How can I keep the curriculum relevant in a time of rapid change?

The issue

Institutions are under greater pressure than ever to provide courses that appeal to a broad mix of students and equip them for future employment. Keeping the curriculum responsive to changing demands is essential to any institution’s strategy.

What you can do

Planning and designing the curriculum involves every aspect of an institution’s business from market research and course development to quality assurance and enhancement, resource allocation, timetabling, recruitment and assessment.

Resources

• Our research has identified common issues and inefficiencies in curriculum design and highlighted areas where information technology can help, for example by generating new course ideas and tailoring courses to employer and learner needs.
• Our curriculum change and transformation resource draws on the experiences of projects we’re funding and covers a range of issues including:
  • market research
  • quality assurance and enhancement
  • employability and responsiveness
  • assessment and feedback
  • course information.  
• Institutional stories from 12 Curriculum Design projects describe their experience and findings of innovating curriculum practices and processes.
• Our short guide on enhancing curriculum design with technology includes practical strategies, tips and resources to support curriculum design professionals in UK universities.
• Our earlier guide to Transforming curriculum delivery through technology describes how 16 different organisations used technology to address a range of different challenges including increasing student motivation, improving feedback and assessment and facilitating learning during field trips.
• Listen to episode 11 of our On Air Radio Show to hear how clear and consistent course data can help students compare courses and make informed choices. It can also help you to make better business decisions about how courses are run. Episodes 5 and 8 to discuss how to design an online curriculum and transform curriculum design and delivery.
• Our process improvement guide helps you review existing curriculum design processes.
• Our sustaining and embedding innovations guide can help your organisation make curriculum development initiatives successful.
• Our emerging practice in a digital age guide explores how the use of technologies can enhance learning in a climate of economic pressure, changing social circumstances and rapid technological change. A series of videos and podcasts expands on the issues.

Looking ahead

We’ll soon be launching a curriculum management guide that will incorporate findings and resources from our research and development work on course data.