A collaborative and sustainable approach to institutional curriculum development
- 1. A collaborative and sustainable approach to institutional curriculum development Dr Lincoln Gomes Ms Christina Del Medico Navitas Learning and Teaching Services | Sydney, Australia
- 2. Navitas – Who we are Page 2 • Global education provider • Partnerships with universities globally • NU HEP and SAA provider/s • 130 colleges • Over 80,000 students • 50 countries • Deliver face to face, blended and fully online • AQF Levels 3-9 A collaborative and sustainable approach to institutional curriculum development North America SAE and University Partnerships colleges Asia Australasia Pioneered the pathways public- private partnership from Australia Europe Over 15 years of University Partnerships Middle East and Africa Increasing focus and reach on Middle East and Africa One of the largest education recruitment teams in Asia
- 3. Project Rationale and Method Page 3 • Partner Universities are making digital learning a priority • Navitas students will need to have the skills to succeed at partner university • Opportunity for a holistic approach to design: • Academic professional development • Appropriate integration of technology into learning • Unit redesign A collaborative and sustainable approach to institutional curriculum development Goal • Improve student outcomes and digital literacy through enhanced curriculum • Develop staff capability to design/deliver new curriculum Scope • Focussed on two colleges within Victoria • 147 units identified for transformation Implementation • Created a steering committee for each college • Established learning and teaching principles • Identified ‘Learning and Teaching Champions’ within each college • Produced a professional development course to support teaching staff through curriculum transformation Evaluation • Evaluation plan to measure impact of project • Measure impact of PD course • Measure impact on student results in transformed units Curriculum Transformation Project
- 4. College Principles Page 4A collaborative and sustainable approach to institutional curriculum development Community Building: Peer to peer feedback and an affirming first task to build confidence Scaffolded Learning: Lesson plans, consistent online design, links to face to face and online learning Technology Enhanced Learning: A curated list of tools to ensure equitable access to learning material Active Learning: At least 30% of every hour is focused on students applying what they learn in class Personalised Learning: Flexible environments with transparent explanations about industry relevance
- 5. Professional Development Course Page 5 • 10 week fully online professional development course • Created to support large numbers of sessional teachers • Focussed on: • Curriculum alignment • Development of a “course narrative” • Active learning • Flipped learning • Lesson planning • Assessment and feedback Integration of authentic self and peer review/assessment Weekly, facilitated online sessions to support staff Formative and summative tasks aligned to College milestones A collaborative and sustainable approach to institutional curriculum development
- 6. Evaluation Protocol Page 6 Qualitative • Post-course survey • What did you like or want improved • End of trimester review suggestions (from students) • Learning Management System user data Quantitative • Post-course survey (participant impressions) • Pre/post-professional development comparison of student data A collaborative and sustainable approach to institutional curriculum development Data point 2017 2016 1. Student pass rate 2. Student average grade 3. Grade distributions including non-submissions 4. Student satisfaction data across all domains 5. LMS data on activity 6. End of trimester review suggestions for enhancement 7. Qualitative feedback from teaching staff
- 7. Professional Development - Results Page 7 Quantitative • ~78% of participants were satisfied with the course • ~89% of participants were satisfied with the quality of course facilitation • ~72% of participants learned a range of ideas and strategies in the course • ~74% of participants felt they would be able to use a range of strategies introduced in the course A collaborative and sustainable approach to institutional curriculum development 78% 13% 9% Course satisfaction Agree/Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree/Strongly Disagree 89% 9% 2% Satisfaction with course facilitation Agree/Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree/Strongly Disagree 72% 22% 6% Learned a range of ideas and strategies Agree/Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree/Strongly Disagree 74% 20% 6% Confidence (ability) to use a range of ideas strategies Agree/Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree/Strongly Disagree
- 8. Professional Development - Results Page 8 Qualitative 1. What did you like most about the course? “Learnt how to blend face-to-face teaching with the online methods such as padlet, youtube and etc using Moodle for students” “hearing from other participants in the zoom sessions and reading through the discussion boards/posts people put up” “I think the notion of course narrative is what I'll value most from it. As we look again at our own materials, we can make a stronger narrative which will improve the purpose and transparency of teaching and learning in our programs” “Pedagogical discussion with peers” A collaborative and sustainable approach to institutional curriculum development 2. How could we improve this course? “The only negative thing about the course for me was the time commitment, but that was mostly because of external life factors, and there is no way around that to complete the course!” “I think a better understanding of the different participant contexts would help. Unfortunately, these are often complex but time taken to understand these would be a great investment.” “Rather than having a 10 week course, it might have been better to have a shorter, more intensive course.”
- 9. Lesson Learned Professional Development Professional Development to support change management was well received and valued by staff (largely sessional) Learning and Teaching Champions critical to sustaining project momentum Time for professional development needs to be supported by the college Fully online delivery is scalable and assists in breaking down communication silos Unit Transformation Unit transformation needs to be assessed longitudinally Mechanisms need to be in place at the college level for sustained PD and improvement Professional development and unit transformation need to be equally supported by the college Identify and define data sources for evaluation Similar observations are noted by the Higher Education Academy – Thomas, L., Hill, M., O’Mahony, J., Yorke, M. (2017). Supporting student success: Strategies for Institutional Change. Retrieved from https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/supporting-student-success-strategies-institutional-change Page 9A collaborative and sustainable approach to institutional curriculum development
- 10. Acknowledgements Learning and Teaching Transformation Team Operation and Insights Team Learning Technologies and Systems Team College Steering Committees Transformation project participants The students Page 10A collaborative and sustainable approach to institutional curriculum development