Mod 1 Dsn Curriculum

Program Learning Outcomes

Critically evaluate contemporary theories and practices and current trends in learning and teaching in higher education to inform innovative and effective practices;

Critically evaluate the higher education literature to generate scholarly and evidence-based practice;

Create and evaluate curriculum design, teaching and learning strategies and assessment practices that are inclusive and promote student engagement with complex ideas in their discipline;

Apply digital practices designed to enhance self and student digital literacies and to promote student engagement and deep learning; and

Collaborate with colleagues in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning with the aim of continuous improvement of practice.

Course Learning Outcomes

Critically analyse and integrate learning theories, models, concepts and research informed techniques for curriculum design to support improved outcomes for diverse learners;

Analyse and critically evaluate current trends in learning and teaching in Higher Education that may inform curriculum design;

Select curriculum planning and design processes that are fit for purpose and initiate, plan and create curricula for contemporary higher educational contexts;

Evaluate and utilise learning technologies to support blended learning design and active teaching strategies that promote student engagement and learning;

Critically review and renew curriculum as part of an iterative continuous improvement process; and

Apply a range of communication skills in learning and teaching Communities of Practice.

Module Learning Outcomes

Apply the concept of constructive alignment to planning of a teaching session;

Write learning outcomes appropriate for the level of learning; and

Consider and accommodate relevant context to curriculum design.

What is curriculum?

curriculum | kəˈrɪkjʊləm | noun (plural curricula | kəˈrɪkjʊlə | or curriculums)

the subjects comprising a course of study in a school or college: course components of the school curriculum. Origin early 19th century: from Latin (curriculum 'course, racing chariot' and currere 'to run').

What do we mean by 'curriculum'?

In higher education, curriculum is often understood as the overall design of a program and its component parts: the set of courses, their sequencing, the design of each course and, drilling down further, the teaching and learning activities that align to meet the articulated learning outcomes. The term 'curriculum' tends to be used quite broadly.

In other education systems in Australia (e.g. K-12), this is distinct from the 'syllabus'. While the term 'syllabus' is less common in the Australian he context, it is useful to understand the distinction where it is used. In a K-12 setting, for example, a syllabus outlines the content (the required topics to be covered), rationale and aims, and mandated assessments. This is set by a central authority. The curriculum, on the other hand, provides educators the space to plan and evaluate programs, and to design the approaches to the content that best lead to student learning ( {N.S.W Department of Education, n.d.(opens in a new tab)} ) While the syllabus provides specific direction regarding topics and requirements, curriculum operates at the level of design and implementation.

Perhaps a parallel in higher education exists with programs shaped by professional accreditation requirements. Accrediting bodies often specify core content areas, competencies, and elements such as practicum experiences; these effectively set parameters similar to a syllabus. Within these constraints, however, academics retain responsibility for designing how programs are structured, how learning is sequenced, and how teaching and assessment are enacted. In this sense, accreditation requirements define what must be addressed, while curriculum design determines how those requirements are brought together into a coherent learning experience.

Even this broader definition, however, only captures curriculum as it is formally planned. When we turn our attention to designing for learning, it becomes important to think of curriculum not simply as a documented plan, but as a dynamic set of experiences. What is intended at the program or course level does not always fully reflect what is taught, what is taken up by learners, or what is implicitly conveyed through the learning environment. To understand curriculum more fully, we therefore need to consider how it is interpreted, enacted, and experienced in practice.

A 'curriculum' is, therefore, a complex construct. A critical appraisal will require us to think carefully along the following lines: 1) the taught curriculum; 2) the learned (or achieved) curriculum; and 3) the hidden curriculum.

The'hidden curriculum', first coined by Philip Jackson in the late'60s ( Cotton, Winter and Bailey, 2013(opens in a new tab) ) is known by many names:'collateral learning', the'unstudied curriculum','the invisible curriculum','the unwritten curriculum', the'covert curriculum', the'latent curriculum, the'silent curriculum', the'by-products of schooling' and'what schooling does to people'".

Reflective Journal

To begin documenting your own learning in this course, we'd suggest here is a good place to make your first entry in your Reflective Journal. You can use this journal as much or as little as you'd like, but you'll find callouts (like this) peppered throughout the course materials.

As curriculum designers, do we need to account for all of these considerations in our planning? Do some areas require greater emphasis and consideration?

Reflective practice allows educators to consciously develop a repertoire of relevant and context-specific strategies, locates their teaching in the broader institutional and social context, and appreciate that many factors influence student learning.

Terminology

The literature around curriculum design uses various terms to describe components and some terms may designate different aspects in different contexts.

To avoid confusion, this module for the purpose of consistency will employ the following terms:

Program: a program of study approved by the relevant institution. For a university, completion leads to the awarding of a Degree, Diploma or Certificate, at undergraduate or postgraduate level. In industry other credentials or acknowledgment of professional learning may be recognised (sometimes referred to in the literature as program, course or syllabus);

Course: a plan of study or learning sequence that is discrete in its objectives, content, methods, and assessment (sometimes referred to in the literature as subject, unit or course). In some discipline-specific frameworks with workplace learning opportunities, it may be in the form of a formally defined professional learning experience, which may provide both formal and informal learning opportunities (sometimes referred to as a subject or a unit of study).

Which curriculum do you mean?

When we think about curriculum we tend to think of the 'big picture', that is, what is taught and learned across an entire course or even program of study. While that is true, the big picture is made up of a collection of smaller pictures that all need to relate to one another. So, curriculum design occurs not only at the program and course level, but also at the individual lesson level.

The idea of 'curriculum' is understood and described differently in the literature. As outlined in the list of terminology provided, what is intended is not always what is taught or indeed what is learned. This is in part because of what is hidden or what is left out (the 'null curriculum') of the formal curriculum. One way of representing the relationship between these aspects of curriculum is shown in the figure provided.

Figure 1 summary: A diagram illustrating the relationships between four types of curricula. The Formal Curriculum, consisting of documented intentions, flows into the Taught Curriculum, which is how teachers deliver that material. The Taught Curriculum is influenced by and influences the Null Curriculum (what is omitted) and the Hidden Curriculum (unplanned learning from behaviors and attitudes). All three—the Null, Taught, and Hidden curricula—ultimately contribute to the Learned Curriculum, which represents the actual learning that occurs. The diagram demonstrates how a student's actual learning is shaped by a combination of formal goals, teacher delivery, omissions, and implicit environmental cues.

Reflective Journal: Rose, bud & thorn activity

In your Reflective Journal, write a reflection on the readings regarding the different curricula.

1. The Rose: What was something positive? What was your favourite paper or favourite aspect of a paper? Did you find reinforcement or reassurance around some of your beliefs?

2. The Bud: What was something new? Did you learn about something you hadn't considered before? Perhaps something you want to learn more about? Something you might want to try?

3. The Thorn: What was something challenging? Did you dislike a paper or particular aspect of a paper? Did you disagree with something or have an existing belief challenged?

Rose, bud & thorn is a simple but evocative framework for guiding reflection – consider whether you might use this in your own teaching.

Core principles of curriculum design

In the opening of this module we looked at different definitions of curriculum. We know that the curriculum, as experienced by students, is more than just about the design of a course, however a course will have a taught curriculum which profoundly contributes to the students' learning experiences. { (opens in a new tab)} identifies ten (10) curriculum principles. He notes that most of the principles are deliberately focused on pedagogy – that is what the teacher does in a course to create the conditions for learning.

This isn't happenstance. It is in the immediate relationship between teacher and taught that the aspects of human being in question here are likely to be formed… [T]here is a crucial distinction between the curriculum as approved by the university (and other relevant authorities) and the curriculum as experienced by the student. But it is the pedagogical relationship that actively works (or not) to elicit the dispositions and qualities that in turn furnish the wherewithal for the student to appropriate the curriculum in ways meaningful to her (or him) [or they].

Curricula should (according to Barnett, 2009 (opens in a new tab)):

Be sufficiently demanding, such that 'resilience' may form;

2 Offer contrasting insights and perspectives, such that 'openness' may develop;

3 Require a continual student presence and commitment (even through course regulations), such that 'self-discipline' may come about; and

Contain sufficient space and spaces, such that 'authenticity' and 'integrity' are likely to unfold.

Pedagogies should:

Require students to engage with each other, such that 'respect for others', 'generosity' and a 'preparedness to listen' might be engendered;

Make explicit the relevant standards, such that 'carefulness' and 'restraint' might ensue;

Be encouraging, such that a student might develop the 'preparedness to keep going forward' and hold (them self) 'out to new experiences';

Enthuse the students, giving them new spirit, and so usher forth their 'will to learn';

Require students to put forward their own profferings in order that the 'courage' to take up a position and stake a claim might be developed; and

Require students to give of themselves and be active in and towards the situations that they find themselves in and so develop 'a will to engage'.

These broad curriculum principles are often translated into more utilitarian course design principles – such as this set from Nerland & Prøitz (opens in a new tab) whose case studies identified the following as characteristics of high-quality courses:

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Learning activities that engage students in the exploration and construction of knowledge, such as through forms of inquiry-based learning, or tasks that require the integration of knowledge forms and critical reflection;

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Course design that allows students to employ conceptual knowledge in new contexts and makes learning explicit through the performance and/ or the construction of products;

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Pedagogical support and feedback that are aligned with the learning challenges and progression principles in the domain, and which also feed forward in students' learning process;

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Coherence in how the different activities and elements of the course support each other, such as through the constructive alignment of objectives, activities and assessment, or through other clear principles for the integration of learning activities and achievements;

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Activities that link students to their wider prospective disciplinary or professional knowledge culture; and

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Balance between the underlying curriculum logic, the course elements, teaching and learning activities and assessment and opportunities for adaptation to student groups and emerging needs.

Accounting for student diversity

In creating curriculum, we strive to consider out students' needs, skills, desires, and attributes. { (opens in a new tab)} , categorised the diversity of factors that encourage or discourage students to take particular approaches to learning. From their review of research studies in higher education, they noted the following factors situated in: (1) the context of the learning environment created by teachers and the wider university; (2) students' perceptions of those contexts, and (3) the characteristics of the students themselves. Consider how your curriculum design choices (the contextual factors) in a course or teaching session will cater for the learning needs of all your students.

Listen to the podcast episode provided (Episode #1 – Who's First Gen?; 12 min 33 s). Note that all six (6) episodes in the this podcast series are interesting, but for the Discussion Board post activity (which helps you prepare for Assessment Task 1), you only need to listen to the first episode.

This podcast episode explores how first-generation college students (in the U.S) develop their identities as learners. Although you will hear the voices of American students, listen for themes of how students create their own curricula (or patterns of study) within the taught curriculum of a course or teaching session (like a lecture or tutorial). Listen also for themes of how students adjust their expectations and their study patterns when they are in unfamiliar situations. How are these themes relevant to your students?

Discussion Board - Cohort diversity

Assignment 1 will ask you to consider dimensions of cohort diversity in your lesson planning.

To help you prepare for Assignment 1 - Lesson Plans - share some insights into your cohort on the discussion board.

After listening to the podcast episode and reviewing Figure 2: Cohort factors, create a 1-slide visual presentation (infographic) on the broad characteristics of your student cohort that may influence your curriculum design decisions (e.g. how you plan a teaching session, a lesson activity or an assessment task).

Figure 2 summary: A conceptual diagram showing three categories of factors—Contextual Factors, Perceived Contextual Factors, and Student Factors—all feeding into Approaches to Learning. Contextual Factors include teaching methods and institutional characteristics; Perceived Contextual Factors focus on how students view workload and goal clarity; and Student Factors encompass personal traits, academic history, and motivations. The diagram illustrates that a combination of environmental, perceptual, and individual variables collectively shape a student's approach to learning.

You will receive feedback on how you have approached diversity considerations in the lead-up to the first assessment.

You have one (1) slide to communicate this information, so try challenging yourself by producing a visually interesting slide. Infographics are a way to visually arrange data to explain complex issues in a way that optimises the recognition of patterns, trends, and key issues.

You can look for good examples of infographics online and you are welcome to use A.I-supported creative and visual design tools. The goal for you is to decide what information is pertinent for your own lesson planning, with your cohort in mind. You can use the questions below to help think through the criteria. You can do this simply in a powerpoint slide, or feel free to get creative with the layout with A.I tools. (The tools will help you complete this task quickly, too). You can use A.I to:

- Generate visual concepts or layouts

- Create icons, illustrations, or images

- Suggest colour schemes and design elements

- Draft infographic text and headings

- Organise information for visual communication

You should use accurate demographics related to your student cohort (e.g., demographics, prior learning experiences, study mode, professional background, cultural diversity, accessibility needs, motivations, or learning preferences) so that the generated content accurately reflects your learners and context.

You may begin with an infographic template, create your own design from scratch, or use A.I-generated designs as a starting point. The final infographic should demonstrate your understanding of your student cohort and the implications for curriculum design.

There is an exemplar in the Discussion Board that made use of the University's enterprise licence to Microsoft Copilot. (It is a mock-up and uses fictitious information).

The thinking work you are doing is in identifying important characteristics in the cohort. These tools are here to support design. If you prefer to keep your hands on the design wheel, you could consider this site – Slidesmania {(opens in a new tab)} – which provides free (no cost and no subscription) infographic templates for PowerPoint. (Some simple bullet points on a powerpoint slide is perfectly fine.)

Use these questions to help guide the creation of your slide/infographic:

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What do you already know about your students, as it relates to the curriculum?

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How could you get to know your students early in the course/ session?

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Goals and attitudes – what drives your learners?

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What are their career goals, educational and cultural backgrounds?

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How familiar and confident will they be with the mode of instruction?

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How can we cater for the needs of the many in the way we design curriculum?

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How might we sift through the variety of individual student differences to find commonalities or identify areas of common need?

For example, are your students:

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Learners who are typically competent and relaxed interacting and socialising through Facebook groups and may respond well to a similar construct provided through a Learning Management System (L.M.S) such as Blackboard? or

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Learners who have high work commitments outside of classes and may benefit from flexible arrangements that don't require them to be physically present at the institution for all learning engagements?

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Unknown to each other and new to the city/country/learning platform? How can you create a community of learners?

Make a post on the Discussion Board under the first discussion prompt: Lesson Planning with Diversity in Mind forum sharing an infographic to represent the broad characteristics of your student cohort that may influence your curriculum design decisions. There is an exemplar and some reflective commentary on the board to help you begin.

Constructive alignment

Constructive alignment ( Biggs and Tang, 2011(opens in a new tab) ) is a principle that is used to design learning experiences in higher education. This principle stresses that the three core elements of any curriculum – the outcomes, activities, and assessments – ought to be aligned with each other.

The constructive aspect of the alignment relates to the concept of a student-centered curriculum. Students are seen to construct their own meaning and understanding based on the learning and teaching experiences they encounter. The teacher sets expectations of what is to be learned through clear learning outcomes (what the students will be able to do after taking the course).

Teaching and learning activities are designed to provide appropriate opportunities in relation to those learning outcomes. Assessment tasks are set to provide students with feedback on how they are progressing towards the outcomes (formative) and to test whether they have met the outcomes (summative).

Gather ideas on the Community Board

After you watch the video, write a short entry on our Community Board to capture your thinking about constructive alignment. We'll keep building on this board throughout the course.

To get started, think about a successful experience of teaching or learning. It does not have to be in a higher ed context. Any context is fine to get started.

- What was the goal of the learning?

- What activities did the students undertake to reach the goal?

- How did the educator/facilitator guide the learning?

- Would you say this supports a framework of constructive alignment? (yes/no/why/why not/what else is at work here?)

- I've started us off with a couple of examples of my own. Click in the button below to go to the board. You can add ideas to any section you wish as the inspiration takes you. If you prefer, you can click into this U.R.L opens in a new tab

Post to Community Board

{Go to Padlet}

The Experience-Reflection-Action (era) model allows us to think through the experience, examine our feelings about what happened, and decide on the next steps.

The principle of constructive alignment helps us as educators to avoid the common error of starting out the design of a course with a focus on 'What content will I teach?'. Instead, constructive alignment prompts us to focus on the students and asking ourselves (at the start of the design process) 'What is important for students to learn?', and 'What activities and tasks can I create to help them authentically achieve the intended outcomes?'.

When building an aligned plan for a course or a teaching session, the learning outcomes are specified not only in terms of content, but also in regard to the desired level of understanding you would aim for students to achieve. From here, an environment is created where teaching/ learning activities (T.L.A) and assessment tasks (at) maximise student opportunity to engage with the intended learning outcomes (I.L.O). Biggs and Tang (2011) { (opens in a new tab)} describes this as being “entrapped” into learning. I.L.O are written with verbs that should engage students through T.L.A and these same verbs are the focus on the at. It is this consistent, intrinsic alignment that can promote deeper approaches to learning and aims to allow students to construct knowledge through engagement in these aligned activities as part of our present outcomes-based education systems. Angelo (2012) { (opens in a new tab)} further points out that alignment should also be planned for across the curriculum.

Within a well-planned program, subject plans should look to align horizontally to reinforce and complement each other. Similarly, there should be considerations for vertical alignment – where current learning experiences connect 'downward' by building on prior learning and domain experience and 'upward' towards subsequent learning.

Developing learning outcomes

Outcomes-based education has become the dominant paradigm in higher education. This places greater responsibility on curriculum designers to identify learning outcomes that authentically reflect the complexities of contemporary society and gives prominence to the life roles that learners will face following their formal education (Killen, 2005(opens in a new tab); pages 46 through 47).

Employing constructive alignment in course design has been found to improve both students' experiences and performance, as measured by their grades, in a course (Larkin and Richardson, 2013(opens in a new tab); Reaburn et al., 2009(opens in a new tab)) 2009(opens in a new tab). Constructive alignment promotes a focus on the outcomes of educational interventions. The language that underpins a constructively aligned curriculum is informed by taxonomies of learning (that is, how we structure our thinking about types of learning and levels of attainment).

opens in a new tab describes outcomes-based education (O.B.E) as follows:

Outcome-Based Education means clearly focussing and organising everything in an educational system around what is essential for all students to be able to do successfully at the end of their learning experiences. This means starting with a clear picture of what is important for students to be able to do, then organising curriculum, instruction and assessment to make sure this learning ultimately happens.

Biggs and Tang (2011) (opens in a new tab) carefully note that constructive alignment differs from other forms of outcomes-based education approaches – such as competency-based learning – in that “constructively aligned teaching is not a closed loop” (p. 99). It is not necessarily focussed on predetermined or limited knowledge or skills, but rather on a desired position of intent, with open-ended activities that may provide opportunities for deeper connections to be made by the learning or even unintended, but desirable outcomes to be achieved. The learning outcomes we need students to achieve as a result of the course (or teaching session) need precision, but must also avoid being so prescriptive or detail-oriented that they undermine the flexibility to adjust to the emerging needs of students and prevent unplanned but productive learning to emerge (Allan, 1996 (opens in a new tab); Havnes & Prøitz, 2016 (opens in a new tab)).

Learning outcomes (sometimes also called learning objectives) are the stated educational aims of the course or teaching session (Angelo, 2012 (opens in a new tab)). Clearly written intended learning outcomes (I.L.O) reflect concise statements of what students are expected to demonstrate they know and are able to do by the end of the lesson/ course/ program. I.L.O represent a commitment to designing a curriculum that enables student achievement to be evaluated against predetermined and observable criteria (Angelo, 2012 (opens in a new tab)).

In developing learning outcomes to support O.B.E, it is important to gain a deep understanding of the nature and systematic approaches to them.

There are many considerations when developing I.L.O. Biggs and Tang (2011) (opens in a new tab) comprehensively outline these, addressing the nature of various levels of outcomes and proposing a systematic approach to writing them and checking them for satisfactory alignment.

In Assessment Task 1, you will need to complete a lesson plan detailing the learning outcomes, learning activities and assessment tasks. Writing learning outcomes is new for many participants in this course, so we have included some extra detail here about how to go about this important task.

We can consider four (4) key steps in creating learning outcomes:

1. 1

Determining what kind of knowledge (knowledge domain) is involved in the course/ teaching session;

2. 2

Determining the level of learning;

3. 3

Writing effective statements; and

4. 4

Once written, double-checking for alignment with the graduate attributes, program learning outcomes, learning activities, and assessment tasks.

N.B: When checking alignment between course and program (and other program-level measures such as graduate attributes) a single experience or course is not expected to map to all program-layer outcomes. The point of curriculum mapping is to work out and demonstrate the role of any particular course in the overall program. Some courses will be designed to meet certain P.L.O's or graduate attributes more than others. The map will show this overall planning.

Step 1: Determining the kind of knowledge

Learning outcomes are different to a statement of aims. Aims tend to be teacher- or institution-focussed whereas outcomes focus on what a student can reasonably expect to be able to do or know by the end of the educational intervention. Think of outcomes as answering the question: What new knowledge, skills or attitudes would you like students to demonstrate by the end of the course or teaching session? Learning outcomes are usually expressed in the form: “By the end of this activity, participants will be able to…”

As Tyler (1949) says, “Learning takes places through the active behaviour of the student: it is what he [she, or they] does that he [she, or they] learns, not what the teacher does.” (quoted in Biggs & Tang, 2011 (opens in a new tab)).

{ (opens in a new tab)} notes that “not all outcomes are equal” as educators are planning in the domains of skills, knowledge, attitudes, and values. Sometimes the outcomes will demand high complexity and other times it will only be more basic shifts in understanding that will be required. Historically, there was a search for common language leading to the development of taxonomies of learning – the hierarchal classification of learning outcomes, and these taxonomies may provide a framework to assist in promoting alignment.

In this section, we will explore the process of verb selection to promote the intended learning experience for your students and how it may be clarified and supported through a lens such as Bloom's Taxonomy and the solo Taxonomy.

However, before we move on to explore how to design and implement well-designed outcomes using these structures, acautionary note about learning taxonomies:

Learning taxonomies such as Bloom's Taxonomy, the revised Bloom's Taxonomy, and Biggs' Structure of Observable Learning Outcomes (solo) can be valuable tools for thinking about the kinds of learning we want students to demonstrate. However, they should not be treated as definitive representations of how learning occurs or as a settled science. The Harvard Derek Bok Center {(opens in a new tab)} notes that every discipline has “some quibble with the specifics” of these frameworks and emphasises that their value lies not in being “sacrosanct”, but in serving as useful heuristics* and shared language for designing learning activities, assessments, and learning outcomes. Rather than viewing taxonomies as rigid hierarchies, educators can use them as practical guides that help articulate different forms of cognitive engagement and ensure alignment between intended learning outcomes, learning activities, and assessment. Most importantly, the purpose of a taxonomy is not to rank some forms of learning as inherently superior to others (higher over lower) or in deferring 'higher order' experiences to final units of study or more advanced students, but to provide a framework for considering the kinds of thinking and performance that students will need to demonstrate in a particular learning context.

The point is, while we attempt to quantify learning within 'observable outcomes', or on scales of complexity, how well we do this is still deeply contested. This course will provide you with current and practical ways of solving curriculum design decisions, but we should always be ready to take a critical stance towards those practices rather than treat them as immutable laws. We should also be prepared to change as the field develops.

heuristic (opens in a new tab):

n.

1. in cognition, an experience-based strategy for solving a problem or making a decision that often provides an efficient means of finding an answer but cannot guarantee a correct outcome. ... Some heuristics...involve systematic bias. Also called cognitive heuristic. [introduced by Herbert A. Simon; developed by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky]

2. in the social sciences, a conceptual device, such as a model or working hypothesis, that is intended to explore or limit the possibilities of a question rather than to provide an explanation of the facts. Also called heuristic model (American Psychological Association, n.d.).

Bloom's Revised Taxonomy: a taxonomy for learning, teaching and assessing

Largely due to the work of Benjamin Bloom and his contemporaries in the 1950s, it is common to group learning outcomes into three (3) areas:

1. 1

Cognitive domain;

2. 2

Psychomotor domain;

3. 3

Affective domain;

It is the cognitive domain that historically has been the focus of curriculum design in higher education, although you may want to explore the other domains. Initially, Bloom's Taxonomy proposed six (6) levels in the cognitive domain, each with a distinct type of cognitive processing. Other authors have expanded on this by making lists of how these different levels can be expressed as active verbs.

'Knowledge' is said to be the lowest level of intellectual activity and is associated with a surface approach to learning by students. 'Evaluation', the highest level of intellectual activity, is associated with a deeper approach to learning by students.

Writing learning outcomes involves a careful choice of words. Because you would like the participants to be able to do something by the end of the program, you need to express the learning outcome appropriately. In grammatical terms, we say you need to begin the learning outcome with a Verb – otherwise known as a doing, having or being word. Creating effective, aligned, and balanced I.L.O for a lesson, course or program requires practice. Verb selection in the composition of I.L.O may assist to dictate the desired cognitive complexity, relate to the knowledge dimension or be indicative of the standard and manner required to meet the I.L.O.

For many years, Bloom's Taxonomy was used as a general guide to types of cognitive processes aimed for in education. As Killen (2005) (opens in a new tab) describes, however, it was developed at a time when behaviourism was the dominant theory – a theory that has been superseded in many respects by more recent thinking about teaching and learning. Hence, Anderson and Krathwohl (2001) (opens in a new tab) proposed a revised Bloom's Taxonomy.

Much of Bloom's simplicity and structure has been retained, but it looks to reflect more contemporary ways of thinking about learning and cognition. A major extension of the original taxonomy is the inclusion of a knowledge dimension. Anderson and Krathwohl (2001) { (opens in a new tab)} present these two (2) domains in tandem, and suggest structuring the taxonomy in a grid form as shown in the figure provided.

There are many web resources available to assist in mapping outcome verbs to the cognitive and knowledge dimensions. An effective example is this Blooms Taxonomy: Teacher Planning Kit (opens in a new tab) site, which includes key words for learning outcomes, student actions, and sample assessment questions. It is worth taking the time to explore.

Careful! A common misunderstanding is that higher levels should be reserved for later in a program. For example, that 'analyse', as a higher-level verb, should be reserved for senior-level students and not used for first-years, or that the levels should be addressed in a linear manner.

In practice, students benefit from consistent engagement across a diversity of cognitive levels throughout their study or professional learning. It's just that more experienced students should be able to engage with any given dimension in a more demanding or sophisticated manner than they would have earlier in their learning.

: Table 1 summary: A comparison between the original Bloom's Taxonomy Cognitive Domain and Anderson and Krathwohl's Revised Taxonomy. The original levels are mapped to revised terms as follows: Knowledge becomes Remember, Comprehension becomes Understand, Application becomes Apply, Analysis becomes Analyse, Synthesis becomes Evaluate, and Evaluation becomes Create.

Step 2: Determining the level of learning

Bloom's Taxonomy can assist in formulating clear ideas of what we would hope our students will be able to achieve in terms of cognitive processes and aspects of the domains of knowledge. Killen (2005; p. 186) { (opens in a new tab)} proposes that a “Quality of Performance” dimension should also be considered – one that defines “how well” learners should be expected to achieve the I.L.O. This is useful at the planning stage, as learners should be provided guidance as to the desired standards. Logically, this description of quality will additionally provide the basis for assessment and feedback.

One framework that may be used to describe and measure the quality of student performance is the Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes (solo) Taxonomy. The solo Taxonomy is a systematic way of describing how a learner's performance increases in complexity when mastering academic tasks (Biggs, n.d. (opens in a new tab)). It describes how such performance grows first quantitatively (increasing amount of detail) and then qualitatively (increasing complexity of detail). Biggs and Collis, as cited by Killen (2005) (opens in a new tab), outline the way that responses may be structured, defining five (5) steps or levels of the solo Taxonomy.

The connection between alignment and student engagement

In the following video, Phillip Dawson discusses some fundamentals of constructive alignment. It is a useful 30 min overview because it outlines the major aspects of constructive alignment, and importantly relates it to student engagement. Drawing on Biggs, student engagement is fundamentally framed as an issue of misaligned curriculum.

The practical nature of the examples in this video will help you prepare for a well-aligned sequence of learning in the assignments for this course.

Some of the topics covered in this video include:

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Verb choice and why it matters (or 'what's wrong with "understand" as an outcome?)

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the link between alignment and student engagement (or "how to get students to do the readings")

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the issue of 'misalignment' (or, when we teach one thing and assess something else)

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applying a solo lens of levels of complexity to the A.Q.F

Are we looking for students to just remember individual concepts, or are we asking them to develop skills that require complex knowledge or inter-relationships that exist between aspects of theory practice?

When using the solo Taxonomy to inform I.L.O, it is important to be clear about what level of understanding you hope the learner will achieve. For example, if you ask students to 'identify', it is most likely that they will respond at a uni-structural or multi-structural level by providing concrete facts. That may be completely appropriate for the purpose of the course or assessment. However, if you ask students to 'identify' but expect students to go further than this, there may be misalignment. If you ask students to synthesise, predict or hypothesise, and your activities and assessment support students to pursue this, you will be engineering alignment at the extended level.

Keep in mind that the different levels have legitimate uses. It is the intentional alignment between outcomes, activities and assessment that matters.

Step 3: Writing effective statements

Compare these two (2) statements:

1. 1

'As a result of successfully completing this subject, students will be able to use theories x, y and z to interpret and develop possible responses for common problems in group dynamics.';

2. 2

'This subject aims to cover theories x, y and z and their application to group dynamics.'

The first statement is much clearer about what students will be expected to do. The second is really a statement of subject content rather than a learning object.

Learning outcomes are made of three (3) components:

1. 1

An action verb;

2. 2

A content/ topic phrase; and

3. 3

A context/ condition phrase.

Together, they create a demonstrable learning outcome.

Careful! It is easy to write your learning outcomes so that they all start with the word 'Understand'.

For example –

By the end of this workshop students will be able to:

- Understand the anatomical and physiological basis of visual fields;

- Understand the importance of establishing therapeutic rapport with patients.

Can you think of what might be wrong with these types of statements as learning outcomes?

One issue is that 'understand' harks back to the idea of learning as a teacher transmitting their knowledge to the students so that they then understand something in the same way as the teacher, which is associated with surface approaches to learning and minimal effectiveness.

Second, how precisely could we measure a general term such as 'understanding'? And what level of understanding is important for this stage of the course/program?

Also, the verb 'understand' doesn't convey what students will be doing or how they will be assessed. You want learners to demonstrate their understanding by doing things like: applying, differentiating, managing, arguing or evaluating…

Consider the following alternatives:

- Describe the anatomical and physiological basis of visual fields;

- Explain the importance of establishing therapeutic rapport with patients.

Step 4: Checking for alignment

- In addition to ensuring that all the levels of learning outcomes (lesson, module, course, program) align with each other, there are other considerations to be taken into account.

- For instance, higher education institutions usually have stated 'graduate attributes' that they expect their graduates to be able to demonstrate by the time they complete their studies. They are commonly assessed throughout students' programs. Outcome statements, therefore, need to be written to address these broader outcomes. You may need to consider whether your course addresses any of the graduate outcomes/ attributes.

- Furthermore, programs that are professionally accredited will also be required to demonstrate how their I.L.O meet the relevant professional body's requirements for accreditation.

- For your reference, here is a list of the graduate attributes for The University of Notre Dame Australia:

Table summary: Ten Graduate Attributes and their descriptions. These include Communication, focusing on oracy, literacy, numeracy, and information skills; Critical and Reflective Thinking for decision making and problem solving; and Technical Competence and Inter-disciplinarity, which combines field-specific knowledge with inter-professional expertise. Other attributes cover Life-long Learning, Ethical Responsibility, Philosophical and Religious Approaches to Life, Team Work, Research and Information Retrieval Skills, Internationalisation, and a Commitment to Active Citizenship.

Gather ideas on the Community Board

Read the description of learning outcomes in Chapter 7 of Biggs and Tang (2011) (opens in a new tab), then read either Chapter 8 or 9, depending on whether declarative (opens in a new tab) or functioning (opens in a new tab) knowledge is more important in your immediate context.

Contribute to the Community Board

Reflect on your experience of developing learning outcomes and respond to the following prompt:

What is the most challenging part of crafting measurable learning outcomes in your discipline or teaching context? Share an example or dilemma that others might help you think through.

Where possible, include an example of a learning outcome you have written, revised, or are currently developing, and briefly describe the teaching context. Explore contributions from your colleagues and consider sharing suggestions, questions, or alternative approaches that may help address their challenges.

Contextual factors (situational analysis)

Lesson 10 of 13

Context can be important in determining curriculum decisions. Identifying and responding to contextual factors is referred to in the literature as contextual or situational analysis. What are its implications for curriculum design? And how might it look in practice when planning and preparing subject learning plans?

In curriculum terms, it signals the need to identify internal and external factors that may influence the overall design and effective functioning of the curriculum – and, therefore, the consequent knock-on effects for student learning.

underline opens in a new tab sees it as an essential component in curriculum design and development.

Caffarella and Daffron (2013) (opens in a new tab) agree and propose that human, organisational, and environmental factors are the key aspects of context that come into play for curriculum designers (particularly consider Chapter 4).

Similarly, Lattuca and Stark (2009) (opens in a new tab) propose that understanding these internal and external aspects of the educational context are essential for effective curriculum planning (see Chapters 2 to 4 for more details).

underline opens in a new tab defines situational analysis as “the process of examining the context for which a curriculum is to be developed and the application of that analysis to curriculum planning.” A summary of pertinent aspects of a situational analysis in curriculum planning follows.

 Internal factors

- Students: Their backgrounds, abilities, language proficiencies, developmental levels, and specific learning needs.

- Teachers: Their teaching styles, skills, experience, strengths, workloads, and attitudes toward change or new curriculum designs.

- Institutional ee-thoss & Structure: The institutional culture, existing power structures, administrative support, and traditional ways of operating.

- Material Resources: The availability of textbooks, digital tools, laboratory equipment, physical spaces, classrooms, and financial backing.

- Perceived Problems: Current issues or gaps in the existing curriculum, student dissatisfaction, or operational bottlenecks.

 2

External factors

- Societal & Cultural Expectations: The values, beliefs, and expectations of the local community, parents, and employers regarding what students should learn.

- Economic & Technological Trends: Job market demands, economic shifts, and technological advancements that influence necessary future skills.

- Educational System Requirements: National or state curriculum standards, regional frameworks, public examinations, and funding requirements.

- Support Systems: Availability of external professional development, teacher training institutions, and community resources.

- Changing Nature of Subject Matter: Advancements, updates, and restructuring within the specific academic discipline itself.

Situational Analysis (Option)

Situational Analysis Workbook (Optional)

- If you would like additional options in preparing for your assessments, complete the Situational Analysis Form(opens in a new tab) available in the Blackboard Ultra module.

- The form provides a structured way to capture key contextual factors that may influence your curriculum design, including learners, teaching staff, institutional context, community expectations, and broader policy and disciplinary influences.

- While completion of the form is optional, the analysis you undertake will be valuable preparation for Assignments 1 to 3, where you will be expected to justify and explain your curriculum decisions through a clear rationale. Keeping a record of your reflections now can help you build stronger, more contextually informed arguments throughout the course. Your instructor will also be able to provide feedback online.

- Access the form in the Ultra module and save your responses for future reference as you progress through the assessments.

Assessment! Clearly curriculum design cannot be completed without significant consideration of the assessments that will be used to determine whether students have achieved the intended outcomes. This is true whether the designing is taking place at the level of an individual lesson or course.

- It is not the attention of this course to go into detail about assessment, as that is the focus of another course in this program – Educ 5117, Principles and Practices of Assessment and Evaluation. Rather, please read Chapter 10 in Biggs and Tang (2011) (opens in a new tab) for a useful overview of key principles around aligned assessment.

External frameworks and standards

- Lesson 11 of 13

- The external context also plays an important role in influencing the design and development of curriculum. Iterative curriculum review, particularly for contemporary relevance and employability is an expected and regulated part of the Australian higher education landscape. There is a regulatory imperative under the Australian Qualifications Framework (A.Q.F) for higher education to particularly focus on the development and application of knowledge and skills. Higher education providers are required to assure the acquisition of learning outcomes for the stated knowledge, skills, and attributes in our courses and programs. This is pressure for providers to do this in increasingly authentic ways, so as to develop graduate preparedness for an increasingly complex and uncertain world. This has contributed to a growing focus on international course co-design that synthesises such external contexts as discipline, community, employers, and students.

- Two (2) key examples of this are the Australian Qualifications Framework (A.Q.F) (opens in a new tab) and the Higher Education Standards (H.E.S) Framework (opens in a new tab).

The Australian Qualifications Framework (A.Q.F)

- The A.Q.F was first introduced by the Federal Government in 1995 to “underpin the national system of qualifications in Australia.” The A.Q.F sets out to provide expectations of learning and the volume of learning for 13 qualifications that are situated across 10 levels.

- To provide an example of A.Q.F mapping and how this influences curriculum, here is a snapshot of the mapping exercise undertaken for an introductory course in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education as part of a Graduate Certificate program. The Level 8 Descriptors relate to the A.Q.F Graduate Certificate criteria and descriptors. Full descriptors are available via the A.Q.F website {(opens in a new tab)} .

The review of the A.Q.F undertaken in 2019 (Australian Government, Department of Education, 2019 (opens in a new tab)) has a particularly relevant discussion (see pp. 7 to 8) of the “qualifications of the future” and modern graduate capabilities. It also considers micro-courses and micro-credentialing certifications to provide more flexibility and choice into educational qualifications.

The Higher Education Standards Framework (H.E.S.F)

Also referred to as the threshold standards, this is another of the Commonwealth Government's national standards for higher education in Australia. It is used for regulatory purposes and states, “These Standards represent the minimum acceptable requirements for the provision of higher education in or from Australia by higher education providers registered under the TEQSA Act.” (Australian Government, Tertiary Education Quality Standards Agency (teksa), 2021 {(opens in a new tab)} ).

The framework aligns with the student experience from prospective students to graduates and incorporates a range of characteristics (beyond just learning and teaching) that are required for the provision of higher education. These aspects of higher education, and the coverage of the H.E.S Framework, are represented in the figure provided.

Tertiary Education Quality Standards Agency (teksa)

The body charged with the regulatory oversight of these standards is the Tertiary Education Quality Standards Agency (teksa). teksa's role has been enshrined in legislation, namely the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 (teksa Act; Australian Government, 2011 (opens in a new tab)), and includes:

- •

register regulated entities as higher education providers and accredit their courses of study;

- •

conduct compliance and quality assessments;

- •

conduct re-accreditation assessments of courses developed by providers without self-accrediting authority;

- •

provide advice and make recommendations to the Commonwealth Minister responsible for Education on matters relating to the quality and regulation of higher education providers;

- •

cooperate with similar agencies in other countries; and

- •

collect, analyse, interpret, and disseminate information relating to quality assurance practice and quality improvement in higher education.

TEQSA provide regular updates and guidance notes on matters related to curriculum design, including:

- •

Guidance note: Course design (including learning outcomes and assessment) (Australian Government, TEQSA, 2017 (opens in a new tab)).

Graduate Attributes

One of the ways these external influences manifest themselves at an institutional level is through the development of graduate attributes, which in turn play a major role in shaping I.L.O for individual courses and programs. These graduate attributes are institution-specific, but have common themes across institutions. They are commonly referred to as generic skills, transferrable skills, core skills, graduate capabilities, work-ready skills, and/ or key skills required by or expected in professional institutions or industries.

Vilapakkam Nagarajan and Edwards (2014) { (opens in a new tab)} describe a contemporary climate where most Australian universities articulate desirable general attributes that students should aim to develop in order to interact harmoniously with their respective related disciplines and the wider community. These generic skills are usually embedded in programs and are often discipline-specific and sometimes institution-specific. Similarly, professional learning in the workplace is often constructed in a way that supports and encourages the development of desirable professional attributes.

underline opens in a new tab describes a climate where, although clear statements are commonly made regarding the desirability of certain generic or transferrable skills, there is still a degree of misunderstanding as to the nature of these skills and how these attributes fit into the teaching and learning outcomes.

Reflective Journal

Select one of the readings from the articles provided. After you read it, write a short reflection in your Reflective Journal using the following questions to guide your thinking.

- Do I have a clear understanding of the graduate attributes for my institution/ profession?

- Are graduate attributes clearly present in the courses/ sessions I teach?

- How are graduate attributes authentically embedded in the courses/ sessions where I participate?

- Are there clear links between the graduate attributes of my courses/ session and the wider profession? Ought there be?

By three methods we may learn wisdom: first, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third, by experience, which is the bitterest.

(Confucius)

Summary and what's next?

Lesson 12 of 13

In Module 1 we have looked at the question – what is curriculum and how can we design curriculum that is effective, relevant, and authentic? We reflected on the fact that curriculum design often serves a number of stakeholder and purposes. This involves looking at who your students (and teachers) are and what specific characteristics need to be considered, that is student diversity.

We looked at how to develop a coherent curriculum that can provide our students with cogent and meaningful learning experiences. We reviewed how constructive alignment can help us to focus our curriculum designs on students – what they will learn and how they will learn it rather than the content we need to get through. In adopting constructive alignment, it became apparent that often the best way to design curriculum is start with the desired endpoint – the Intended Learning Outcomes (I.L.O) – and work backwards, with the I.L.O functioning as a major determinant of:

- •

The assessment methods (formative and summative) used to evaluate student learning against those outcomes.

- •

The teaching and learning activities that support performance towards the assessment (and therefore achievement of the outcomes).

- •

The content that supports the activities

Image summary: A diagram of the "Backwards Design" process for constructive alignment, showing a three-step workflow that moves from right to left. The process begins by identifying intended learning outcomes, then determining the assessment evidence needed to prove those outcomes, and finally planning the learning activities to achieve them. This reverse sequence ensures that teaching and activities are purposefully aligned with the final goals to create coherent and meaningful learning.

In developing clear and useful I.L.O, we explored the Bloom's and solo Taxonomies that can help us establish the capabilities we wish students to develop through our courses.

We also touched on contextual analysis highlighting institutional graduate attributes as one aspect of the context that needs to be considered and the A.Q.F and H.E.S as external influences on the design on many programs.

In Module 2 we will be exploring some specific models of instruction (such as problem-based learning, work-integrated learning and service learning) to see how they can strengthen curriculum design and delivery.

You have reached the end of the document.