Curricula development

Advice on shaping the focus and content of university programmes to ensure they deliver what students and employers need. These resources look at how to embed the most sought-after graduate attributes and future skills into university curricula; how to adapt course content to a future shaped by AI; how to weave the Sustainable Development Goals into existing programmes and what effective decolonisation looks like.

By Miranda Prynne , 11 October, 2022

Why higher education must serve students as the customer and the product

Building a course around target 'customers'

An effective university programme should continually adapt in order to add value for and to the students so that they can meet future workplace demands, Haksin Chan and Roy Ying explain

Reading time

4minutes

By Miranda Prynne , 29 September, 2022

For the common good: why we need ecological universities

Higher education has become too aligned to specific economic interests and needs to be redirected to focus on regenerative values for the common good, argue Richard Hil, Kristen Lyons and Fern Thompsett

Reading time

4minutes

By Eliza.Compton , 16 September, 2022

Blocks for building a stronger student community

Block teaching can help rapidly establish bonds among students, and with their lecturers, which in turn maximises learning potential. Here, Sarah Jones offers insights from the 50-year history of block scheduling

By Miranda Prynne , 15 August, 2022

Threshold concepts: what they are and how they help students learn

Threshold concepts are themes that underpin an academic discipline and can provide a framework for students to build knowledge. But teachers must be mindful of students’ capacity to understand them, as Becky Lewis explains

Reading time

4minutes

By Eliza.Compton , 11 August, 2022

Is it possible to decolonise the business curriculum?

Untangling business studies from the discipline’s imperial origins might seem an insurmountable task, but it’s up to university leaders to take the lead on this complex challenge, reflects Bobby Banerjee

By Eliza.Compton , 10 August, 2022

Rhythm of a class: lesson-planning and assessment in block teaching

Block scheduling rethinks curriculum design, lesson-planning, assessment and feedback. Tom Clark outlines how this shift, as well as blended learning resources, helped Victoria University meet students’ need for clear and reliable rhythms of study

Reading time

4minutes

By Miranda Prynne , 9 August, 2022

Curriculum design in biosciences: setting up first-year students for success

Young female scientist examining a sample through a microscrope

Transferable skills and employability are more important than ever, and students arrive at university with a widening diversity of backgrounds. So, how should we prioritise what to teach in the first year of a biosciences degree?

Reading time

3minutes

By Eliza.Compton , 29 July, 2022

Block to the future: why block scheduling has taken so long to catch on

Block teaching has been around since the mid-noughties, but those short-lived early trials were ahead of the curve. Simon Thomson and Carl Flattery explore why block planning might finally be having its day

Reading time

5minutes

By Eliza.Compton , 28 July, 2022