1. 1
Designing
Learning and Teaching in Higher
Education/ Core PGCAP Module
(CoreSep11)
Chrissi Nerantzi & Neil Currant

2. 2
my reflective notes
• during session

3. 3
Intended learning outcomes
By the end of the session, participants attending and
engaging in the session will have had the opportunity to:
• discuss and critically evaluate own design process and
approaches used
• explore innovative student-centred methods and active
learning approaches when planning lectures, seminars,
workshops and tutorials to maximise engagement
• develop a better understanding of technology-enhanced
curriculum design processes and explore applications in
own context

4. 4
Decide
• What are the 3 most important ingredients you need to
take into account when planning a session/programme?

5. 5
planning a session: collaborative
mindmap
• http://www.text2mindmap.com/ or
• http: www.imindmap.com

6. 6
Planning a session
• Your learners
• Group size
• Title
• Time/duration
• Day/date, location
• Aims and Learning Outcomes
• Structure and Content
• Methods/Activities
• Aids and Resources
• Assessment
• Differentiation
• Reflection/Evaluation
• “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail!”

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What is a good aim?
• “A teaching aim is couched in terms of what the
teaching is trying to do, grounded in what the
subject demands” Laurillard (1993:184)
• "...expressed in terms of what you, the teacher,
will be presenting to the learner.“ Rowntree
(1990:44)

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Intended Learning Outcomes
• Describe what learners will know and be able to
do when they have completed a session, module
or programme.
• “What a learner knows or can do as a result of
learning” Otter (1992:i)
• “Descriptors of the ways that students will be
expected to demonstrate the results of their
learning.” Race (2000:10)

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A well-written learning outcome
statement should:
• Contain an active verb , an object and a qualifying clause
or phrase that provides a context or condition
• Be written in the future tense
• Identify important learning requirements: knowledge,
understanding, skills, attitudes at each appropriate level
• Be achievable and measurable
• Use clear language, understandable by students
• Relate to explicit statements of achievement

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Learning outcomes, minimum
requirements
nice
could
should
essential
Butcher et al (2006) Designing Learning. From Module outline to effective teaching, Oxon: Routledge. p. 59

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The 4 domains
Domain Target Focus
Cognitive Knowledge, Mind/
intellectual/mental skills Knowledge
Affective Attitudes, interests, feelings Spirit/
and emotions, values, Attitude
adjustments
Psychomotor Manual or physical skills, Body/
Motor and manipulations Skills
skills
Interpersonal People interacting with each Spirit/Attitude/
other Skills

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The Cognitive Domain and Bloom’s Taxonomy
evaluation
creating
synthesis
evaluating
analysis
analysing
application
applying
comprehension
understanding
knowledge
remembering
Bloom’s Taxonomoy (1956)
Anderson and Krathwohl Revision (2001)
Educational Psychology Interactive: The Cognitive Domain

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Bloom’s Taxonomy and verb list
arrange, define, duplicate, label, list, memorize, name, order,
Knowledge recognize, relate, recall, repeat, reproduce state
classify, describe, discuss, explain, express, identify, indicate,
Comprehension locate, recognize, report, restate, review, select, translate
apply, choose, demonstrate, dramatize, employ, illustrate,
Application interpret, operate, practice, schedule, sketch, solve, use, write
analyze, appraise, calculate, categorize, compare, contrast,
Analysis criticize, differentiate, discriminate, distinguish, examine,
experiment, question, test
arrange, assemble, collect, compose, construct, create, design,
Synthesis develop, formulate, manage, organize, plan, prepare, propose,
set up, write
appraise, argue, assess, attach, choose compare, defend,
Evaluation estimate, judge, predict, rate, core, select, support, value,
evaluate

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What words should (not) be used and
why?
created at http://wordle.net

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use words like
avoid/use
State...
Describe...
Explain...
avoid words like List...
Know... Evaluate...
Understand... Identify...
Really know... Distinguish between...
Really understand... Analyse...
Be familiar with... Outline...
Become acquainted with... Summarize...
Have a good grasp of... Represent graphically...
Appreciate... Compare...
Be interested in... Apply...
Acquire a feeling for... Assess...
Be aware of... Give examples of...
Believe... Suggest reasons why...
Have information about...
Realize the significance of...
Learn the basics of...
Obtain working knowledge of...

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Constructive alignment (Prof. John
Biggs, 1999)
outcomes
outcomes
outcomes
designed to meet learning
designed to meet learning
designed to meet learning
Learning Intended Assessment
and Learning Method
Teaching Outcomes
activities
•Students construct meaning from what they do to learn.
•The teacher aligns the planned learning activities with the learning outcomes.

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Assessment
• Research shows that inclusive assessment
achieves higher levels of student satisfaction,
provides increased opportunities for discussion
and leads to improvements in student marks
and grades.
• Inclusive Assessments are built into course
design and meet the assessment needs of the
majority of students. Inclusive assessments are
assessment
concerned with equality of opportunity. It is an for learning
approach that recognises that students have
different learning styles and offers a range of
assessment methods necessary to assess the
different ways in which students can
demonstrate the achievement of the learning assessment
outcomes. of learning

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Snowballing: During my sessions I want
my students to… we want our students
to...
• Interact
• Engage
• Feel challenged
• Feel motivated
• Stretched
• Feel a sense of achievement
• Work autonomously and in groups
• …
• Remember! We are all different!

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How can I do it???
• Know my students
• Build-in variety
• Active approaches
• Assessment for learning
• Acknowledge contributions
• Be creative and flexible
"What we have to learn to do, we learn by doing."
Aristotle

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Designing sessions for…
• Small group
• Large groups
advantages
• Online delivery
• Face-to-face delivery
• Blended delivery
challenges

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Would you like a break?
• Back in 10min please

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Technology-enhanced approaches
• Gadgets you have with you today: How and
when do you use them?
What about teaching and learning?
• Face-to-face settings
• Blended
• Fully online

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Task: Designing a session for learning
Module: Introduction to English cookery (1st year
undergraduates, 100 students, 10 weeks, kitchen,
lecture theatre, seminar rooms, VLE)
session: English Breakfast
• Learners
• Intended learning outcomes
• Learning environment Designing for
• Learning activity learning
• Approach taken http://www.elearning.ac.
• Inclusion uk/effprac/html/design_
• Assessment model.htm
• Available technology
Activity based on JISC resource available at http://www.elearning.ac.uk/effprac/html/planner.htm

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Curriculum design

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Curriculum design: what is it?
“A curriculum is an artefact, constructed within a
frame. It has form and structure. It has dimensions
of time and space. It is experienced. The framing is
important … what to place inside the frame and
what to exclude. The critical decision then
concerns how the contents within the frame are
composed in relation to each other in order to
create an integral and harmonious entity.”
(Paul Kleiman, 2002. P.3)
What is missing?

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Creative Curriculum
… is a creative act but it usually
focuses on…
•norm
•core knowledge of discipline
•assessment
•orientation internally and
externally
•informal adjustments ongoing
•crammed?

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Creative Curriculum
… is a creative act that focuses … is a creative act but it usually
on… focuses on…
•spaces •norm
•flexibility •core knowledge of discipline
•originality •assessment
•personalisation •orientation internally and
•collaboration externally
•informal adjustments ongoing
•crammed?
Key factor: Is creativity valued by students, the department,
influential academics?

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Discussion
• Discuss within your groups.
• What should be included in the module guide/
programme outline?
• Check the module guides/programme outlines you
brought with you. Compare!
• Present findings

30. 32

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Influences
• Institutional & Beyond
▫ Professional Bodies
▫ Resourcing
▫ Skills Agenda
▫ Employability
• Students
▫ Widening Participation
▫ Technology
• Research
▫ Learning Theory
▫ Student Experience

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Threshold Concepts?
• Certain concepts are held to be central to the mastery of a subject
• They have the following features:
▫ Transformative: Once understood, a threshold concept changes the way in which
the student views the discipline.
▫ Troublesome: Threshold concepts are likely to be troublesome for the student. e.g
when it is counter−intuitive.
▫ Irreversible: They are difficult to unlearn.
▫ Integrative: Threshold concepts, once learned, are likely to bring together
different aspects of the subject that previously did not appear, to the student, to be
related.
▫ Bounded: A threshold concept will probably delineate a particular conceptual
space, serving a specific and limited purpose.
▫ Discursive: Crossing of a threshold will incorporate an enhanced and extended
use of language.

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Curriculum design models
modular approach
• Lego (scaffolded modules)
• Satellite (free standing modules)
• Jigsaw (connected modules)
fitting it all together, approaches
pyramid
spiral

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Procedures
• Quality Assurance - AQA handbook
http://www.governance.salford.ac.uk/page/aqa_handbook
• consistent, rigorous, transparent and reliable systems of
assessment;
• equality of opportunity ... to demonstrate ability and
achievement;
• the provision of reliable information and guidance.
• Annual programme monitoring & enhancement
• Periodic programme review & reapproval
• New Academic Regulations for Taught Programmes 2010/11
http://www.governance.salford.ac.uk/page/ARTP_2010-11

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National bodies
• Quality Assurance Agency (QAA)
▫ Frameworks for HE qualifications (FHEQ)-
describe the achievement represented by higher
education qualifications.
▫ Subject Benchmark statements for U/G
▫ Master's Degree Characteristics

36. 41
References
• Biggs, J. (1999) Teaching for Quality Learning at University SRHE/OUP
• Bloom, B.S. et al, Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Cognitive Domain New York: McKay
• Bourner, T & Flowers, S (1998) Teaching and Learning Methods in Higher Education: A Glimpse of the Future.
Reflections on HE, pp. 77-102.
• Butcher, Davies & Highton (2006) Designing Learning: From Module Outline to Effective Teaching, Abingdon:
Routledge
• Hussey, T. and Smith, P. (2002) The Trouble with Learning Outcomes, Active Learning 3 (3) 220-233
• Hussey, T. and Smith, P. (2003) The Uses of Learning Outcomes, Teaching in Higher Education 8 (3) 357-368
• Hussey, T. and Smith, P. (2008) Learning Outcomes: a conceptual analysis, Teaching in Higher Education 13 (1) 107-
115
• Knight, P. (2002) Being a Teacher in Higher Education Buckingham: SRHE/OUP
• Knight, P. (2001) ‘Complexity and curriculum: a process approach to curriculum making’ in Teaching in HE Vol 6 No
3 pp369-381.
• Laurillard, D. (2002) Rethinking University Teaching: A Framework for the Effective Use of Educational
Technology London: Routledge
• Light, G. and Cox, R. (2001) Learning and Teaching in Higher Education London: PCP publishing
• Nixon, J. (2001) Not without dust and heat: the moral bases of the new academic professionalism, British Journal of
Educational Studies, 49, 2. 173-186.
• Ramsden, P. (1992) Learning to Teach in Higher Education London: Routledge.
• Schon D. A. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action New York: Basic Books.
• Shulman, L.S. (1987) ‘Knowledge and teaching: foundations of the new reform’ in Harvard Educational Review
February 57 (1) pp.1-22.
• Steeples, C, Jones, CR & Goodyear, P (2002) Beyond e-learning: a future for networked learning. In C Steeples and CR
Jones (Eds) Networked learning : principles and perspectives. London: Springer
• Trigwell, K. (2001) Professionalism in the practice of teaching: the role of research ILT Conference - Keynote address
University of York
• Trigwell, K., Prosser, M., and Taylor, P. (1994) Qualitative differences in approaches to teaching first year university
science, Higher Education 27,
• pp75-84.
• Universities UK (2004) Towards a Framework of Professional Teaching Standards: Consultation Document.
• http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/consultations/UniversitiesUK/

37. 42
Resources:
• Guide for Busy Academics: Using Learning
Outcomes to Design a Course and Assess
Learning
http://www.itslifejimbutnotasweknowit.org.uk/fil
es/CPLHE/Learnng%20outcomes%20for%20bu
sy%20academics.rtf

38. 43
looking back and next week
Today
• What did we do? What are you taking away?
• Collect reflective diaries
Next week
• Using and experimenting
• Where? You decide!!!
▫ a. participate in a mixed-reality game with
Chrissi
▫ b. class session with Neil

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Designing
University of Salford
Academic Development Unit
www.adu.salford.ac.uk
Chrissi Nerantzi c.nerantzi@salford.ac.uk @chrissinerantzi
Neil Currant n.currant@salford.ac.uk @ncurrant