Curriculum Design Call and the Received Bids
The JISC e-Learning Programme invited proposals for projects in Circular 05/08, to review course design and validation processes, and the ways these are supported and informed by technology, in order to transform learning opportunities to address an identified issue or challenge of strategic importance to the institution involved.
A total of 55 bids were received for this call showing a high level of interest in this area of work, which included 7 bids from further education colleges. There were six submissions from Welsh institutions, one from Northern Ireland, five from Scotland and the remaining bids from institutions in England. Overall the quality of submissions was high with most bids demonstrating strong institutional commitment both in terms of funding and levels of involvement of senior staff. The JISC Learning and Teaching Committee funded a total of twelve proposals.
Funded Proposals
The bids of the funded projects are available from this web page. The projects start in September 2008 and will run over a period of 3 years and 9 months. The programme will be supported by a central Support and Synthesis project which will be managed by JISC InfoNet with contributions from JISC Advisory Services and Innovation Centres.
For further information on this programme, please contact Sarah Knight
| Lead Institution |
Summary |
Funded Proposal |
| The Open University |
This bid aims to extend and apply a new learning design methodology, which adopts an evidence based, multi-faceted approach to support innovative approaches to curriculum design. |
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| University of Bolton |
The project will focus on re-engineering of the professional curriculum and to adopt a ‘cooperative’ model of higher education – CO EDUCATE, whereby the starting point for curriculum development and design is the needs of the learner and their organisation, negotiated and delivered in partnership with full recognition of in-work and experiential learning. |
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| Cardiff University |
Utilising the Lean Thinking methodology for process improvements, the PALET project will develop revised procedures for the approval of new programmes to create a more agile, efficient and flexible approach to the design of new curricula and the subsequent programme approval process. |
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| Staffordshire University |
University is bidding for funding to enable it to create a “Hub initiative” to join together its various change initiatives around curriculum development into a coherent and radical overall change process, which will ensure all stakeholder needs are understood, identify overlooked problems areas, provide a sustainable solution to the business problem above, and produce models, technical solutions, and advice which will inform the wider community – not just on curriculum development but on sustaining innovation at the same time as embedding organisational change. |
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Manchester Metropolitan University |
The Supporting Responsive Curricula (SRC) Project will pilot agile, demand-led curriculum design processes that promote flexible delivery and enhance learner employability. SRC will break new ground in curriculum interoperability, piloting the “tagging” of curriculum with competences valued by employers and professional bodies to support informed choice about study options and assist learners in choosing electives to support their career intentions and in showcasing their experience and abilities for a professional audience. |
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| City University |
This project responds to a University strategic imperative to evaluate our curriculum and build a core curriculum. The project will consider the challenges of doing this with our current curriculum design processes; identify key problems and challenges as well as current good practice for interdisciplinary curriculum design and working. It will then develop a new curriculum design model which will be supported by technology to create a more flexible and innovative process. In collaboration with Schools and other stakeholders the model will be piloted, evaluated and then rolled out across the institution |
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Leeds Metropolitan University |
The proposed Personalised Curriculum Creation through Coaching (PC3) project will develop a framework that places coaching at the heart of the personalised curriculum design. Learners will be able to select provision suitable to their needs, construct award (or module set), access resources and learning support, and negotiate assessment, with structured support from a personal coach. The PC3 Framework will facilitate this process by developing the necessary processes, documentation, and technological support, within the context of Leeds Met’s flexible learning regulations and systems. |
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Cambridge University |
The primary goal of the project is to deploy and evaluate both the Phoebe pedagogic planner (Phoebe) and the KS “Learning Unit Management” module (LUM) for capturing curriculum designs and supporting curriculum reform processes across the University of Cambridge. |
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University of Greenwich |
This project will assess and evaluate the models of curriculum design that are currently supported by the systems in place at the University of Greenwich, and engage stakeholders in identifying the critical pinch points that inhibit the development of a wider range of more flexible curriculum design and delivery methods. |
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Birmingham City University |
The Technology Supported Processes for Agile and Responsive Curricula (T-SPARC) project will deal with deploying and evaluating technology that has the potential to support the process of programme design and the facilitation of more efficient procedures to confer institutional approval upon programmes. |
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Strathclyde University |
In response to a number of drivers and strategic aspirations, the University of Strathclyde would like to provide more support for the process of curriculum design across its five faculties. This will be achieved by building on the principles and curriculum design models developed by the REAP (Reengineering Assessment Practices) project – developing tools to describe and evaluate those designs, with the descriptions providing the basis for the development of patterns that can be applied to curriculum design tasks in the future. |
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University of Ulster |
This proposal will develop a suite of co-ordinated tools and services which will use learner based timeline scenarios to assist staff to reflect upon and formalise innovative adjustments to the curriculum. These tools will utilise standard data schemas to: permit the targeted querying of data rich resources such as course documents and student data; and export key information into downstream curriculum development tools. This proposal will assist the University to address the strategic goals “to enhance the quality of the student learning experience” and “to promote and foster creativity and innovation in curriculum. |
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