Programmatic review processes within higher education institutions provide programme teams with the opportunity to reflect on their practices. An output of such reflection and self-examination is often changes,not only to the content of programmes, but also delivery methodologies (OECD, 2012). These pedagogical innovations are influenced by the environment, cultural norms, attitudes and skills of those who were part of this process, the needs of society stakeholders, and students (Owston, 2006). As a result they are often challenging to implement and deliver, both for the educator and the student.
This provides the focus for this research paper, which, outlines how changes to honours degree programmes within a social sciences department evolved, citing both the positive and negative aspects parts of this journey by the student cohort. Concluding that, whilst innovation to pedagogy can offer much, the importance of supportive administration processes cannot be underestimated and are often key to pedagogical success.