The ICZ Ready Curriculum Design Process
Introduction
The development of Industry Collaboration Zones is our single strategic priority. ICZs will provide new ways for our students, colleagues and industry partners to co-create, experiment and learn together. As a University we are gearing ourselves towards ICZ readiness. This guide focuses on the work that will transform the curriculum at Salford to ensure that every programme is ICZ ready.
By September 2018, new students will be registering for study at Salford based on a prospectus that describes an ICZ ready curriculum. The ICZ principles outlined in this guide will frame and shape the curriculum and the wider student experience at Salford.
This guide provides colleagues with information about what an ICZ ready curriculum means. It sets out the steps in the design process and offers details on the ten ICZ curriculum design principles. There are also ideas and resources to support programme teams in developing ICZ ready practice.
Contents
Introduction 1
1. What does it mean to be ICZ ready? 2
2. The ICZ ready process 3
Stage 1: benchmarking 4
Stage 2: curriculum development 4
Stage 3: self-review 5
Stage 4: sign off 5
3. ICZ ready rubric 6
Answering the self-review questions 11
4. ICZ Curriculum Design Principles in Detail 12
Inclusivity 12
Co-created Curricula and Delivery 14
Active and Collaborative Learning 16
Real-world and Experiential Learning 18
Digital fluency 20
Learner Autonomy 22
Authentic Assessment 24
Education for Ethical Behaviour 27
Research-informed curriculum 29
Path to Professional 31
5. SharePoint 33
6. QlikView 35
7. Further University Support 36
1. What does it mean to be ICZ ready?
ICZ ready means that a programme can describe how it incorporates all of the ten ICZ ready principles below:
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· The programme is inclusive.
· The curriculum and delivery are co-created.
· Learning is active and collaborative.
· Learning is real-world and experiential.
· The programme is digitally fluent.
· Learners are autonomous.
· Assessment is authentic.
· Education is for ethical behaviour.
· The curriculum is research-informed.
· There is a clear path to professional.
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Inclusivity / Co-created curricula and delivery / Active and collaborative learning / Real-world and experiential learning / Digital fluencyStudents engage in educational experiences which allow all to achieve to the best of their ability, regardless of their background or prior attainment.
Giving students choices to personalise what they learn, how they learn and how they demonstrate their learning through assessment. / Programmes produced by academic experts, industry partners and students.
Educational experiences and qualifications are contemporary, interdisciplinary, relevant to the world of work, and respected and valued by employers. / Providing students with experiences that are grounded in sound, applied pedagogic theory and practice, preparing them for the real world.
Learning is authentic, involves taking risks and actively positions learning from both success and failure as developmentally positive. / Learners engage with their academic discipline through explicit links between learning and real-world scenarios.
A systemic, scaffolded engagement with industry at all levels, through work placements, live briefs, practice-based projects, and extensive use of real-world and simulated environments. / Using innovative technologies which facilitate formal and informal learning.
Equipping students with the resources necessary to enhance their own academic and professional practices, incorporating digital, networked identities as well as up-to-date tools to aid their personal and professional development.
Learner Autonomy / Authentic Assessment / Education for Ethical Behaviour / Research-informed curriculum / Path to Professional
Sound pedagogic practice moves learners from a novice to an expert in their chosen discipline.
Going beyond the transfer of knowledge to enable students to become lifelong learners continually updating their skills and knowledge in industries and professions. / Using real-world problems that our students will face in their careers, incorporating simulated and live scenarios.
Focusing on a range of graduate skills, and emphasising critical application over the ability to memorise information. / A commitment to producing ethically aware and socially responsible graduates with the skills and values necessary to solve the complex problems of our age.
Integrating relevant ethical issues and a wider commitment to social justice. / Informed by cutting-edge research and actively involving students in the creation of knowledge through engagement with research and through research-like learning and teaching activities. / Explicitly embedding an increasingly sophisticated practice of employability, self-awareness, critical thinking, information literacy, and communication skills
Developing professional behaviours in students across each level.
2. The ICZ ready process
Every programme team in the University will work through a process with Academic Developers from the Quality and Enhancement Office to bring the curriculum and the team to a point of ICZ readiness. At the heart of the process are curriculum workshops that are designed to support collaboration and the development of shared practice amongst programme teams, thus enhancing the student academic experience.
Stage 1: benchmarking
This first stage of the process is completed for each programme by a nominated reviewer from within the School with the Programme Leader. Together they will use the ICZ Readiness Rubric to establish how ICZ ready the programme is. The nominated reviewers receive training on their role and this will help ensure a consistent approach is adopted across the University.
Using the rubric, programmes are scored 1-3 against each ICZ principles. The reviewer will then consider whether the programme is mainly 1s, 2s or 3s and make a professional overall judgement about whether the programme requires only a light touch self-assessment, more support through the peer route, or whether there are major amendments to make and the programme needs the full support route.
Stage 2: curriculum development
All programmes complete a self-review question sheet to aid identification of and prioritise areas for development. Depending on the ICZ readiness of the programme, it will then follow one of three developmental routes:
Self-review route – storyboarding workshop; completion of self-review questions
Peer review route – storyboarding workshop; peer reflection workshop; completion of self-review questions
Full review route – storyboarding workshop; delivery workshop; assessment workshop; peer reflection workshop; completion of self-review questions
All workshops are facilitated by the QEO and involve full programme teams plus other stakeholders (e.g. industry representatives, students, other staff members) as appropriate.
a) Workshop 1: Storyboarding (all programmes)
All programmes will undertake a workshop which storyboards the programme based on the ICZ Principles and particular touch points within the student journey. By the end of the workshop, programme teams will:
· Have identified key milestones in the student journey through their programme, with particular attention to level 4 (UG programmes).
· Be able to articulate how the ten ICZ principles are embedded in the student journey through their programme.
· Have identified any gaps in provision in relation to the principles.
· Have agreed initial actions to enhance the ICZ readiness of their programme.
For programmes on the self-review pathway this workshop will support the team in closing any gaps and prepare the programme for sign-off.
b) Workshops 2 & 3 Full review pathway
These two workshops are delivered to full programme teams providing the team with an opportunity to come together for development and consideration of the programme. Informed by the Storyboarding workshop, the team will consider the curriculum delivery and assessment from the programme with support available where programme amendments are required. After each workshop the team will complete any actions to get the programme and the team ICZ ready. The peer review workshop is then an opportunity to consolidate the changes to the programme.
c) Workshop 4: Peer and Full review pathways
This workshop allows representatives from the programme teams to come together to share and reflect on practice. Programme teams take forward actions from this workshop and prepare for sign-off.
Stage 3: self-review
The answers to the self-review questions explain the strategy that the programme employs to in relation to each ICZ Principle. Programme Leaders should answer the self-review questions when their programme is ready for the Self-review against a Principle. The answers should give the programme perspective in a short paragraph or bulleted list.
Stage 4: sign off
Where programmes need to make major amendments to ensure ICZ readiness, this will be done via the existing Programme Approval and Review Panel (PARP) route. Where minor amendments are required to ensure a programme is ICZ ready, the Associate Dean Academic (ADA) will be able to sign off both the amendments and ICZ readiness. By September 2018 all programmes need to be signed off as ICZ Ready.
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3. ICZ ready rubric
Principle / Full review pathway / Peer review pathway / Self-review pathway /Inclusivity / The programme has elements of inclusivity in its curricula but these are not clearly articulated and need further consideration and embedding across all areas of programme delivery. / There are some clearly articulated examples of inclusive practice. The pedagogic design of the programme incorporates some strategies for engaging learners to the best of their ability. There are inconsistencies of approach across the programme, and areas where further development of inclusive pedagogy would be beneficial. / The programme provides students and staff with educational experiences which allow all students to achieve to the best of their ability, regardless of their background or prior educational attainment. Students have choice in and can personalise what they learn, how they learn and how they demonstrate their learning through assessment.
Self-review questions / 1. How does the programme offer choice to students in how they learn?
2. How does the programme offer choice to students in how they are assessed?
Co-created curricula and delivery / The programme has been primarily developed by academic staff. There has been limited input from other stakeholders (e.g. students) but this needs updating. There are some inconsistencies with stakeholder input across the modules of the programme. / There is some evidence of current input (i.e. within the last two years) into the programme design from industry partners, academic staff, students, and users. The programme requires further articulation of how stakeholder input has been incorporated into curriculum design and how this is of pedagogic value. / The programme is co-produced by academic experts in the field, industry partners, and students, to ensure that the educational experiences and qualifications are contemporary, interdisciplinary, relevant to the world of work, and respected and valued by employers.
Self-review questions / 3. How does the programme allow students to input into the curriculum?
4. How does the programme allow other stakeholders including employers and alumni to input into the curriculum?
Active and collaborative learning / The programme is primarily based around an information-transmission model of curriculum (e.g. primarily comprised of traditional lecture delivery) and allows few opportunities for students to learn in group activities. There is little flexibility or choice for students about how and when they approach their learning. / Some elements of the programme allow for active and collaborative learning amongst students (e.g. group-work opportunities or peer assessment). Some modules are delivered through problem-based learning or other pedagogic approaches that involve the students in actively constructing their own knowledge. / Learning on the programme is authentic, active and collaborative; that is, it involves taking risks and actively positioning learning from both success and failure as developmentally positive. Experiences for students are grounded in sound, applied pedagogic theory and practice preparing them for the real world.
Self-review questions / 5. How does the programme apply sound pedagogic theory and practice to inform the curriculum?
6. What opportunities exist for students to collaborate with others in their learning?
Real-world and experiential learning / The programme is primarily focussed on cognitive activity with little emphasis on application and skills development. There is no opportunity for students to apply their knowledge outside the classroom. / There is some level of experiential learning available to the students, but this is inconsistent across the programme. Students are not encouraged to seek opportunities for experiential learning outside of the classroom. / A key factor in enabling our learners to engage with their academic discipline is the explicit establishment of links and synergies between learning and real-world scenarios, including the world of work. At the core of curricula within UoS are work placements, live briefs, community and practice-based projects, and a systemic, scaffolded engagement with industry at all levels of study which incorporates extensive use of real world or simulated environments.
Self-review questions / 7. What authentic, experiential and work-based learning does the programme provide?
8. How does the programme ensure that students learn from their experiences?
Digital Fluency / The programme makes minimal use of technology. The VLE is only used as a repository for files. Students are not encouraged to develop online networks or identities or engage more widely with online communities. The technology employed by the programme largely promotes an information-transfer model of pedagogy and does not allow the students to engage with each other and actively create content. / The programme has a considered approach to its use of technology that allows students to interact and create knowledge/content (e.g. through discussion boards or virtual classrooms) but this is inconsistent across modules. Students have the opportunity to extend their learning activities beyond the classroom via technology. / Delivery incorporates practical and innovative technology to facilitate formal and informal learning between our students, our staff and industry. Technology is employed to provide our students with the resources necessary to create and maintain their own digitally fluent and relevant practices, incorporating digital, networked identities to support their learning and engagement with industry, and tools to aid their personal and professional development.
Self-review questions / 9. How does the team ensure that technologies are employed consistently across the programme?