Innovations in the VU Curriculum

Professor Anne Jones Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic and Students) Victoria University

Fulfilling our Promise for Learning

Victoria University’s Strategic Plan aspires to rich and transformative graduate capabilities development through an excellent and distinctive curriculum preparing graduates to be:Adaptable and capable 21st century citizens, who can

communicate effectively, work collaboratively, think critically and

solve complex problems

Confident, creative lifelong learners who can use their

understanding of themselves and others to achieve their goals in

work and learning

Responsible and ethical citizens who use their inter-cultural

understanding to contribute to their local and global communities

How we define Curriculum

• why learning is occurring • what will be learned• where the learning will occur• how learning takes place• when learning happens, how learning is assessed• how we prepare teaching staff to support

learning• how we interact with students more generally

including how we inform, counsel and communicate with them

Capability frameworks OXFAM’s widely cited description of the ‘Global Citizen’ (Clifford &

Montgomery, 2011b; Oxfam Development Education Program, 2006)

The ‘four pillars of education’ identified by UNESCO (International

Commission: Education for the Twenty-first Century, 1996)

Barnett’s model for the three dimensions of learning for the future(R.

Barnett, 2004)

Gardner’s ‘five minds model’ (Gardner, 2006)

Wagner’s ‘seven survival skills’ for the twenty-first century (Wagner,

2008)

Barnett’s 3 Modes of Knowledge

Mode 1 knowledge – facts or formal specified knowledge, a

disciplinary body of knowledge such as Chemistry or the defined

set of skills required for Nursing or Sports coaching

Mode 2 knowledge – the capability to use knowledge in

action in real situations, to solve problems, think creatively

Mode 3 knowledge is the capability to thrive… ‘amid super

complexity, in situations in which there are no stable descriptions

of the world, no concepts that can be seized upon with any

assuredness, and no value systems that can claim one's

allegiance with any unrivalled authority’

(K. Barnett, 1997, p. 252)

VU Curriculum Reform

• Course design and pedagogies that develop Mode 3 learning - learning that develops values, attributes and other personal capabilities as much as on knowledge, skills and understanding

Course design and pedagogy that prepare students to thrive in a supercomplex world

Proposed curriculum principles• Empowering students from diverse countries and cultures, socio-economic and

educational backgrounds through a distinctive, excellent and supported learning experience through the development of graduate capabilities, developing creative, ethical and respectful global citizens and providing student learning support through a transitions pedagogy approach.

• Providing professionally-oriented tertiary qualification structures and study options to support the needs of diverse cohorts of students through modular and integrated qualifications suites with inbuilt pathways, development of discipline expertise, work/practice-integrated learning, research and enquiry skills, interprofessional practice and blended learning and assessment portfolios.

• Supporting our learning community to achieve world standards in learning and teaching through establishing collaborative communities of internal and external partners to drive learning and assessment design and teaching; encouraging a scholarly approach to tertiary teaching and adding value to the student experience through evidence-based practice.

The Curriculum Blueprint

• Modular integrated suites of qualifications • VU Undergraduate Model: Diplomas, Career Start and

Specialist Professional degrees• Transitions pedagogy• Practice-integrated learning• Blended learning• Global Challenge units: sets of interdisciplinary units to

develop graduate capabilities• Reform of the University’s postgraduate qualifications• A new VU Scholar Program for high achieving students• Scholarly, collaborative teaching & governance

Teaching millennial learners

• 21st century capabilities development- the Global Challenge units

• Interactive student-centred pedagogies • Career development and work/practice-integrated

learning• Pedagogy to support multiple transitions, applying

good theory e.g. Kift and Lizzio• Blended delivery -learning just in time, just for me• A renewed focus on the development of teaching staff

to teach and on the scholarship of learning and teaching

Lizzio’s analysis

Students’ success at university depends on their: • sense of capability - students who are ‘learning ready’ tend

to have greater early learning success in HE• senses of connectedness – student’s with stronger

connections are more likely to be successful learners• sense of purpose – students with a clear sense of purpose

are more likely to persist with their studies• sense of resourcefulness – students who can navigate

university systems are more likely to be successful• sense of academic culture – successful students know what

is valued in academic culture

Kift’s Transition Pedagogy principles

• Transition pedagogy:– Is consistent and explicit about its purpose– Takes into account students’ diverse backgrounds, makes

no assumptions– Is designed to assist student development through

intentional integration and sequencing of knowledge, skills and attitudes

– Should be engaging and enable active and collaborative learning

– Includes regular, formative assessment of student work– Needs regular evaluation for renewal

Transition pedagogy at VU

• Builds on work of the VU University-wide approach to educational transition

• Identifies transition ‘hot spots’ such as– School to University– Diploma to degree– Off shore to on shore– Learning in another language to learning in English– Undergraduate to postgraduate– Adults returning to study including work-based

learners

1

VU Blended Learning Strategy …

… blending with purpose

What is the future for Blended Learning? How will learning experiences evolve within universities of the future? Proiritising incremental or targeted development Implementing standardisation or standards Learning Management Systems or Collaborative Learning Platforms? Focus on content or communications Social media - risk management or opportunity Institutional branding versus the Cloud MOOCs and Credentialism

… “We are Moving from Command and Control to Connect and Collaborate” The World is Flat, Friedman 2005

Blended Learning – Principles-based approach

Developing a VU Blended Learning Strategy

VU conceptualization of purposeful blending, underpinned by…

Principles & Standards

Supporting materials & just-in-time professional development

Systematic, collaborative methodology for curriculum development

Setting strategic priorities within curriculum renewal

Undertaking evaluation & publishing as part of scholarly practice

A principled approach Statement of Intent

• Courses are designed to facilitate flexible, purposeful, aligned and active approaches to learning and assessment that meet the educational needs of our diverse students.

Principles • The choice of tools, mode and place of delivery is optimised to the learning outcomes.

Standards

• Students come together for face-to-face or online synchronous activities where those activities emphasise active and collaborative elarning and skills development or require direct teacher input.

• Students study individually or asynchronously where the activities emphasise information transfer, reflection, developing independent enquiry and learning skills.

Support• Guidelines and Exemplars• Supporting Materials• Professional Development and Curriculum Intensives

Blended Learning PrioritiesSetting Strategic Priorities for intensive Curriculum Renewal Establishing Desire2Learn – VU’s new learning management system Featuring collaborative learning approaches in all VU courses, make full use of

collaborative tools in new eLearning environment Developing priority courses such as

Career Start Bachelor Degrees Professional Degrees that showcase distinctive specialisations Distinctive Masters suites with potential for increased demand if taught

mostly/fully online First stage of Bachelor Degrees, to be offered in Community Integrated

Learning Spaces in outer urban rim Using suitable Open Educational Resources (including elements of MOOCs) that

can be used ‘tutorial style’ to supplement teaching, provide extra opportunities for recognition

Key features of VU Collaborate

• Learning management system and ePortfolio (Desire2Learn)

• Digital Recordings (ReVU; Echo 360)• Virtual Classrooms (Blackboard Collaborate)• Plagiarism detection and peer assessment

(Turnitin)• Learning object repository (Desire2Learn)• Seamless interactions with existing VU systems

e.g VU Connect

Centre for Collaborative Learning and Teaching

• Professor Margaret Mazzolini, Pro Vice Chancellor Learning and Teaching

• Ms Deb Tyler – transnational education• Ass. Prof. Nicolette Lee – Teacher

development and scholarship• Dr Lisa Germany – Blended Learning• Mr Peter Duffy – Curriculum Reform

Early Success

• Three Australian Office of Learning and Teaching grants in 2013– Ass. Prof. Nicki Lee one of only two senior

fellowships awarded nationally in 2103– Dr Paul Whitelaw – Ass. Prof. Kym Frazer

Thank you

Margaret MazzoliniSusan YoungLisa GermanyEzra Bruell

Some useful references

• Barnett, R & Coate, K, 2005, Engaging the Curriculum in Higher Education, Maidenhead: SRHE/Open University Press, UK.

• Hicks, O 2007, Curriculum in higher education in Australia – Hello?, Enhancing Higher Education, Theory and Scholarship, Proceedings of the 30th HERDSA Annual Conference [CD-ROM], Adelaide.

• James, R, Krause, K & Jennings, C 2010, The First Year Experience in Australian Universities: Findings from 1994 to 2009, Centre for the Study of Higher Education, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne.

• Kift, S 2009, Articulating a transition pedagogy to scaffold and to enhance the first year student learning experience in Australian higher education, Final Report for the ALTC Senior Fellowship Program, ALTC Resources. Retrieved 7 November, 2011 from http://www.altc.edu.au/resource-first-year-learning-experience-kift-2009

• Kift, S, Nelson, K & Clarke, J 2010, ‘Transition Pedagogy: A third generation approach to FYE – A case study of policy and practice for the higher education sector’, The International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education, vol. 1 no.1, pp. 1-20.

• L Lizzio, A 2006, Designing an orientation and transition strategy for commencing students: applying the five senses model, Griffith University, Brisbane. http://www.fyhe.qut.edu.au/transitionpedagogy/expertcommen/documents/Lizzio-TheFivesensesofStudentSuccessSelf-AssessmentFrameworkforplanningandreviewofOT_doc.pdf. Retrieved 22 November, 2011.

• Picciano, A. CUNY, Sloan Conference 2011 http://sloanconsortium.org/sites/default/files/Blended%20Models%20Panel%203- 26- 11.pptx‐ ‐