Presentation Transcript

1. Curriculum mappingA possible technology-enhanced curriculum review approach

   South African Technology Network (SATN) Conference, Bloemfontein 28-29 November 2011 Marianne Bester Fundani Centre for Higher Education Development Cape Peninsula University of Technology
2. Introduction Transformation of higher education in South Africa Relevance and responsiveness of HE curricula Complex learning Curricula that sustain complex learning ought to be ‘coherent and progressive’(Knight, 2001)
3. Key issues to consider Intended and planned curriculum What do wish to achieve? What do we teach? Why do we teach what we teach? What do our students learn? How do our students learn? How do we assess what students have learned? How well should students perform in these assessment tasks to show that they have achieved the intended learning outcomes? Taught and created curriculum Learned and assessed curriculum
4. Focus of this paper Two inter-related aspects of curriculum mapping: mapping tool mapping process Illuminate the pedagogic relationships within a curriculum Capture the dynamic interactions with relevant stakeholders and its milieu ‘contextualised social practice’ (Cornbleth, 1990) not as an instrumentalist approach to curriculum development and review
5. Outline of the presentation Constructivist framework Past curriculum design practices at UoTs Lack of staff participation Teacher-centred technicist approach Case study of a career-oriented business qualification Use of Curriculum mapping to steer the curriculum review process and to engage lecturing staff in reflective conversations about pedagogic practice
6. Outcomes-based curriculum development of Technikons in late 1990s National Qualifications Framework A single national framework for learning achievements Systemic change Outcomes-based curricula Design-down curriculum design process of working down from large, complex, workplace-orientated outcomes to specific, enabling outcomes and tasks – responsive to needs of employers
7. Technicist skills-based approach Technikons responded to discourse of accountability and efficiency Modular subject structures to promote credit accumulation and transfer ‘A narrow notion of skills’ (Allais, 2011) ‘Technical responsiveness’ ... ‘reduced to a technicist one ...’ (McKenna & Sutherland, 2006) Compliance mind-set of ‘process-oriented administrative procedures’ (Breier, 2001) DACUM – focus on functional task analysis appropriate to specific occupation Displacement of disciplinary knowledge (Wheelahan, 2010)
8. Curriculum orientations of academic staffSnyder, Bolin & Zumwalt in Shawer, Gilmore and Banks-Joseph (2008) Previous curriculum development practices at Technikons in SA Future practice requires a paradigm shift towards student-centred learning Before 1994 Late 1990s-before HEQF HEQF re-curriculation
9. Constructivist approach to curriculum development & review Biggs’s constructive alignment (2001) ‘learning is a process of conceptual change whereby individuals construct new understandings of reality – a constructivist point of view’ ‘A good teaching system aligns teaching method and assessment to the learning activities stated in the objectives, so that all aspects of this system are in accord in supporting appropriate learning.’ McDonald & Van der Horst, 2007
10. Case study (using subject guides/taught curriculum) Subjects from a Business-related diploma programme Organisational components of subject guide Pedagogical components of subject guide Data analysis and findings Omissions and oversight in terms of the core components Constructive alignment – incomplete, inconsistent or misaligned Lower level cognitive skills and tasks Insufficient integration of theory and practice
11. Constructive alignment template Deep and reflective conversations – preparatory stage for developing curriculum maps One aspect that emerged from CA templates: Pertinent focus on occupational needs Increased emphasis on ‘doing’ rather than ‘knowing’ (Barnett et al. 2001) Absence of scaffolding of cognitive challenges
12. Curriculum mappingWhat is a map? A map is a visual representation of an area; A symbolic depiction highlighting relationships between elementsof that space such as objects, regions, and themes. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Map )
13. Curriculum mappingWhat is a curriculum? “… a sophisticated blend of educational strategies, course content, learning outcomes, educational experiences, assessment, the educational environment and the individual students’ learning style, personal timetable and programme of work.” Harden, R.M. 2001. AMEE Guide 21: Curriculum mapping a tool for transparent and authentic teaching and learning. Medical Teacher, 23(2):123-127.
14. What is a curriculum map? “A diagrammatic representation of the curriculum displaying the different elements of the curriculum and the interrelationships between these different elements”. (Harden 2001, 125) .
15. Learning outcomes Teaching events Learning activities Subject content Assessment tasks Key elements of a curriculum map Knowing: Disciplinary & situated knowledge Doing: Practical skills Being: Personal qualities & capabilities Level descriptors Cognitive complexity Adapted from Harden, 2001:125
16. Curtin University of TechnologyCCMap 2010 Unit information; Unit learning outcomes which are aligned to the graduate attributes and the development of higher order thinking skills; Assessment (assessment tasks by type, medium, format, role of the student, level of authenticity, level of supervision, mode, purpose, principle assessor and time schedule); Learning experiences (type, duration, frequency and predominantly student activity); Learning resources (type, use and cost to student); Curriculum themes (linked to vision and objectives of institution); Career development learning
17. Curtin University of Technology – Curriculum map template
18. Student learning experiences Type Clinical practice, fieldwork, laboratory work, lectures, practical work, seminars, studio work, tutorials, workshops, individual study & others Duration Hours, half-day, full-day and other Frequency Daily, 2,3,4 times per week, weekly, fortnightly, monthly, twice a semester, once a semester and other Predominant types of student engagement Listening & viewing &reading, writing, speaking, reflecting, hands-on practice, listening & writing, listening & writing & spearking, problem-solving and other
19. Curtin University of TechnologyData available for analysis & discussion using CCMap 2010
20. Web-based curriculum mapping system The use of a technology-enhanced process provides: ‘an electronic trail of activities ... providing the community with rich data sources from which further reflective practice can emanate’(Madiba, 2011) A conceptual tool for curriculum review by focusing on: Constructive alignment, cognitive demand, coherence, logical sequencing, credit allocation and the use of level descriptors.
21. Web-based curriculum mapping system It provides ‘lines of inquiry’ of the intended, taught, experienced and assessed curriculum at both subject, programme and institutional level: What are the intended learning outcomes? What is taught and how is it taught? What is assessed and how is it assessed? What is the level of cognitive demand? What are the gaps and redundancies in the curriculum? Is there vertical and horizontal alignment of subjects within the qualification? What are the articulation and credit transfer possibilities between programmes? How are the concerns of academic staff addressed in terms of curriculum change?(Madiba, 2011)
22. Curriculum mapping “When curriculum mapping is adopted as a process and project (tool)… the overall aim is to develop the conceptual as well as the technical infrastructure that will enable and deepen institutional conversations as far as curriculum is concerned; and this is done on the premise of continuous improvement of teaching and learning and curriculum delivery.” (Madiba,2011: 386)
23. Situation analysis with external stakeholder engagement Identify gaps, shortcomings, redundancies and suggestions for improvement Critical analysis and evaluation of existing curriculum using: Subject guides Templates Diagrams & charts Comprehensive review of existing programme & feedback from current students and staff Revise subject guides & compile preliminary curriculum maps Finalise curriculum maps & develop final subject guides for approval & implementation Curriculum mapping process Adapted from Oliver, Jones, Ferns & Tucker (2007)
24. What are the key benefits? Gaining a holistic and comprehensive view of the curriculum across all the subject areas and levels of study. Acting as a mechanism to foster debate and reflection on the key pedagogical issues amongst colleagues. Working across different layers (macro, meso and micro) relevant to the HEQF re-curriculation process to ensure coherence and cooperation. Assisting academics in creating unified, interdisciplinary units of learning that foster students’ understanding of concepts, ideas and activities across different subject areas.
25. In conclusion …  Past curriculum development practices at Technikons in late 1990s Student-centred learning approach with curricula that sustain complex learning Technicist approach to curriculum development Displacement of knowledge in the curriculum Lack of academic staff participation Curriculum mapping Subject guides Curriculum mapping as a process Constructive alignment template Curriculum mapping as a tool
26. List of selected sources Cornbleth, C. 1990. Curriculum in context. New York: The Falmer Press. Curtin University of Technology. 2010. Curtin Curriculum Mapping Tool—User Guide. Version 2 of 5 March 2010. http://boliver.ning.com/page/mapping-1 (accessed 4 August 2011]. Harden, R.M. 2001. AMEE Guide no 21: Curriculum mapping: A tool for transparent and authentic teaching and learning. Medical teacher 23(2):123-137. James, D. 2005. Importance and impotence? Learning, outcomes and research in further education. Curriculum Journal 16 (1):83-96. Allais, S. 2011. What are the skills? Reflections on policy in South Africa in the light of international debates. Paper presented at the Global Labour University Conference, 28-30 September 2011. University of the Witwatersrand: Johannesburg. Amer, A. 2006. Reflections on Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy. Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology No. 8. 4 (1):213-230. Barnett, R., G. Parry and K. Coate. 2001. Conceptualising Curriculum Change. Teaching in Higher Education 6 (4):435-449. Breier, M. 2001. Higher education curriculum development: the international and local debates. Curriculum restructuring in higher education in post-apartheid South Africa. Ed. M. Breier. 1-37. Bellville: University of the Western Cape.
27. List of selected sources McKenna, S. and L. Sutherland. 2006. Balancing knowledge construction and skills training in universities of technology. Perspectives in Education 24(3): 15-24. Oliver, B., Jones, S., Tucker, B., & Ferns, S. 2007. Mapping curricula: ensuring work-ready graduates by mapping course learning outcomes and higher order thinking skills. Peer-reviewed paper presented at the Evaluations and Assessment Conference, Brisbane. http://www.eac2007.qut.edu.au/proceedings/proceedings_ebook.pdf[Accessed: 29 April 2010]. Shawer, S.F., Gilmore, D. & Banks-Joseph, S.R. 2008. Student cognitive and affective development in the context of classroom-level curriculum development. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 8(1):1-28. Wheelahan, L. 2010. Why knowledge matters in curriculum: A social realist argument. London: Routledge. Jansen, J.D. 1998. Curriculum Reform in South Africa: a critical analysis of outcomes‐based education. Cambridge Journal of Education 28(3):321-331. Knight, P.T. 2001.Complexity and Curriculum: A process approach to curriculum-making. Teaching in Higher Education, 6(3):369-381. Madiba, M. 2011. Curriculum mapping as inquiry in higher education. In Curriculum inquiry in South African higher education: Some scholarly affirmations and challenges. Bitzer EM and MM Botha, eds. 381-398. Stellenbosch: Sun Media. McDonald, R. and H. Van Der Horst. 2007. Curriculum Alignment, globalization and quality assurance in South African education. Journal of Curriculum Education 39 (1): 1-9.
28. Any questions? Mrs Marianne Bester Fundani Centre for Higher Education Development Cape Peninsula University of Technology Tel. (021) 959 6468 E-mail: besterma@cput.ac.za