Curriculum development 

Curriculum development and renewal

The curriculum of all my modules includes lectures (theoretical part), practical sessions, and assessments. Assessments are composed of Continuous Assessment comprising (i) practical assessments and (ii) theory tests, and (iii) Final Assessment. Usually, the contribution of (i), (ii), and (iii) each equals approximately 1/3 of the final mark.

Figure 13 illustrates the structure of the Structural Geology component of the APG231 module (changed to APG234), which lasts six weeks: three lectures and two practical sessions every week. The course is very intense, and student attendance and involvement are essential from day one of the semester.

Figure 13. Concept map of the APG231 module (new APG234), Structural Geology component. Concept maps are helping to see how the concepts from the respective module relate to one another (i.e., concepts from the practical and theory sessions).

During the 1st week of the module, the learning is dedicated to the concept of maps. The emphasis is on topographic maps, geological maps, scales, and differences between a map, a cross-section, and a block diagram. The practical sessions introduce the topographic contours and structure contours concepts. During the 2nd week, the basic concepts of structural geology are explained: methods of structural geology, three fundamental types of deformation, strain, and stress, types of stress, and relationships between strain and stress ellipsoids. Practical sessions introduce three-point problems using structure contours. The 3rd week is dedicated to brittle deformation; its mechanisms, types of faults, fractures, and joints are explained. Practical sessions investigate the maps and cross-sections with faults. Week 4 introduces ductile deformation and its mechanisms, the anatomy of folds, and the ways to characterize/quantify them. During the practical sessions, students have to study a map with folded layers, calculate their dip angles and produce a cross-section. Weeks 5 and 6 are dedicated to textures and kinematic indicators, as well as other structures such as boudinage and shear zones. During the practical sessions, students continue to master three-point problems and draw cross-sections. One of the practical sessions is dedicated to a practical test and one to an engineering geology lecture with a virtual tour.

All teaching and learning activities and their learning outcomes (LOs) are closely related to the UWC GAs (Fig. 14). Several practical assignments are completed in groups, which develops collaborative skills. I teach students to communicate, critically engage with knowledge and information, and be socially responsible, ethical, and focused.

Figure 14. Alignment between GAs and disciplinary expectations of appropriate learning outcomes is demonstrated as a concept map that shows learning outcomes of the Structural Geology component of the APG231 module (new APG234) and their connection to the GAs of UWC.

During my teaching, I focus on a variety of teaching and learning activities that involve different types and levels of learning (Fig. 15). Students not only need to listen to lectures, online lectures, and read textbooks (“Acquisition”), but also complete group assignments – each time with different groupmates (“Collaboration”), ask/answer questions in the Discussion Forum in iKamva and during consultation hours (“Discussion”), perform measurements with the geological compass (“Practice”), complete geological maps and draw cross-sections to them (“Practice” and “Production”), study field images, quantify the structures using scales and describe what geological processes caused these structures (“Investigation”).

Figure 15. A concept map with an example of a concept that is being taught (grey), the resulting learning outcome (“Read and construct geological maps, cross-sections and block diagrams,” yellow), and the ways of achieving it by introducing various teaching and learning (T&L) activities (purple), involving a variety of learning types (orange) by using a number of assessments (blue).

I have a similar approach to APG322 and APG721 modules that I co-teach. I must emphasize that curriculum is not something permanent and should develop and be optimized each year depending on the teaching situation, class size, needs of students in a particular class, etc. I am still in the process of developing my curriculum and finding my style of communication with and motivating the students. Every year I learn new things that work do not work for the UWC students. Optimization of the course is a long journey, and I am still gaining experience in an attempt to become a better teacher. However, this will be a lifelong experience because teaching excellence is not a static destination but a “process of growth, development and flourishing” (Nixon, 2007; Wood and Su, 2017).