Student focused curriculum design
Involving students in the curriculum design process is essential for creating a student-centred curriculum. There are a number of ways to involve students in the curriculum design including, encouraging feedback and collaboration with students to co-design elements of the curriculum. Incorporating student voice in curriculum design can lead to a more engaging and effective learning experience, fostering a sense of ownership and engagement that can have positive impacts on student motivation and success.
Encouragement
Encourage students to participate in curriculum design by creating opportunities for them to provide feedback and share their perspectives and experiences.
Consultation
Consult with students when updating your online environment design by gathering their opinions and suggestions through surveys, focus groups, and other methods.
Collaboration
Collaborate with students to co-design elements of the curriculum, such as course content, formative assessments, and learning activities.
In units that don’t have external professional accreditation compliance demands, the whole unit could be negotiated with students within the boundaries of the defined learning outcomes. Ask students what they would like to learn and how they would like to be assessed to enable them to demonstrate the Learning Outcomes.
Request feedback from students on various aspects, including your teaching, assessment tasks, and the feedback you have provided. This feedback should offer valuable insights beyond traditional evaluations (e.g., SETU). Communicate any changes made based on the feedback to demonstrate the impact of student input. Informal focus groups and utilising strategies and resources such as formative evaluation, getting feedback from students, and asking for meaningful feedback can be effective approaches.
Incorporating student voice in curriculum design can lead to a more engaging and effective learning experience for students, as well as a more relevant and responsive curriculum. By actively involving students in the design process, universities can also foster a sense of ownership and engagement, which can have positive impacts on student motivation and success.