This module is designed to engage participants in the principles and practices of short course/basic curriculum design in the context of their own practice. Participants will be required to apply learning from earlier modules to consider the design of a short programme which is located within a broader curriculum context. A particular emphasis will be placed on designing processes of evaluation and assessment that will improve learner progress and development.

Module Aims:

MA1 - Demonstrate the complex and constructed nature of a curriculum

MA2 - Explore the importance of embedding good practice in learning and assessment during curriculum development

MA3 - Demonstrate a critical understanding of the key stages of a curriculum development cycle and how different curriculum models can support this.

MA4 - Critically examine the contested and challenging role of assessment in the curriculum design.

Module Learning Outcomes:

LO1 - Critically evaluate part of an established curriculum including the programme of assessment

LO2 - Reflect on how own current educational role fits within the context of a wider curriculum

LO3 - Critically apply some of the principles of curriculum development to propose improvements, taking into account their own context effective practice in assessment.

LO4 - Demonstrate how relevant policy, both locally and nationally, influences curriculum development.

Indicative Content

The overall delivery of the module will be through a blended approach, combining face-to-face workshops and online activities and tasks. Such delivery will be based on broadly constructivist and adult learning principles with knowledge being ‘made’ and shared in the room with some negotiation of the methods used being handed to the learners. The processes will therefore be inherently student-led in terms of scope and pace consistent with engagement with the module learning outcomes. Since most learners will have little direct experience of curriculum or short course development, an emphasis will be placed on the practical application of design theory and principles to learners’ own context and past experience. Learners will have the opportunity through small group work to share and learn from those with both similar and contrasting experience as well as those from cognate and differing disciplines/specialties. Techniques such as ‘cross-over’ groups will be used to facilitate this. These activities will be mixed with mini-presentations and masterclasses so that curriculum knowledge is both derived from as well as shared with the group. An indicative programme follow:

Study Day 1 - Morning - Examples of curriculum development theories and good practice including constructive alignment; offer examples and for students to share curriculum development within the confines of their own experience as well as at the broader programme level and beyond.

Afternoon - The roles of assessment within curricula and how different forms of assessment might contribute to the ‘delivery’ of the curriculum - cross-over’ groups working with the following themes:

• The purposes of assessment

• Alignment of assessment approaches with LO

• Quality assurance – How to recognize a good question, Blue printing, and Standard Setting

• Meaningfully assessment of challenging curriculum areas by applying the principles of programmatic assessment

Study Day 2 - Morning - One hour mini-presentations/masterclasses as follows:

• Admissions and the socio-political influences on admission process

• International perspectives in curriculum development

• The Hidden Curriculum

Afternoon - Opportunities to apply the learning through critique and reflection of good practice in curriculum development including the role of assessment in curriculum development. This can be approached through the following activities

1. Critique/evaluate parts of an established curriculum (this may be centred around assessment)

2. Addressing a curriculum development problem in their own area

3. Developing or revising a session/module in their own context

4. Reflecting on personal assessment experiences in a critical manner evidenced from the literature/policy. Key questions for students to challenge themselves with  Why choose this particular content/learning approach or assessment?

• How does your learning on PGCert support your approach?

• How does your focus fit within the bigger picture of your vision for your graduates/learners?

• Consider an assessment with characteristics that are consistent with its purpose

• Consider an assessment that is likely to measure the learning in which you are interested

Curriculum terms, Subject & learner-centred curricula, the integrated curriculum, the Tyler Model, curriculum development cycle, designing in assessment for learning, approaches to teaching.

Assessment:

Portfolio of assessment materials consisting of 3500-4000 words to evidence and mapped to, each of the module learning outcomes. These could include:

• Poster

• Mind Map

• Flow Chart

• Session outline (providing it demonstrates how it integrates with the wider curricula/programme) short piece of writing demonstrating an understanding of the nature of curriculum as the candidate has synthesized from wider reading of educational literature

• Key stages of curriculum development demonstrating an appreciation of the practical challenges of implementing these stages, with reference to their own practice

Each piece of evidence must be accompanied by a critical narrative illustrating candidate’s understanding of good practice in developing curriculum including assessment (i.e., why did I do what I did, what should be different) - 100%