this or is otherwise unusual.
You will have a tutor who marks and provides detailed feedback on your written work (tutor-marked assignments (TMAs)) to support the development of your mentoring practice and is available online, or by phone, for advice and guidance. Your tutor has a group of about 16 students and participates in online discussion with the group, including online tutorials about study topics and how to study successfully.
Contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service if you want to know more about study with The Open University before you register.
The assessment details for this course can be found in the facts box above.
You will be expected to submit your tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) online through the eTMA system unless there are some difficulties which prevent you from doing so. In these circumstances, you must negotiate with your tutor to get their agreement to submit your assignment on paper.
You must also use the online eTMA system to submit the end-of-module assessment (EMA).
K320 responds to the changing external context of professional standards in mentorship and assessment of learners in health and social care settings. The course is NMC approved and meets its Standards to support learning and assessment in practice (2008) for mentors. NMC approval is due for reassessment in 2012.
It is the responsibility of nurses and midwives to meet the conditions specified in the Entry section in order to seek recognition as a mentor. Fulfilling these standards is a requirement to enable your employer to enter you on the local mentor register. Should you claim that you are a qualified mentor without fulfilling the requirements you would be in contravention of the NMC Code (2008).
Students who studied this course also studied at some time:
The details given here are for the course that starts in May and November 2012. We expect it to be available twice a year.
See fees and funding options for study from September 2012.
Course facts
An undergraduate course in Health and Social Care.
| About this course: | |
|---|---|
| Course code | K320 |
| Credits | 30 |
| OU Level | 3 |
| SCQF level | 10 |
| FHEQ level | 6 |
| Course work includes: |
|---|
| 2 Tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) |
| End-of-module assessment |
| No residential school |
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