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Team approaches to curriculum design and delivery

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... but hence curriculum delivery and content has become increasingly disjointed. ... a danger that the student experience and learning is disjointed and full of gaps. ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Team approaches to curriculum design and delivery


1
Team approaches to curriculum design and delivery
  • Anthony Rossiter
  • Linda Gray

2
Issues transition and cohesive curriculae
  • Modularisation and student choice has encouraged
    more flexibility, but hence curriculum delivery
    and content has become increasingly disjointed.
  • There is a need to see and deliver the curriculum
    as a whole. Modules/learning outcomes
    inter-relate and should be delivered as such.
  • There is increasing understanding of the
    transition issues faced by new students and the
    need to manage student expectations.
  • A key learning outcome is for students to
    assimilate the independent learning style needed
    in university and thereafter.

Delivery
interelate
Curric design
3
Confused?
  • How do we best tackle all these interacting
    issues? Have we got a joined up approach?
  • The embedding or achievement of learning outcomes
    relates back to curriculum design and effective
    student learning/participation.
  • Can we achieve this due through regulations with
    staff having personal ownership of modules?
  • Who has the overview for the programme and how do
    they ensure quality control?
  • There is a danger that the student experience and
    learning is disjointed and full of gaps.

Effective assessment of learning outcomes
assumes good curriculum design.
4
Overview
  • Effective methods for initiating and taking
    forward curriculum design,
  • and hence improving student learning and
    experience.
  • How do we best handle transition issues?
  • How do we promote more independent learning and
    encourage students to buy in to this key learning
    outcome?
  • How do we maintain effective quality control and
    ensure (assessment?) students acquire the desired
    skills?

Here we focus on year 1 only and assume that
effective assessment of desired learning
outcomes are embedded in curriculum
design/delivery issues.
5
Methodology
  • Create a year 1 teaching team comprising all
    staff contributing to year 1.
  • the solution has to be broad based, cutting
    across the whole curriculum and therefore all
    staff needed to be involved.
  • staff tend to be more enthusiastic when they
    develop the solutions (as opposed to being told).
  • as the entry point to the curriculum, the first
    year needs to be addressed before subsequent
    years.

Many heads are better than one
6
How did the team help?
  • To create a cohesive curriculum, a cohesive staff
    group is required.
  • The remit of the team was simple but vague to
    create and emphasise links in the curriculum and
    thereby improve the student learning.
  • The main methodology was to encourage staff to
    attend short meetings to talk brainstorming and
    propose solutions.
  • The authors paid members for attending meetings
    during the first year.
  • After the first year, the majority (and HOD) were
    sufficiently convinced of the benefits to
    continue.

Ive got some good ideas!
Critically, staff proposed innovations well
beyond those the team leaders had anticipated.
7
Issues/modularisation
  • How to change the culture and engage staff in
    team work, especially where this could be viewed
    as interference and extra work.
  • Modules treated as the property of the staff
    member responsible
  • Outside of the original programme design there
    was little co-ordination of delivery,
  • Modularisation encourages independence as opposed
    to inter-dependence between modules.
  • Convince reluctant staff of the benefits of
    change to their modules and/or to participate in
    co-ordinated delivery.
  • Co-ordination of approaches to transition issues
    such as promoting more independent learning,
    balancing assessments (type/timing), etc.?

Solutions coming from a team have a better chance
of implementation
8
Benefits
Lets work together on this.
  • Team leaders allowed proposals to come from
    other members and consequently there was more
    group enthusiasm to take these forward.
  • Some members who had to be dragged to meetings,
    subsequently offered to do the most work.
  • Technicians, who in the past had felt excluded
    from decision making, felt empowered, in the
    team, to make suggestions and again be proactive
    in developments.
  • Where the need for new projects became apparent,
    the team became a natural testing ground before
    developing ideas further many heads are better
    than one.
  • The team has a good critical mass which means it
    has much greater influence on departmental
    strategy/decisions.

My ideas count!
9
Evidence of Success
  • The first year teaching team has been used
  • through the authors institution as an example
  • of good practice.
  • The team has proposed significant changes and
    persuaded the department to agree
  • stopping service teaching of mathematics.
  • a total redesign of year 1, then year 2 in
    incremental steps.
  • removal of some programmes.
  • projects on transition and independent learning.
  • The perception of staff is that the curriculum
    has been made more cohesive.
  • The aim of specifically targeting independent
    learning skills in year 1 and mathematics has had
    an impact on students as noted by student
    questionnaires.

10
Can Other Departments Reproduce This?
  • Main requirement is a change of culture so staff
    see themselves as part of a team rather than
    individuals.
  • Staff accept the need to negotiate the content,
    assessment and timing of modules this implies
    meeting together at key points in the year.
  • Requires a combination of strong management
    backed up by enthusiastic and convincing
    leadership.
  • Once staff are convinced that significant
    benefits can be obtained with relatively low
    input, they are usually happy to join in.
  • An enthusiastic champion required to ensure
    sustainability.

Wait a moment while I copy that down.
11
Reflections
  • Begin from where your department is and not where
    you would like it to be. In our experience many
    facets help
  • a vision for a cohesive curriculum with
    well-defined learning outcomes.
  • an enthusiastic champion to provide impetus and
    to take responsibility for day to day management.
  • persistence and patience.
  • good quality evidence staff will respect.
  • good persuasion skills to get initial engagement
    from senior staff
  • the ability to see and use the contributions from
    enthusiastic colleagues.
  • most of all, stay positive! Not everything will
    work out as you hope or expect, but that is
    teamwork.

12
Examples of activities
  • Intro week redesigned to include a pre-arrival
    task and two independent learning activities
    encouraging transition, student bonding, etc..
  • A laboratory module and professional skills
    module covering transferable skills, careers and
    integrating tasks bringing together knowledge
    from several other modules.
  • A table showing the timing, topic and type
    (essay, quiz, report, presentation, programming,
    etc.) of assignments.
  • Assignments in one module draw on knowledge from
    a parallel module. This encourages students to
    apply their knowledge across a range of
    applications.

13
Conclusions
  • You need the right structures to deliver the
    desired learning outcomes.
  • You need to engage sometimes reluctant staff.
  • Modularisation is a big barrier.
  • Facilitating team work helps with effective
    curriculum design/delivery this underpins any
    learning outcomes.
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