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Curriculum mappingA possible technology-enhanced

curriculum review approach

South African Technology Network (SATN) Conference, Bloemfontein

28-29 November 2011

Marianne BesterFundani Centre for

Higher Education DevelopmentCape Peninsula University of Technology

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Transformation of higher education in South Africa

Relevance and responsiveness of HE curricula

Complex learning Curricula that sustain complex

learning ought to be ‘coherent and progressive’(Knight, 2001)

Introduction

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Key issues to consider What do wish to achieve? What do we teach? Why do we teach what we

teach? What do our students learn? How do our students learn? How do we assess what

students have learned? How well should students

perform in these assessment tasks to show that they have achieved the intended learning outcomes?

Intended and planned

curriculum

Taught and created

curriculum

Learned and assessed

curriculum

4Focus of this paper Two inter-related aspects of curriculum

mapping: mapping tool mapping process

Illuminate the pedagogic relationships within a curriculum

Capture the dynamic interactions with relevant stakeholders and its milieu

‘contextualised social practice’ (Cornbleth, 1990) not as an instrumentalist approach to curriculum development and review

5Outline of the presentation

Constructivist framework Past curriculum design practices at UoTs

Lack of staff participation Teacher-centred technicist approach

Case study of a career-oriented business qualification

Use of Curriculum mapping to steer the curriculum review process and to engage lecturing staff in reflective conversations about pedagogic practice

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Outcomes-based curriculum development of Technikons in late

1990s National Qualifications Framework

A single national framework for learning achievements

Systemic change Outcomes-based curricula

Design-down curriculum design process of working down from large, complex, workplace-orientated outcomes to specific, enabling outcomes and tasks – responsive to needs of employers

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Technicist skills-based approach

Technikons responded to discourse of accountability and efficiency

Modular subject structures to promote credit accumulation and transfer

‘A narrow notion of skills’ (Allais, 2011) ‘Technical responsiveness’ ... ‘reduced to a

technicist one ...’ (McKenna & Sutherland, 2006) Compliance mind-set of ‘process-oriented

administrative procedures’ (Breier, 2001) DACUM – focus on functional task analysis

appropriate to specific occupation Displacement of disciplinary knowledge

(Wheelahan, 2010)

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Curriculum orientations of academic staff

Snyder, Bolin & Zumwalt in Shawer, Gilmore and Banks-Joseph (2008)

Fidelity approach

• Centrally-controlled model

• Teacher focuses on covering of subject content

• Limited evidence of student engagement

• Curriculum-transmitter

Adaptation approach

• Teacher adapt curriculum to some extent – curriculum still centrally controlled

• Teacher focuses on limited adaptation to suit the needs of students

• Curriculum-adapter

Enactment approach

• Engagement and enactment of both teacher and student in teaching and learning experiences

• Teacher responds to needs of students by creating a curriculum

• Curriculum-maker

Previous curriculum development practices

at Technikons in SA

Before 1994 Late 1990s-before HEQF

HEQF re-curriculation

Future practice requires a paradigm shift towards student-centred

learning

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Constructivist approach to curriculum development & review

‘learning is a process of conceptual change whereby individuals construct new understandings of reality – a constructivist point of view’

‘A good teaching system aligns teaching method and assessment to the learning activities stated in the objectives, so that all aspects of this system are in accord in supporting appropriate learning.’

McDonald & Van der Horst, 2007

Biggs’s constructive alignment (2001)

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Case study (using subject guides/taught curriculum)

Subjects from a Business-related diploma programme

Organisational components of subject guide

Pedagogical components of subject guide Data analysis and findings

Omissions and oversight in terms of the core components

Constructive alignment – incomplete, inconsistent or misaligned

Lower level cognitive skills and tasks Insufficient integration of theory and practice

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Constructive alignment template

Learning outcomes

Teaching & learning activities

Assessment criteria

Assessment methods

Deep and reflective conversations – preparatory stage for developing curriculum maps

One aspect that emerged from CA templates: Pertinent focus on occupational needs

Increased emphasis on ‘doing’ rather than ‘knowing’ (Barnett et al. 2001)

Absence of scaffolding of cognitive challenges

12Curriculum mappingWhat is a map?

A map is a visual representation of an area;A symbolic depiction highlighting relationships between elements of that space such as objects, regions, and themes. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Map )

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Curriculum mappingWhat is a curriculum?

“… a sophisticated blend of educational strategies, course content, learning outcomes, educational experiences,

assessment, the educational environment and

the individual students’ learning style, personal timetable

and programme of work.”

Harden, R.M. 2001. AMEE Guide 21: Curriculum mapping a tool for transparent and authentic teaching and learning. Medical

Teacher, 23(2):123-127.

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What is a curriculum map?

“A diagrammatic representation of the curriculum displaying the different elements of the curriculum and the interrelationships between

these different elements”.

(Harden 2001, 125).

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Learning outcomes

Learning

activities

Subject content

Assessment tasks

Teaching

events

Key elements of a curriculum mapKnowing:

Disciplinary & situated knowledge

Doing:Practical skills

Being:Personal qualities & capabilities

Level descriptors

Cognitive complexity

Adapted from Harden, 2001:125

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Curtin University of TechnologyCCMap 2010

Unit information; Unit learning outcomes

which are aligned to the graduate attributes and the development of higher order thinking skills;

Assessment (assessment tasks by type, medium, format, role of the student, level of authenticity, level of supervision, mode, purpose, principle assessor and time schedule);

Learning experiences (type, duration, frequency and predominantly student activity);

Learning resources (type, use and cost to student);

Curriculum themes (linked to vision and objectives of institution);

Career development learning

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Curtin University of Technology – Curriculum map template

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Student learning experiences

Type

Duration

Frequency

Predominant types of student

engagement

Clinical practice, fieldwork, laboratory work, lectures, practical work, seminars,

studio work, tutorials, workshops, individual study & others

Hours, half-day, full-day and other

Daily, 2,3,4 times per week, weekly, fortnightly, monthly, twice a semester,

once a semester and other

Listening & viewing &reading, writing, speaking, reflecting, hands-on practice, listening & writing, listening & writing & spearking, problem-solving and other

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Curtin University of TechnologyData available for analysis & discussion using CCMap 2010

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Web-based curriculum mapping system

The use of a technology-enhanced process provides:

‘an electronic trail of activities ... providing the community with rich data sources from which further reflective practice can emanate’(Madiba, 2011)

A conceptual tool for curriculum review by focusing on: Constructive alignment, cognitive demand,

coherence, logical sequencing, credit allocation and the use of level descriptors.

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Web-based curriculum mapping system

It provides ‘lines of inquiry’ of the intended, taught, experienced and assessed curriculum at both subject, programme and institutional level:

What are the intended learning outcomes? What is taught and how is it taught? What is assessed and how is it assessed? What is the level of cognitive demand? What are the gaps and redundancies in the curriculum? Is there vertical and horizontal alignment of subjects within

the qualification? What are the articulation and credit transfer possibilities

between programmes? How are the concerns of academic staff addressed in terms

of curriculum change?(Madiba, 2011)

22Curriculum mapping

“When curriculum mapping is adopted as a process and project (tool)…

the overall aim is to develop the conceptual as well as the technical infrastructure that will enable and deepen institutional conversations as far as curriculum is concerned;

and this is done on the premise of continuous improvement of teaching and learning and curriculum delivery.”

(Mad

iba,

201

1:

38

6)

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Curriculum mapping process

Situation analysis with external stakeholder engagement

Comprehensive review of existing

programme & feedback from

current students and staff

Critical analysis and evaluation

of existing curriculum

using:

Subject guides

Templates

Diagrams & charts

Identify gaps, shortcomings, redundancies

and suggestions for improvement

Revise subject guides & compile

preliminary curriculum

maps

Finalise curriculum maps

& develop final subject guides for

approval & implementation

Adapted fromOliver, Jones, Ferns &

Tucker (2007)

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What are the key benefits? Gaining a holistic and comprehensive view of the

curriculum across all the subject areas and levels of study.

Acting as a mechanism to foster debate and reflection on the key pedagogical issues amongst colleagues.

Working across different layers (macro, meso and micro) relevant to the HEQF re-curriculation process to ensure coherence and cooperation.

Assisting academics in creating unified, interdisciplinary units of learning that foster students’ understanding of concepts, ideas and activities across different subject areas.

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In conclusion …Past curriculum development practices at

Technikons in late 1990s

Technicist approach to curriculum development

Displacement of knowledge in the curriculum

Lack of academic staff participation

Subject guides

Constructive alignment templateCurriculum mapping

as a tool

Curriculum mapping as a process

Curriculum mapping

Student-centred

learning approach with curricula that sustain complex

learning

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Allais, S. 2011. What are the skills? Reflections on policy in South Africa in the light of international debates. Paper presented at the Global Labour University Conference, 28-30 September 2011. University of the Witwatersrand: Johannesburg.

Amer, A. 2006. Reflections on Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy. Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology No. 8. 4 (1):213-230.

Barnett, R., G. Parry and K. Coate. 2001. Conceptualising Curriculum Change. Teaching in Higher Education 6 (4):435-449.

Breier, M. 2001. Higher education curriculum development: the international and local debates. Curriculum restructuring in higher education in post-apartheid South Africa. Ed. M. Breier. 1-37. Bellville: University of the Western Cape.

Cornbleth, C. 1990. Curriculum in context. New York: The Falmer Press.

Curtin University of Technology. 2010. Curtin Curriculum Mapping Tool—User Guide. Version 2 of 5 March 2010. http://boliver.ning.com/page/mapping-1 (accessed 4 August 2011].

Harden, R.M. 2001. AMEE Guide no 21: Curriculum mapping: A tool for transparent and authentic teaching and learning. Medical teacher 23(2):123-137.

James, D. 2005. Importance and impotence? Learning, outcomes and research in further education. Curriculum Journal 16 (1):83-96.

List of selected sources

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Jansen, J.D. 1998. Curriculum Reform in South Africa: a critical analysis of outcomes‐based education. Cambridge Journal of Education 28(3):321-331.

Knight, P.T. 2001.Complexity and Curriculum: A process approach to curriculum-making. Teaching in Higher Education, 6(3):369-381.

Madiba, M. 2011. Curriculum mapping as inquiry in higher education. In Curriculum inquiry in South African higher education: Some scholarly affirmations and challenges. Bitzer EM and MM Botha, eds. 381-398. Stellenbosch: Sun Media.

McDonald, R. and H. Van Der Horst. 2007. Curriculum Alignment, globalization and quality assurance in South African education. Journal of Curriculum Education 39 (1): 1-9.

McKenna, S. and L. Sutherland. 2006. Balancing knowledge construction and skills training in universities of technology. Perspectives in Education 24(3): 15-24.

Oliver, B., Jones, S., Tucker, B., & Ferns, S. 2007. Mapping curricula: ensuring work-ready graduates by mapping course learning outcomes and higher order thinking skills. Peer-reviewed paper presented at the Evaluations and Assessment Conference, Brisbane. http://www.eac2007.qut.edu.au/proceedings/proceedings_ebook.pdf [Accessed: 29 April 2010].

Shawer, S.F., Gilmore, D. & Banks-Joseph, S.R. 2008. Student cognitive and affective development in the context of classroom-level curriculum development. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 8(1):1-28.

Wheelahan, L. 2010. Why knowledge matters in curriculum: A social realist argument. London: Routledge.

List of selected sources

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Mrs Marianne BesterFundani Centre for Higher Education

DevelopmentCape Peninsula University of

TechnologyTel. (021) 959 6468

E-mail: besterma@cput.ac.za

Any questions?