Inclusive Curriculum design and Appendixes

CRITICAL REFLECTION

Introduction

This paper reflects on my recent re-design and teaching of the Fashion Buying and Product Development unit delivered to Ravensbourne’s year one Fashion Buying and Brand Management students. I chose this unit to re-design as the topic evolves rapidly requiring regular updates to maintain relevance. However, after years of minor modifications the unit felt bloated, with student outputs lacking the authenticity of current industry practice as well as functionality when using them as a tool to reflect on to inform future projects. (K6)

There were several processes, workshops and formative assessment tasks that informed my re-design process discussed below and recorded within my journal [Appendix 7]. (A1)

Formative Assessment Task Review

Creating the inclusive curriculum principles [Appendix 1] as a triad brough to my attention the differences in cohorts of students, not only in terms of diversity but also their backgrounds and pervious experiences too. Blessinger et al (2019) discuss the need to be mindful of this when re-designing curriculum addressing the needs of individuals and reducing the barriers in curriculum design to make it overall more accessible. Richards and Finnegan (2019) acknowledge broadening diversity within student cohorts expressing the need for art and design subjects to develop a flexible and anticipatory approach to meet those needs. (V1, V2, V4)

The collaborative annotated bibliography [Appendix 2] developed with my triad sparked further discussion around inclusivity, different frameworks for unit design and the effects the pandemic has had upon teaching and learning. This led me to focus my re-design around the FLOATS curriculum model (McKimm et al, 2021) making sure my unit is flexible while being learning centred, being open to blended delivery, technology enabled and above to seek stakeholder input from industry figures to maintain authenticity and relevance. (A5)

During the unit design workshop [Appendix 5], I identified three key threshold concepts (Hudson, 2020) students would need to achieve to understand the subject. (K3) This led me to split the brief into three sections accordingly: part A covering research and range development, part B mapping the production process and part C investigating better practice within the supply chain. (K6) Furthermore, I designed the unit poster [Appendix 3] to act as a timeline illustrating each of these sections applying Kane and Mushare’s (2018) theory of ‘design thinking’ working backwards from the final summative assessment then placing in formative checkpoints to conclude each section/threshold before building in the learning outcomes through teaching and activities accordingly. (A1, V3)

In previous years, feedback suggested that the original formative was too late not allowing students enough time to react to feedback before summative. Adding in additional formative assessment activities (Robinson and Udall, 2016) will not only provide students with feedback earlier and more regularly but will also allow me to gauge and react to their understanding too. I designed the formative activities to reflect authentic industry signoffs while adopting Earl’s method of ‘assessment as learning’ (2013). For example, the buyers sign off formative for part A, students presented then received feedback on their trends, consumers, and initial range plan designs. Once students have responded to feedback and had their work ‘signed off’ they were able to conclude on Part A in their range plan rationale before commencing the production process in Part B. (V4, K5, A3, K2)

Throughout the brief re-design I considered Biggs and Tang’s (2011) theory of constructive alignment considering the lessons and activities students should undertake to meet their learning outcomes and aligning them to the formative assessment activities. Considering the variety of students needs and the original FLOATS framework, it was important to consider UDL (Nave, 2020) offering variety in the teaching methods to maintain motivation. For example, in Part C I wanted to give students a chance to work collaboratively investigating and advocating for ways in which brands and retailer can be more ethical and sustainable within the fashion supply chain considering the UN’s sustainable development goals (THE 17 GOALS | Sustainable Development, 2020). In contrast to previous individual written outputs, in Part C students can create either a five-minute film or podcast to present back to the rest of the class offering variation to those who struggle with written outputs while offering a shared learning experience simultaneously. (A1, A4, V4).

I presented both my poster and re-designed to peers and students in various classes and workshops. Student feedback on the poster [Appendix 4] suggested that infographic timeline not only provided an overview of the unit but also helped them position the unit within the wider context of their degree as they map the process from concept to consumer. Several students also expressed their preference for learning with visual aids finding the poster provided a clear overview of the unit rather than relying solely on a written brief. With this feedback in mind, I decided to align the VLE to reflect the posters timeline and became aware of populating the areas with additional visual resources. Furthermore, after recording increased attendance during online sessions and feedback from students saying they enjoy the opportunity to re-watch trickier theory-based content, I organised the brief so this type of content could be delivered online and recorded for students to re-watch. (K1, K3, A4)

POSTER DRAFT

POSTER FINAL

Observation feedback [Appendix 6] of my Part A unit briefing brought to my attention added considerations for online content. Feedback noted that only two of the students had their cameras turned on for the duration. When I observed a triad member’s briefing, they paid particular attention before commencing the briefing to encourage each student to turn their cameras on informing them why this was helpful for her to measure engagement. The following session I made each student switch their camera on explaining why this was necessary resulting in the majority following the request. Other feedback suggested that including regular intervals to encourage students to ask/write questions or even create an activity that could measure their understanding of the briefing would have been beneficial. I decided to set up a shared padlet for the part B briefing for students to share questions which could be revisited in future sessions. I also added in an activity at the mid-way point to engage students placing myself as a ‘meddler in the middle’ rather than the ‘sage on the stage’ (McWilliam, 2009) I’d become in the Part A briefing. (K3, A2, K4, K5)

Critical Incident

There were numerous incidences throughout the unit design process and subsequent teaching to reflect upon. However, I chose to review the importance of creating flexibility in curriculum design to be best prepared for the everchanging teaching environment. Once I completed the teaching for part A, ending in the Buyer’s sign off formative, I realised my unit could have been far more open to flexibility benefiting me and my students. I’m a natural planner, meaning my lesson plans and briefs often become too rigid. Reflecting further on my peer and mentor feedback helped guide and reassure me how I can embrace flexibility in unit design and teaching without feeling vulnerable or unprepared. (K5). “We tend to think of curriculum as a fixed entity, but all curricula have a life cycle and are affected by internal and external changes. In order to thrive, a curriculum needs to be dynamic, agile, and flexible to cope with societal and organisational variables” (McKimm et al, 2021). Research also shows that “flexible learning … helps to promote quality education” (JOAN, 2013). At a point in which the university is approaching a new semester format and thus all courses are due for revalidation, I felt this was my key takeaway to consider moving forward.

This term faced many new challenges with large numbers of students self-isolating due to Covid, forcing us to offer a (very basic) hybrid teaching environment. This meant that I needed to regularly re-consider the best methods for delivering teaching. Some of my planned activities weren’t practical for the hybrid environment thus needing last minute amendments so that all could participate. This also meant it became critical to record content for students to watch/re-watch. Furthermore, it became vital to keep students informed of changes acknowledging Drew’s (2021) pedagogy of ambiguity where as teachers “…we may fail to transition students from the safety of the ‘concrete’ or ‘expected’ to the ambiguous and contingent, in a way that makes them feel safe or enabled.” By offering transparency in learning and teaching (transparency in teaching and Learning, n.d.) I was able to explain to students why teaching was happening in different ways to what was planned in order to help make sessions more inclusive not only to suit the current circumstances but also to promote wider inclusivity and participation at times too. (A4, K1, K4, A2)

After receiving feedback that my pace in class can often be too fast, I became reassured by my mentor recommendation of adopting ‘pedagogy of care’ (O’Shaughnessy, 2020) reassuring me that it’s fine to slow down and even pause to allow students time to respond to my enquiry without seeing brief silences as a negative. I observed this pedagogy in action while observing a triad member’s briefing which felt so well paced, relaxed, and overall, a much safer environment for students to stop and ask questions than my more rushed approach. By slowing down, I will not only give students more agency in the direction of the lesson content but will also be able to monitor students’ engagement and understanding and react and change the lesson direction (where necessary) while still being in control. (A5)

Taking into considerations Kleiman’s (2008) idea that “an enduring curriculum design is one in which the core configuration, the basic structure, is designed in such a way that not only does it meet the demands of the present but will be able to adapt to the demands of the future without requiring a complete overhaul” will be a key consideration for re-designing future units. This will also allow me to react to differences within cohorts and be ready for change while truly embracing the FLOATS curriculum model (McKimm et al, 2021) which was my initial inspiration for this whole re-design. In the future, my briefs could be more open to flexibility by streamlining written content then using support sheets to provide further information. By reducing potential barriers within the brief and curriculum design itself my units will hopefully become far more accessible too (Senecal, Coochwytewa and Kraft, 2021). (K1)

Finally, the extra formatives became critical in gauging the pace, participation, and overall understanding of teaching at a much earlier stage. (K6) In this instance, the part A formative sign off allowed me to move content back a week to allow students to catch up and react to feedback before moving onto part B. I also noticed that attendance was falling after the formative so switched a scheduled in-class session to online. This got nearly full attendance and allowed me to catch up with students I was concerned about in one-to-one tutorials. This also allowed me to gain feedback that students had been struggling with writing their rationale which created the opportunity to do a re-cap in the afternoon and record it so students could re-watch during independent study. (K2)

Conclusion

Learning how to truly embrace flexibility helped reassure me that it’s alright to change the plan and further endorsed the need to consider flexibility during the unit design stage to antisipate change. “Unprecedented change is now part of everyday life. Design for learning is impacted by this continuous change, [this increased] pace in change means that learning itself will be a topic of study for all who learn, and it is a life skill that must be regularly employed to adjust to future changes. This calls for a learning design that is open, flexible, explicit, and inquiry-base” (Beetham and Sharpe, 2020).

While at times teaching has felt quite isolating the past couple of years, the support from triad and class discussions, regular journaling, lesson observations, research and reflections has helped me embrace the benefits of continued professional development. I intend to continue to catch up with my triad and journal independently. As a result of the PGCert I now feel in a position to put my original educational philosophy into practise with solid pedagogy and confidence with an openness to embrace the unknown. (V3, V4)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books

Beetham, H. and Sharpe, R., 2020. Rethinking pedagogy for a digital age. 3rd ed. New York: Routledge.

Earl, L. (2013). Assessment as learning. 2nd ed. USA: Corwin, pp.25-34. Chapter 3 'Assessment of learning, for learning and as learning'.

McKimm, J., O Al-Youbi, A., Al-Hayani, A., Hassanien, M., Elsamanoudy, A., Elsaadany, S., Mills, C., Yousef, S., Saleh, H. and Mahmoud, M. (2021) Perspectives on Higher Education: Curriculum Planning, Design, and Implementation. 1st ed.

E-Books

Biggs, J. and Tang, C. (2011). Teaching for quality learning at university. 4th ed. SRHE and Open University Press. Chapter 6: ‘Constructively aligned teaching and assessment’.

Drew, L., 2021. The student experience in art and design higher education: drivers for change. [ebook] pp.125-149. Available at: <https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b9a68522487fda3e9197866/t/5bb119d024a6948a757a5349/1538333139352/GLAD-book-artwork3.pdf> [Accessed 29 September 2021].

Klieman, P., 2008. Design for Learning. 1st ed. [ebook] PALATINE (HEA). Available at: <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/238709657_Design_for_Learning> [Accessed 15 September 2021].

Richards, A. and Finnegan, T. (2014). Embedding equality and diversity in the curriculum: an art and design practitioner’s guide. [ebook] Available at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/resources/eedc_art_and_design_online.pdf [Accessed 29 September 2021].

Podcasts

Kane, J. and Mushtare, R., (2018). Design Teaching. [podcast] Tea for teaching. Available at: <https://teaforteaching.com> [Accessed 13 September 2021].

Nave, L., 2020. Design for Learning Equity with Kevin Kelly. [podcast] Think UDL. Available at: <https://thinkudl.org> [Accessed 28 September 2021].

Websites

Blessinger, P., Sengupta, E. and Makhanya, M., 2019. Creating inclusive curricula in higher education. [online] University World News. Available at: <https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20190422070841869> [Accessed 14 October 2021].

Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning. Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TiLT). [online] Available at: <https://citl.indiana.edu/teaching-resources/diversity-inclusion/tilt/index.html> [Accessed 11 February 2022].

Hudson, E., 2020. Threshold Concepts: A Bridge Between Skills and Content. [online] Medium. Available at: <https://medium.com/@ejhudson/threshold-concepts-a-bridge-between-skills-and-content-54331b2bacd> [Accessed 15 September 2021].

JOAN, R., 2013. FLEXIBLE LEARNING AS NEW LEARNING DESIGN IN CLASSROOM PROCESS TO PROMOTE QUALITY EDUCATION. [online] Files.eric.ed.gov. Available at: <https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1098325.pdf> [Accessed 25 February 2022].

McWilliams, E., 2009. (PDF) Teaching for creativity: From sage to guide to meddler. [online] ResearchGate. Available at: <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/44028783_Teaching_for_creativity_From_sage_to_guide_to_meddler> [Accessed 25 February 2022].

O’Shaughnessy, M., 2020. Embodying a Pedagogy of Care - Leadership Preparatory Academy - LEADPrep. [online] Leadership Preparatory Academy - LEADPrep. Available at: <https://lead-prep.org/2020/07/embodying-a-pedagogy-of-care/> [Accessed 10 February 2022].

Senecal, J., Coochwytewa, C. and Kraft, A., 2021. Accessibility in Curriculum Design. [podcast] Instruction by Design. Available at: <https://conhi.asu.edu/academic-innovation/teaching-learning-and-technology/instruction-design-podcast> [Accessed 6 October 2021].

UN DESA Sustainable Development, 2020. Teaching, Learning and Integrating the SDGs at Universities - Linking to the Decade of Action. [video] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_E882MFfkI> [Accessed 17 March 2021].

APPENDIX

Appendix 1 – Inclusive Curriculum Principles

Appendix 2 – Research, Collaborative Annotated Bibliography

1. The resources we want to re-visit from our e-portfolio bibliography:

Emily:

Beetham, H. and Sharpe, R., 2020. Rethinking pedagogy for a digital age. 3rd ed. New York: Routledge.

As FBBM continues to teach hybrid I would like to further delve into the topics this book covers in relation to designing inclusive curriculum that takes advantage of the mix to teaching and learning that hybrid approaches can offer.

I would like to further explore how we can make our units more inclusive over all as our student's needs, backgrounds and desired outputs from the course become increasingly broader each year.

Davies, A., 2012. Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria in Art and Design. What’s The Recurring Problem? - Arts And Culture. [online] Arts.brighton.ac.uk. Available at: <http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/projects/networks/issue-18-july-2012/learning-outcomes-and-assessment-criteria-in-art-and-design.-whats-the-recurring-problem>

I want to explore how to write assessment criteria and learning outcomes that are subject specific and relevant while open enough to allow for students to achieve them naturally and individually.

Kukulska-Hulme, A., Bossu, C., Coughlan, T., Ferguson, R., FitzGerald, E., Gaved, M., Herodotou, C., Rienties, B., Sargent, J., Scanlon, E., Tang, J., Wang, Q., Whitelock, D. and Zhang, S., 2021. Innovating Pedagogy | Open University Innovation Reports. [online] Open.ac.uk. Available at: <http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/innovating/>

I wish to further explore the latest developments in innovative pedagogy to apply to my own re-design process.

Mio:

Hanesworth, P. (2015) Embedding equality and diversity in the curriculum: a model for learning and teaching practitioners. The Higher Education Academy. [Online]. Available at: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/embedding-equality-and-diversity-curriculum-model-learning-and-teaching-0. Accessed on 3 May 2021

Orr, S. (2010). Making Marks: assessment in art and design. Networks magazine,[online] (10). Available at: Have a look BOOK http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/65308/Susan-Orr article-Issue-10-pp-9-13.pdf [Accessed 20 Sep. 2019].

Hockings, C. (2010) Inclusive learning and teaching in higher education: a synthesis of research. The Higher Education Academy. [Online]. Available at: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/inclusive-learning-and-teaching-higher-education-synthesis-research. Accessed on 3 May 2021.

Wenger, E.C. and Snyder, W.M. (2000) Communities of practice: The organisational frontier. Harvard Business Review, 139-145.

Reeves, T & Caglayan, E (2019) Power to the people: how should universities position community in Finnigan, Terry, 2009. 'Tell Us About It': Diverse student voices in creative practice. Art, design & communication in higher education, 8(2), pp.135–150.

Liz:

Gibbs, G. (2016). How assessment frames student learning. In: C. Bryan and K. Clegg, ed., Innovative Assessment, 1st ed. Oxon: Routledge, pp.23-36.

Robinson, A. and Udall, M. (2016). Using formative assessment to improve student learning through critical reflection. In: C. Bryan and K. Clegg, ed., Innovative Assessment, 1st ed. Oxon: Routledge, pp.92-99.

Simonsmeier, B.A., Peiffer, H., Flaig, M. et al. Peer Feedback Improves Students’ Academic Self-Concept in Higher Education. Res High Educ 61, 706–724 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-020-09591-y

Dirksen, J. (2014) Julie Dirksen: Designing for how people learn [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0BRVg3mHk4 [Accessed 6 May 2021]

Owusu-Agyeman, Y & Fourie-Malherbe, M. (2019) Negotiating co-ownership of learning in higher education: an underexplored practice for adult learning, Studies in Continuing Education, 41:1, 17-35, DOI: 10.1080/0158037X.2018.1497591

2. The resources we wish to cover from the unit bibliography are:

Section 1: Essential Creative Education Resources

Emily:

Richards, A. and Finnegan, T. (2014). Embedding equality and diversity in the curriculum: an art and design practitioner’s guide. [ebook]

Vaughan, S, Austerlitz, N, Blythman, M, Grove-White, A, Jones, BA, Jones, CA, Morgan, S, Orr, S, & Shreeve, A (2008) ‘Mind the gap: expectations, ambiguity and pedagogy within art and design higher education’. In Drew, Linda (Ed.) The Student Experience in Art and Design Higher Education: Drivers for Change. Jill Rogers Associates Limited, Cambridge, pp. 125-148

Mio:

Ashton, S. and Stone, R. (2021). An A-Z of creative Teaching in higher Education. 2nd ed. London: Sage, pp.30-41 (Chapter: D is for Design).

Liz:

Blair, B. (2011). ‘At the end of a huge crit in the summer, it was “crap” – I’d worked really hard but all she said was “fine” and I was gutted.’. In: D. Bhagat and P. O'Neill, ed., Inclusive Practices, Inclusive Pedagogies. [online] Croydon: CPI Group (UK) Ltd. Available at: https://ukadia.ac.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2013/11/Inclusive_Practices_Inclusive_Pedagogies.pdf [Accessed 22 Feb 2021].

Vaughan, S, Austerlitz, N , Blythman, M , Grove-White, A , Jones, BA , Jones, CA , Morgan, S , Orr, S , & Shreeve, A (2008) ‘Mind the gap : expectations, ambiguity and pedagogy within art and design higher education’. In Drew, Linda (Ed.) The Student Experience in Art and Design Higher Education: Drivers for Change. Jill Rogers Associates Limited, Cambridge, pp. 125-148

Davies, A. (2012). Learning outcomes and assessment criteria in art and design. What’s the recurring problem?. Networks, [online] (18). Available at: http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/projects/networks/issue-18-july-2012/learningoutcomes- and-assessment-criteria-in-art-and-design.-whats-the-recurring-problem [Accessed 20 Sep. 2019].

Section 2: Curriculum Design Resources

Emily:

Biggs, J. and Tang, C. (2011). Teaching for quality learning at university. 4th ed. SRHE and Open University Press. Chapter 6: ‘Constructively aligned teaching and assessment’.

Healey, M. (2019). Refreshing the Curriculum: Approaches to curriculum design. [online] Mickhealey.co.uk. Available at: https://www.mickhealey.co.uk/resources

Mio:

Novac, K. and Bracken, S. (2019). Introduction: Universal Design for Learning, a global framework for realizing inclusive practice in Higher Education. In: S. Bracken and K. Novac, ed., Transforming Higher Education through Universal Design for Learning. Oxon and NY: Routledge, pp.1-8.

Bovill, C. (2017). A Framework to Explore Roles Within Student-Staff Partnerships in Higher Education: Which Students Are Partners, When, and in What Ways? International Journal for Students as Partners, [online] 1(1). Available at: https://mulpress.mcmaster.ca/ijsap/article/view/3062/2770 [Accessed 1 May 2018].

Liz:

Blessinger, P. (2018). Rethinking higher Education in the service of humanity. [online] University World News. Available at: https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20180711094726636 [Accessed 17 Jul. 2019].

Land, R., Cousin, G., Meyer, J. and Davies, P. (2018). 'Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge (3): implications for course design and evaluation'. In: C. Rust, ed., Improving student learning: diversity and inclusivity. [online] Oxford: OCSLD, pp.53–64. Available at: https://www.ee.ucl.ac.uk/~mflanaga/ISL04- pp53-64-Land-et-al.pdf Also available as video conference at: https://vimeo.com/91920616 [Accessed 1 May 2018].

Race, P. (2014). Making learning happen. 2nd ed. SAGE, pp.226-252. Chapter 3 ‘Designing the Curriculum for Learning’ and Chapter 8 'Learning through observing and reflecting'.

Section 3: Assessment

Emily:

Earl, L. (2013). Assessment as learning. 2nd ed. USA: Corwin, pp.25-34. Chapter 3 'Assessment of learning, for learning and as learning'.

Mio:

Gibbs, G. (2016). How assessment frames student learning. In: C. Bryan and K. Clegg, ed., Innovative Assessment, 1st ed. Oxon: Routledge, pp.23-36.

Liz:

Earl, L. (2013). Assessment as learning. 2nd ed. USA: Corwin, pp.25-34. Chapter 3 'Assessment of learning, for learning and as learning'.

Sadler, R. (2019). Transforming Holistic Assessment and Grading into a Vehicle for Complex Learning. In: G.Joughin, ed., Assessment, Learning and Judgement in Higher Education. [online] Wollongong Australia: Springer. Available at: https://cloudfront.ualberta.ca/-/media/centre-for-teaching-and- learning/symposium/less-teachingmore- learning-2009/royce-sadler/articles/symposiumltmlroyce- sadlertransforming-holistic-assessment-andgrading- into-a-vehicle-for-complex-learning.pdf [Accessed 17 Jul. 2019].

Section 4: General Pedagogy

Emily:

Dirksen, J. (2012). Design for how people learn. London: New Riders; Pearson Education.

Mio:

Bhambra, G., Gebrial, D. and Nişancıoğlu, K. ed., (2018). Decolonising the university. London: Pluto Press.

Liz:

James, A. and Brookfield, S. (2014). Engaging imagination: helping students become creative and reflective thinkers. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Chapter 1; ‘How engaging the imagination fosters reflective thinking’.

Mortiboys, A. (2005). Teaching with emotional intelligence: a step by step guide for further and higher educational professionals. 2nd ed. London and New York: Routledge. Summary available at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/2239_0.doc

3. Two subject specific sources:

Emily:

Kane, J. and Mushtare, R., 2018. Design Teaching. [podcast] Tea for teaching. Available at: <https://teaforteaching.com>

Nave, L., 2020. Design for Learning Equity with Kevin Kelly. [podcast] Think UDL. Available at: <https://thinkudl.org>

Mio:

Marginson, S. (2016) The worldwide trend to high participation higher education: Dynamics of social stratification in inclusive systems. Higher education. [Online] 72 (4), 413–434.

Liz:

Woodward, S. (2019) Material Methods. SAGE Publications Ltd; First edition

Redstrom, J. (2020) Changing Things: The Future of Objects in a Digital World. Bloomsbury Visual Arts (first published 2018) (parts) Smart. J. How Smart Do You Have to Be to Succeed? https://jamesclear.com/threshold-theory [accessed 8 October, 2021]

Coven, R. (2018) Breaking Through: Threshold Concepts as a Key to Understanding | Robert Coven | TEDxCaryAcademy [accessed 8 October, 2021}

Dinther, M., Dochy, F., Segers, M. (2011) Factors affecting students’ self-efficacy in higher education. Educational Research Review

2. The Book Reviews:

Link to review on amazon

3. The Shared Research:

BOOKS

Ashton, S. and Stone, R. (2021). An A-Z of creative Teaching in higher Education. 2nd ed. London: Sage, pp.30-41 (Chapter: D is for Design)

Introduction to curriculum design divided into 3 concepts

Design science:

‘the advent technology enhanced learning’ (Laurillard, 2012)

John Huge – technology as replacement, technology as amplification and technology as transformation

Leaning design is ongoing process. Masterman’s three different starting points:

Design as puzzle

Design as learner-centered activities

Universal design for learning: students can reshape the curriculum design as UDL is a process of continually rethinking our approaches to curriculum design:

Presenting content in different format (captions or transcriptions for video presentation.

Considering a screen reader: text and structure.

Beetham, H. and Sharpe, R., 2020. Rethinking pedagogy for a digital age. 3rd ed. New York: Routledge.

Looks at how attempts to reform the curriculum in a digital age have progressed and what has been discovered to support educators through such design process.

“Unprecedented change is now part of everyday life. Design for learning is impacted by this continuous change [this increased] pace in change means that learning itself will be a topic of study for all who learn, and it is a life skill that must be regularly employed to adjust to future changes. This calls for a learning design that is open, flexible, explicit, and inquiry-base.”

“Community of Inquiry (CoI) is a pedagogical model designed to offer ways of learning that are adaptable, collaborative, and engaging through process as well as content.” It also “increases opportunities for access, engagement, and interaction available in online environments. It supports technology-enhanced learning, as well as opportunity for participants top practise skills required of persons working and learning in online environments.”

“CoI framework identifies teaching activity, based on theory and practise, to support guided inquiry.”

Three presences of CoI framework: social, cognitive, and teaching.

Course design has seen a shift from focus on how technology can enable learning – to technology as a driver for the attributes, dispositions and values required today with technology’s integration being beyond the notion of enhancement.

Earl, L. (2013). Assessment as learning. 2nd ed. USA: Corwin, pp.25-34. Chapter 3 'Assessment of learning, for learning and as learning'.

Looks at three different approaches to assessment: assessment of learning, assessment for learning and assessment as learning.

Assessment of learning ® grading and reporting “Its purpose is summative, intended to certify and report to parents and students about their progress in school”

Assessment for learning ® shifts emphasis from summative to formative assessment – from “making judgement to creating descriptions that can be used in the service of the next stage of learning”

“When they are doing assessment for learning, teachers collect a wide range of data for different purpose-so that they can modify the learning work for their students”

Assessment as Learning ® “focusses on the role of the student as the critical connector between assessment and their learning”

“It occurs when students personally monitor what they are learning and use the feedback from this monitoring to make adjustments, adaptions, and even major changes in what they understand.”

Gibbs, G. (2016). How assessment frames student learning. In: C. Bryan and K. Clegg, ed., Innovative Assessment, 1st ed. Oxon: Routledge, pp.23-36.

Examination game - assessment as a learning tool to direct key learning content

Findings that it is the quantity and timeliness of assessment trumps quality feedback giving weight to the idea of peer feedback

McKimm, J., O Al-Youbi, A., Al-Hayani, A., Hassanien, M., Elsamanoudy, A., Elsaadany, S., Mills, C., Yousef, S., Saleh, H. and Mahmoud, M., 2021. Perspectives on Higher Education: Curriculum Planning, Design, and Implementation. 1st ed.

Provides a foundation with frameworks covering all aspects of curriculum design. Looks at different definitions and purpose of curriculum. Looks at the various different models that can be used to facilitate curriculum design/planning.

Looks at the future of curriculum planning through FLOATS framework

The FLOATS curriculum model – has been developed to remind course developers that curricula and teachers need to be prepared for change, not simply the massive change that the pandemic has forced on universities, but a general adaption to internal and external factors in order to stay functioning, and even thrive.”

“FLOATS emphasises the need for curriculum design and development to stay flexible and agile, involve a range of stakeholders and focus on being learning centred, particularly around being able to challenge pervasive assumptions about learning in higher education and the role of digital and other technologies.”

Notes: HEIs population has become increasingly diverse, we can’t apply ‘one size fits to all’ to all students because the dynamic of the HEIs has changed. HEIs are not only for elites who took limited measures to address social, economic and educational inequality. We must consider those who traditionally have been marginalised but can be engaged effectively with quality learning experiences in there HE educations. This is an ambitious project, and I would like to dig into this more. For me, I teach a different student cohort every year. ‘Different’ means in terms of gender, sex, neurodiversity, ethnic groups, cultural background and education system. I realised that the current curriculum and system is very far from UDL. I guess that’s why many academics have been studying this area. How can we design a curriculum/brief that considers all the differences in Art and Design? I have been aware that students who were educated outside the UK educational system struggle with their course work more. I am also aware of neurodiverse students who find it difficult to focus on their course work. This creates a sense of isolation, not belonging. Is it happening to our students? What I have seen, not many, but most of them are coming from North America or Australia.

Freire, P. (2018). Pedagogy of the Oppressed: 50th Anniversary Edition. Bloomsbury Academic; 4th ed. Edition

Dialogue is key to ensure that a new pedagogy emerges between two parties as an exchange of knowledge, shared in formation, informed by the person seeking knowledge. Underpins a constructivist approach. Alternative to this is the ‘sage on the stage’, knowledge banking approach which keeps the learner oppressed and denies freedom, liberation and new knowledge.

More relevant today than first published over 50 yrs ago, as core to inclusion and diversity.

Written over fifty years ago The Pedagogy of the Oppressed is as relevant today as it was at the time of writing. A foundational teaching and learning approach which underpins current and leading approaches to education such as constructivism and UDL. Through the lens of the extreme scenario of educations role in revolution, Frieda proposes dialogue as the tool by which to design learning curriculum. By implied co-ownership of curriculum design and planning an environment of true and effective learning can occur. The text is bold in drawing comparisons to the oppressor and the opposed in a Colonial, Capitalist political model to the classroom dynamics of educator and student. In the process of such examination the thesis lays out the controlling approaches of such curriculum design approaches of ‘knowledge banking’ and delivery what we now term ‘sage on the stage’ are not only ineffective but are motivated by hierarchical models of maintaining power and control by the ‘oppressor’. Particularly in the ‘West’ where we value the idea of education as a way out of poverty, status and towards freedom, the text questions an educational model which ‘enrols’ people into the systems of a neo-liberal model of ‘oppression’ or truly liberates people through critical thinking to a place where heritage knowledge is valued and truly free.

A must read especially following recent world events and a call to action to practice true educational revolution!

Maximising marks becomes the primary concern for students, rather than understanding the overall structure of what should be learned.

Three ascending levels of feedback Level 1 - Acknowledges a weakness, Level 2 - Provides correction. Level 3 - Explains why the student’s response is inappropriate/why the correction is a preferred response: Make connections between the feedback and the student’s work to close the gap.

Sirois, F. & The Great Courses. (2021) Do It Now: Overcoming Procrastination. Audible Originals

Examinations and analysis of why people procrastinate based on research findings.

Defines what procrastination is which is very important for educators to understand that it has to be intentional (context of EC + external factors)

To avoid discomfort, sort term relief, tone of delivery and environment effects or negates procrastination

Wenger, E.C. and Snyder, W.M. (2000) Communities of practice: The organisational frontier. Harvard Business Review, 139-145.

Community practice has a positive impact on learning as group work.

E-BOOKS/PDF’s

Large crits only benefit is for peers to see each other's work

'The Crit' is not an effective tool for learning acquisition due to the performative nature of presentation, feedback is not effectively absorbed.

The way feedback in crits are delivered has more to do with educators historic experience from their education as opposed to true student needs

Biggs, J. and Tang, C. (2011). Teaching for quality learning at university. 4th ed. SRHE and Open University Press. Chapter 6: ‘Constructively aligned teaching and assessment’.

Discusses the theory of ‘constructive alignment’; what the student ‘does’ is actually more important in determining what is leaned than what the teacher does. Takes a step by step look at how to design constructively aligned teaching and assessment.

What activities should a student engage in to achieve the intended learning outcomes of a unit? As educators we need to set up a learning environment that encourages students to perform these learning activities and assess students’ performance against intended learning outcomes.

“Constructive alignment requires the design of: the intended learning outcomes using a verb indicating a standard of performance, and the content to be learned; the teaching/learning activities that address that verb; assessment tasks that also contain that verb with rubrics that enable one to judge how well the standard of the students’ performances to meet the criteria.”

Framework overview for applying constructive alignment to curriculum design:

Notes: SaP is a growing challenge; relative difficulty of establishing and maintaining partnerships when tight time constrains such as limited contact time with students, large size of class, scepticism from students and staff

Partial SaP might be more realistic than full SaP: I can integrate this into the workshop/ the brief /assessment. How? When? Into my lesson/the brief FAS18104/ small group basis? Or individual?

Maintaining SaP is difficult due to time constraints, class sizes, sceptical staff and students. Partial SaP is more realistic.

Bhambra, G., Gebrial, D. and Nişancıoğlu, K. ed., (2018). Decolonising the university. London: Pluto Press. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/kingston/reader.action?docID=5493110

Decolonising Education p.173 Shaunee Pete

Notes: Open initiatives for decolonising the curriculum P.145

A form of openness which isn’t targeted specifically at disadvantaged groups but instead offers opportunities to already advantaged ones.

I am not entirely sure if this book is directly relevant to my curriculum design, but I can reflect this on my reflective writing later stage.

Particular to Art & Design particularly LO and then AC are not clear but students at institutes succeed because staff explain.

Reason for this is the need for understanding on Student’s part which is difficult to measure in a Constructivist approach.

Propose discourse as opposed to written text may be more effective.

Best A&D students KNOW (understanding) what they have to DO (verb)

Common sense often prevails in these circumstances. Therefore, there is a virtue in keeping the outcomes to a minimum even if this means a loss of specificity and apparent ambiguity.

Rather than measurability, the focus should be on meaningfulness

‘I would argue that the insistence that learning outcomes should be sufficiently clear ‘to be measurable’ has not helped those subject areas, such as the creative arts, in which articulating outcomes that involve the development of intuition, inventiveness, imagination, visualisation, risk-taking, etc, is challenging.’

Discussed in-depth the ‘pedagogy of ambiguity’ and how we overcome this as tutors while making our students comfortable with the nature of ambiguity both in the teaching and practise of creative based subjects and industries.

Identifies ‘gaps’ in student expectations in key transition areas such as the move from compulsory to post compulsory education. In particular, the hurdle of students becoming comfortable with the ‘ambiguity’ of a creative based subject and the vagueness and insecurity this can pose of a first-year students who have expectations based on concrete and the certain. Addresses the fact that it is important to get students to accept ‘openness’ to navigate future ‘gaps’ such as the progression from graduation to their future careers.

“we value a ‘pedagogy of ambiguity’, but we may fail to transition students from the safety of the ‘concrete’ or ‘expected’ to the ambiguous and contingent, in a way that makes them feel safe or enabled.”

“There are few laws, formulae and tangible content lists that form a visible curriculum. In the creative industries practitioners and consumers construct what is appropriate, new and innovative. The pedagogies of art and design relate to these kinds of knowledge; where many ‘right’ answers exist and where there is difficulty in articulating in advance that an appropriate response might look like: ‘I know it when I see it’.”

“we recognise the important role that student expectations play within their learning experience and that we work to identify the key gaps and transitions and to acknowledge the subsequent emotions which have the potential to modify a student’s approach to learning — from the level of self-motivation and self-confidence to the positive, or negative, quality of their interactions with tutors.”

F, Terry. 2009. 'Tell Us About It': Diverse student voices in creative practice. Art, design & communication in higher education, 8(2), pp.135–150.

Note: ‘Hearing each other’s voice, we all grow’ Frederick and James 2007:179

There are more students with greater cultural, social and linguistic diversity in UK HEIs.

Three questions for ‘Tell us about it’ project: What helped you learn? What are the challenges you faced? And how did you overcome them? Can you share any tips or strategies for new students?

Notes: Inclusivity and diversity in higher education and curriculum

“Embedding equality and diversity in curriculum is the creating of learning, teaching and assessment environments and experiences that proactively eliminate discrimination” (Hanesworth, P 2015) -> Check ‘elimination process’.

Inclusivity: “The ways in which pedagogy, curricula and assessment are designed and delivered to engage students in learning that is meaningful, relevant and accessible to all. It embraces a view of the individual and individual differences as the sources of diversity that can enrich the lives and learning of others” (Hockings, 2010, p. 1: this is a secondary reference)

Creating inclusivity

To create physical and virtual environment: all students have the opportunity to be engaged.

To enable potential: all students are given opportunity to reach their potential.

To empower students to take responsibility for their own, and each other’s, learning.

There are lots of definitions of inclusivity: How we can apply these elements to our new curriculum and lesson plans. There are many constraints to achieving ‘inclusivity’ in the curriculum. What is the best way to ensure that students feel that the brief and workshop are inclusive?

Notes : Inclusivity: “the ways in which pedagogy, curricula and assessment are designed and delivered to engage students in learning that is meaningful, relevant and accessible to all. It embraces a view of the individual and individual difference as the source of diversity that can enrich the lives and learning of others.” (Hockings 2010, p. 1)

Socio cultural aspects and the learning experience of working-class students in HE: how can we even identify which students are working-class? Or should students identify themselves? – People (mis)perceive that these students are high risk/problematic. University needs to be mindful of the diversity of needs, culture and ways of being amongst their students.

All different aspects of inclusive learning and teaching. Socio-cultural aspect, disabilities and diversity. Inclusive curriculum design and delivery. This is a mixture of research and is 67 pages with a lot of detail about inclusivity and diversity in teaching and learning in different angles.

Klieman, P., 2008. Design for Learning. 1st ed. [ebook] PALATINE (HEA). Available at: <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/238709657_Design_for_Learning> [Accessed 15 September 2021].

Challenges how we can apply good design practises principles to the process of curriculum design. One of my key take-aways from the read it that a curriculum should be designed so that it can easily be adapted and updated each time it is revisited with ease.

Land, R., Cousin, G., Meyer, J. and Davies, P. (2018). 'Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge (3): implications for course design and evaluation

acquisition of threshold concepts

Approach is to remove barrier for reaching/ understanding concepts.

Not a simplification or reduction ('dumbing down" my words) but a

1. the sequence of content

2. processes through which learners are made ready for, approach, recognise, and internalise threshold concepts

3. the ways in which learners and teachers recognise when threshold concepts have been internalised –

Key to remember in Y3 it is helpful to have Learning resscurse for review on Aula to remind students what they learned and help refresh

Marginson, S. (2016) The worldwide trend to high participation higher education: Dynamics of social stratification in inclusive systems. Higher education. [Online] 72 (4), 413–434. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs10734-016-0016-x.pdf

Notes: this paper explores the intersection between stratified social backgrounds and the stratifying structure in HPS (high participation systems)

‘The ubiquitous growth of tertiary participation and the scramble for relative advantage within education are both source in the universal family desire for betterment …(Marginson, S 2016)’

Social and educational stratification, up warding social mobility; research into social, economic and educational inequalities.

‘ The desire of bettering our condition…comes with us from womb and never leaves us till we go into the grave’ (Smith 1979, p.441: this is secondary reference)

Universal higher education: global norm led by South Korea 98.4%

I can relate this article to UDL and Decolonising the university. Transferable skills.

Expanding higher education is also a political agenda - it is easier to create educational opportunities than jobs.

HPS renders emerging countries more open and mobile? Socially and economically equal? The answer is that is more difficult to achieve due to prior social inequalities such as unequal value of HPS, socio-economic background inequality etc.

HPS: Quantitative participation

Five conditions strengthen the positive allocative social role of HPS: in conclusion.

Related to UDL and decolonising teaching and learning: HEI having the wider audiences including different socio-economic background/ countries/ physical and learning disabilities etc

Orr, S. (2010). Making Marks: assessment in art and design. Networks magazine, [online] (10). Available at: http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/65308/Susan-Orr-article-Issue-10-pp-9-13.pdf [Accessed 12th Oct 2021].

Notes: In art school, lecturers assess identities, artistic practices and artwork holistically.

This article is about lecturers’ experiences of assessing students’ art work in the studio rather than exploring students’ experience of being assessed.

In art and design subjects ‘assessment happens in that dialogue’

Assessment is important because it is one of the ways educators can find out students’ artistic practice development, their engagement with the journey and finding students’ identities.

Often learning outcomes are useful but they are contested in art and design subjects as lecturers see the assessment criteria holistically. We also look at students’ intention and their working process and engagement throughout the journey. It is not all about the final learning outcomes. Also, often lecturers reflect on their specialist area when they assess students work, sometime becoming a ‘hard assessor’.

In reaction to broadening diversity withing student cohorts who expect a broader curriculum and learning experience – this book shares strategies for good practise in curriculum design through several case study examples.

“Through briefs, there is the opportunity for discovery-based and experiential learning which, it could be argued, links to encouraging individual responses within the work created around personal identities. Therefore, it could be said that art and design already cater for difference and focuses on identity work.” However, there is still progress to be made and challenges along the way.

The book looks at challenges in art and design around equality and diversity as well as ways educators can implement inclusivity within their teaching.

Implementation of Inclusivity:

Key steps to ensure equality and diversity within design-based subjects:

Equality and diversity audit of staff and students

Equality impact assessment becomes part of curriculum development

Implement the institutions equality and diversity policy within teaching and learning

Familiarise yourself with equality and diversity data around admission/retention and achievement and action planning around changing pedagogic practises

Create opportunities for staff and students to meet and discuss equality issues – ensure staff and students from diverse backgrounds are involved and, where possible, lead this work

Discusses “…increasing quality and quantity of formative assessment activities, but within a manageable overall assessment workload for students and teachers.”

Unit activities should be formative assessment activities providing students with feedback on their progress to meeting their learning outcomes.

Feedback should not just be solely from tutors but from students own enquiry allowing them to assess themselves through their own enquiry “their focus becomes their progress they are making towards the intended learning outcomes of the unit.”

Progress recording = this approach is intended to get the learner to take responsibility for and ownership of their own learning. A portfolio provides the basis for student reflection and self-assessment and a focal point for conversations between student and educator.

Robinson, A. and Udall, M. (2016). Using formative assessment to improve student learning through critical reflection.

Maximising marks becomes the primary concern for students, rather than understanding the overall structure of what should be learned.

3 ascending levels of feedback:

Level 1 - Acknowledges a weakness,

Level 2 - Provides correction.

Level 3 - Explains why the student’s response is inappropriate/why the correction is a preferred response: Make connections between the feedback and the student’s work to close the gap.

Reeves, T & Caglayan, E (2019) Power to the people: how should universities position community in curriculum design? (Community of practice) Juice Journal: https://juice-journal.com/?s=power+to+the+people

Abstract: Since the publication of the theory of communities of practice, much has been written about the potential for participation in a community to enhance learning. Many students now entering university are regular participants in numerous online and blended communities due to social networking, a phenomenon based around participation and information exchange. But upon arrival at university, these students are often confronted with curricula based around the lecture, a transmissive method of teaching at odds with the participatory nature of communities. This paper reviews the literature that considers the role of community in curriculum design. Using critical pedagogy as a theoretical framework, the research considers the benefits and challenges of three approaches to curriculum design informed by the concept of community: communities of inquiry, communities of learners, and communities of practice. Viewing these approaches through the lens of critical pedagogy permits an examination of notions of authority in curriculum design, and an opportunity to consider how community-based curricula may subvert these notions. The findings indicate that community-based curricula provide a viable and valuable alternative to traditional, didactic approaches to curriculum design, and potentially a more appropriate response to the demands of the knowledge era. However, the research reveals potentially significant practical, structural, and epistemological barriers preventing more widespread adoption of community-based curricula in higher education

Notes: The research considers the benefits and challenges of three approaches to curriculum design informed by the concept of community: communities of inquiry, communities of learners, and communities of practice

Sense of belonging.

Classrooms as “learning communities” or “communities of learners” (Peterson, 1992; Short, 1998) has provided another way to imagine the dynamics and activities of the classroom and move beyond “hierarchies of control” (Short, 1998, p.34).

Communities of practice: Learning is a social process.

Robinson, A. and Udall, M. (2006). Using formative assessment to improve student learning through critical reflection. In: C. Bryan and K. Clegg, ed., Innovative Assessment, 1st ed. Oxon: Routledge, pp.92-99.

https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/rave/detail.action?docID=356082

Notes: Traditional curriculum - the educator is in power in the teaching and learning process.

New curriculum: The approach is learners engage with the curriculum through progress recording, self-assessment against outcomes, identification of questions, and critical reflection. Leaners become active stakeholders rather than passive recipients.

Feedback process should be driven by students. Students will engage much better with the meaning of feedback.

Self-assessment can help to overcome formative assessment difficulties: workload for teacher, failure to engage with the activities, students not using the feedback to great effect.

Progress record - the first step in self-assessment and reflective process

How/what students perceive is much more important in any feedback process. Formative assessment should be about ‘taking part’ rather than seen as ‘something that has to be done’

Tran, D 2021, Decolonizing University Teaching and Learning : An Entry Model for Grappling with Complexities, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, London. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central. [Accessed 13 October 2021].

https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/rave/detail.action?docID=6550923&query=A+Framework+to+Explore+Roles+Within+Student-Staff+Partnerships+in+Higher+Education#goto_toc

Notes: How to create learning environments that can engage everyone? This can be linked to ‘Tell us about it’ by Terry Finnigan (2009)

Why is curriculum design so British oriented? For instance, language. FAS18104 title.

Lacks cultural currency in curriculum design

Moving away from superficial inclusivity and ‘passive inclusivity’

Belonging in teaching and learning: “students perceived social support on campus, a feeling or sensation of connectedness, the experience of mattering or feeling cared about, accepted, respected, valued by, and important to the group (e.g. university community) or others on campus (e.g. faculty, peers) …” Strayhorn (2012:3)

“The language in which materials are communicated is another area for consideration as language choice can influence levels of student belonging” D. Tran (2009:92)

“The primary employment of English within a UK HE classroom for students whose first language is not English can create a number of challenges during the student learning experience.” D. Tran (2009: 92): Linguistic imperialism

ONLINE

Looks at the driving factors for promoting more inclusive curricula.

Looks at the three different types of higher education curriculum: included (what is taught), excluded (what is not taught) and hidden (covert) and the impact hidden curricula specifically may unwittingly promote negative stereotypes and prejudice of others based on race, ethnicity, sex, gender, social class and other factors.

“Learning is not just a cognitive process... but also a social process which implies social interactions and learning of social norms. Everything about the culture and the operation of a university sends implied messages to those who live and work there every day.

Therefore, important questions to ask include: do the policies, practices and culture of the university create a sense of belonging and well-being? Are curricular and extracurricular activities designed in such a way to foster collaboration and positive interactions.”

“Developing inclusive educational curricula may also involve changes to curricula content and delivery, pedagogical strategies, learning activities and spaces, faculty evaluation and student assessment. Inclusive leadership drives needed policy changes and ultimately aims to create a culture where everyone is able to participate fully.”

“Designing a curriculum that is inclusive requires a mindfulness of student backgrounds and personal and social needs.”

Looks at the values of learning outcomes and how best to articulate them.

Acknowledges the ambiguity creative subject learning outcomes often seem but reassure that’s it’s the ‘coherence of the overall program’ of study that’s more important; “There has to be a relationship between what a student is expected to do (the intended learning outcomes) on a programme, the programme content and delivery that supports the student’s achievement and the process and judgments by which the quality of the learning is determined (assessment criteria).”

Learning outcomes are more for “administrative purposes but they are not sufficient in helping students develop an idea of what they will be learning and how they will go about it.”

Healey, M. (2021). Refreshing the Curriculum: Approaches to curriculum design. [online] Mickhealey.co.uk. Available at: https://www.mickhealey.co.uk/resources [Accessed 04 October 2021].

Discusses the different frameworks that can be used in for curriculum design

The differences between a tutor centric and student-centric approach:

Another framework that was of interest was the ‘Ouija board’ where the building and delivery of curriculum is moved by ‘mysterious forces’ which, as educators, we both recognise and re-shape.

Johnson, M. (2018). Seven Problems of Pointing to the Future of Education (with our hands tied behind our back) and Seven suggestions for addressing it. [Blog] Improvisation. Available at: https://dailyimprovisation.blogspot.com/search?q=seven+problems [Accessed 06 Oct. 2021].

Provides some sound solutions to problems with building modern university curriculum.

“Understanding is produced by conversation. The fundamental function of the university is to find ways of best coordinating rich conversations between students and staff.”

The curriculum is an outmoded means of coordinating conversation. It is a rigid inflexible object in a fast-changing, uncertain world. The means of coordinating conversation needs to become a much more flexible technology (indeed, this is where investment in technology should be placed, not in VLEs or e-Portfolio, which merely uphold the ailing curriculum)

“Developing educational opportunities that are inclusive of all students requires thinking about the learning journey from multiple perspectives”

Putting equity into practise:

-Listening and adapting teaching to students: adaptive equity-orientated pedagogy’ – where curriculum and teaching strategy are adapted rapidly according to class discussions and data collected from students.

Recognising uneven effects of educational technology – it can widen divides – don’t assume all students have access to internet/good access.

Drawing upon pedagogical framework to support equity – incorporate UDL

Recognise how assessment practises can be unfair – reduce barriers by including students and creating choice. Formative assessment enhances fairness.

While not overtly relevant with our younger cohort as focused on adults - article raises the relationship between co-ownership, the negotiation of this and engagement. It makes clear that adult’s benefit from co-ownership and that institutions generally are not equipped for this.

Simonsmeier, B.A., Peiffer, H., Flaig, M. et al. Peer Feedback Improves Students’ Academic Self-Concept in Higher Education.Res High Educ 61, 706–724 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-020-09591-y

As what it says on the tin...Peer Feedback Improves Students’ Academic Self-Concept in Higher Education

More student confidence to be both examiner and examinee

PODCASTS

Kane, J. and Mushtare, R., 2018. Design Teaching. [podcast] Tea for teaching. Available at: <https://teaforteaching.com> [Accessed 13 September 2021].

Allison Rank discusses how can we use ‘design thinking’ when designing curriculum to better serve our student’s needs.

When we design curriculum, we often focus on ‘our’ learning objective – would it be more effective if we focused on our students’ needs, objectives, goals as well as the barriers they face?

Design thinking – methodology for people in creative fields (not unique to design) Your empathising/getting to know your audience – seeing the process or solution through their eyes. Not just approaching with the idea that “I know the solution – I know what the outcomes going to be already” Instead you become open to the idea that it could be something else. Looking at things from the student’s perspective. What are their goals? This is something I personally want to explore when writing learning outcomes and assessment criteria.

Implement evidenced based practise.

Working backwards: 1. assess students’ goals 2. how would you measure that goal in terms of designing assessment 3. then build learning objectives.

Maintain flexibility – if you design something and it doesn’t work – you have the flexibility to fix it at the time.

The process is NOT linear.

Let student know you hear their voice and you’re responding and adjusting where you can – be transparent. As a result, students are more invested in giving you feedback.

Nave, L., 2020. Design for Learning Equity with Kevin Kelly. [podcast] Think UDL. Available at: <https://thinkudl.org> [Accessed 28 September 2021].

Students must understand ideas from different perspectives.

Metacognition – improving learning by thinking about thinking then using a mobile device to implement the metacognitive strategies.

How do you create multiple pathways for student to reach their goals?

Students stop doing the work at some point – there is a motivational NOT ability barrier. Incorporate UDL to keep the motivation – add in gameability/activity/online interaction = hybrid.

How do we design curriculum for larger groups in a hybrid environment incorporating UDL?

Support learners with additional resources outside class content – draw upon a broader community of practice.

Equity framework – workloads need to stay reasonable.

Pick one or two things that you can do well and start there. Tell your students – get feedback.

Mid-semester feedback – react!

Concept of equity:

Freedom from bias, assumptions and institutional barriers that negatively impact students’ motivation opportunities and achievement.

Culturally responsive teaching - shifting framework from achievement gaps to education debt.

Once you have crated strong and measurable learning – how are you going to measure it? Multiple pathways to reach the same goal. What teaching, what resources – keep motivation.

Give students agency – let them know their voice is important. Bring students into the conversation.

Foster collaboration and community.

Hybrid learning – increase the chances for interaction.

TILT – Transparency in learning and teaching.

WEBSITES

Discussed the process of abandoning teaching being about ‘coverage’ but instead teaching so students gain deeper understanding of the main, most important, principles of a subject well.

For educators to enable those deeper learning skills they need to be able to do two things:

Articulate the durable, transferable skills students need to achieve deep understanding (and pursue it for the rest of their lives) and

Connect students to content that is rich enough to develop those skills.

Which content builds the deeper learning skills that matter to students’ success?

Threshold concepts may be the answer to these questions.

In the article the ‘concept’ of a threshold subject is discussed:

“Concepts [cause] a transformative shift in a student’s understanding and appreciation of that field.”

Threshold concepts have five essential traits:

1) they transform the learner’s perception of the field,

2) that transformation is permanent,

3) they are integrative in that the learner perceives interrelated ideas in the same way experts in the field might,

4) they are bounded in that mastery allows the learner to move on to other threshold concepts, and

5) they are “troublesome” for learners.

“Threshold concepts as a bridge between skills and content.”

“Mastering a threshold concept requires the learner to enter an uncomfortable space where they must question what they already know, wrestle with abstract ideas, and seek new ways to organize and process information.”

During this process, the student can experience emotional struggle and confusion associated with mastering a subject. This struggle is associated with the transfer of knowledge from one context into another, resulting in deeper learning. To succeed student is, need to learn from mistakes, be resilient and utilise a variety of learning strategies and be aware of how and who to ask for help.

To learn threshold concepts, students will need to spend more time with fewer concepts.

Here are three steps for educators to begin exploring threshold concepts:

Identify threshold concepts – collaboration, empathy, inclusivity

Align threshold concepts to authentic practice

Learn about cultures, conditions and strategies required to nurture productive struggle in students

Morgan, H. and Houghton, A., 2011. Inclusive curriculum design in higher education | Advance HE. [online] Advance-he.ac.uk. Available at: <https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/inclusive-curriculum-design-higher-education> [Accessed 10 September 2021].

Discusses key principles for designing an inclusive curriculum specific to creative HE subjects.

VIDEO

Bergmann, J., 2016. Simplifying Flipped Learning. [video] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hwu3xqbMKw> [Accessed 9 February 2021].

In Bergmann’s lecture on ‘Simplifying Flipped Learning) Bergmann talks about re-formatting the classroom so that students learn ‘stuff’ in terms of gaining knowledge and applying that independence. They then re-group in the classroom for the hard part; analysis, evaluate and create with the help of peers and tutors (which would traditionally be done at home individually/homework) Flipped learning doesn’t mean that the ‘individual learning’ has to happen as homework either - even better students can work in their ‘individual’ space in class by listening to a video (for example)

Decolonising Higher Education

Note: Decolonisation is deeply personal. Decolonising higher education: understanding the meaning and the structure of coloniality are really important before questioning de-coloniality - people can argue what coloniality is and what is not, as people have divergent experiences from infancy to adulthood and have different political, cultural, social economical and education. This is something quite enormous.

We can’t easily agree on what the coloniality is in a structural and visceral sense.

With institutional commitment, we can plan and have space to start decolonisation. Commitment requires more of you and more dimensions; you have to be tuned in. Elimination of the award gap is a goal but it is not a commitment. A goal is something to arrive at. HEIs must commit for decolonisation not only reducing the award gap. If you care about something, you can commit.

Dirksen, J. (2014) Julie Dirksen: Designing for how people learn [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0BRVg3mHk4 [Accessed 6 May 2021]

Instructional design and service design approach to online learning - students as customer led marketing approach

Misses the point in what educators have to offer in my option. This marketing approach is not suited for the bespoke nature of specialism

She mentions John Hattie and interestingly disputes the idea that attention span can be generalized as a rule of thumb but instead is influenced by contextual factors, stating that the tutor has great power to make average level information exciting.

Groups mind map of research outcomes:

Appendix 3 – Re-Designed Course Poster

Draft Poster

Appendix 4 – Review of Peer Feedback on Poster

Peer feedback on the above draft poster:

Anon

Good suggestion from Virna to swap the sections around to see if it reads easier. Light gray font to be swapped and possibly a slightly larger font. Really nice info graphics in the poster.

Dannie

Amazing poster. It gives students a clear understanding of the industry process from beginning to end. The icons aid for a clear connection of what will be covered in the course. I would suggest enlarging the font for the requirements that are underneath 'Individual report'. You have really sold the course for me. Well done.

Mio Jin

It is a clear poster that contains of a lot of information that will be helpful for your students. In particular, the timeline is really clear and informative. As Liz suggested that students are drawn to the unit code, adding the unit number may be helpful for them. I can see it needs to be landscape to fit in the timeline but for me, this makes it a little bit difficult to separate what is and what isn’t part of the timeline, I wonder if the non-timeline bits could be separated out more clearly, e.g. with borders or boxes or columns?

Liz Ciokajilo

Amazing poster...maybe make the timeline barometer to reflect their time in each theme. Then use Maybe scale of circle icons to reflect the importance of issues even if not spending so much time on (sustainability). Maybe link or zone the benefits to the course to the timeline. Add the unit code

Noemi Sadowaska

The clear demarcation of the check points moments on the poster is really welcomed and it will help to sense check where students are at. Moreover, both staff and students can check if the assumptions about how far progress has been made are aligning with the reality on the ground.

For the line listing the assessments outcomes associated with each stage of the journey, a more visual link would be a nice touch.

For the line listing the meta outcomes such as skill set, understanding or experience, again a visual connect vertically would be useful, but also how they connect across stages and reinforce each other. This will flag that each learning moment builds on the previous ones.

There is an opportunity her to also visuals how this unit learning journey builds on the previous learning where they came from) and how it prepares them for what will follow 9where they are going)?

Presenting the poster to students

I presented my poster to my students and to introduce next terms unit to them. I also created a questionnaire form to gain some feedback both on what they wish to see in the next unit and how they felt the poster worked in terms of providing an overview of the unit.

Lulu Kimmins (student) – 8th December 2021

Yes [I found the poster] really useful, I am a visual learner when it comes to things like that and it was clear and easy to understand.

Tahima Begum (student) – 8th December 2021

Yes much easier to understand the steps rather than just written on a page.

Chi Grossman (student) – 8th December 2021

I think I understand what we’re going to be doing and feel prepared to get on the Christmas task.

Cassey Cleaver (student) – 8th December 2021

I really liked [the poster] looking forward to developing on it.

Re-designed Poster:

Appendix 5 – Project Brief

Original:

Re-Designed Brief

Appendix 6 – Observation Reports

Unit Briefing – 03/01/2022

[Observed by Mio Jin and Virna Rossi]

Unit Briefing – Personal Evaluation

Overall, I feel the lesson ran smoothly and went according to plan.

What went well?

The poster has been great as a visual aid. This was introduced to the students before the winter break along with the trend forecast that was set over the winter break to help kickstart the unit. All students presented their trends after the briefing and seemed happy with the briefing and comfortable getting started. As we move back to most of our teaching happening onsite – it was good having this session as one of our online sessions so that we could record the briefing for students to watch/re-watch later. Having the recording also means that I can add subtitles to further help students.

What could have been improved?

Issue(s):

I don’t feel there were any major issues with the delivery of the briefing. It is always a lot of information that can seem quite daunting. It was good splitting the brief up into three sections so the initial briefing could just focus on part A rather than totally swamping the student with new information.

I know my pace of delivery is always quite fast and can be quite difficult for students to follow – especially those who English isn’t a first language for.

Solution(s):

Slowing down my pace of delivery so student can absorb the information I am giving more clearly.

It may have been a good idea to have given the students the brief to read through an hour ahead of class a flipped learning.

What next for the students?

The students will now read the brief in their own time before re-grouping 2 days later in class to ask further question and to get started on the unit. They have received some feedback on their winter break trend work to get them kick started on the brief.

Other things to consider next time I deliver this lecture?

Maybe stopping halfway through to do an interactive activity.

Perhaps at the end the students could be set a mini task that introduces them to the subject – retailer range plan research for example? We could then return to the brief using this investigation to help put the information into context.

Things that could help to improve the overall lesson delivery?

To encourage student to ask questions (which there were not many of at the end of the briefing). Perhaps we could set up a padlet where each student has to read the brief then post a question or perhaps even and idea or something they hope to be / wish to be covered within the unit?

Boston Matrix and Fashion Triangle Workshop – 25/01/2022

[Observed by Noemi Sadowaska]

Boston Matrix/Fashion Triangle Workshop – Personal Evaluation

Overall, I feel the lesson ran smoothly and went according to plan in terms of what was delivered and keeping to timings.

What went well?

From walking around the class, it was evident that students were able to download the templates and plot in garments from their chosen retailer while understanding the importance of using these templates to check for balanced ranges.

What could have been improved?

Issue(s):

The mood and atmosphere in the class felt a little ‘tired/flat’ which was a shame. While all students presents were involved and completing the task, the body language from the students lacked a bit of energy. The workshop ran after an hour of fashion maths which the students may well have benefited from having a break from before commencing this workshop.

Solution(s):

Allowed for a slightly longer break between the previous topics.

Maybe changing up the workshop so that students worked together to make it more interactive?

What next for the students?

The students should continue developing their 3 x capsule fashion ranges. They should consider and analyse the balance within each of their ranges by using the fashion triangle/Boston matrix. Next week they will have a formative checkpoint where they will present their range plan for feedback. They should begin to verbally justify the balance of their ranges by referring to these templates e.g., showing newness/high fashion pieces versus basic/cash cow items.

Other things to consider next time I deliver this lecture?

Maybe positioning this type of activity after lunch as a fresh workshop rather than after such a heavy lecture may have seen the mood lifted?

Things that could help to improve the overall lesson delivery.

It would have been good to have got students to upload their filled in templates to Aula to share and check – However, in the time slot we had allocated for this session there just wasn’t the time. I was able to review most students’ outputs as I circulated the class, and I will further be able to check their understanding at next week’s formatives.

Appendix 7 – Journal

Link to journal

Appendix 8 – Self and Peer Assessment Mapping Tool

Appendix 9 – Checklist

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