Running from April 2009 to March Funded as part of the JISC programme: Transforming curriculum delivery through technology Project funded by Dynamic Learning Maps

Stephen Ball (Project Director) Simon Cotterill & Gordon Skelly (Project Managers) John Peterson & Paul Horner (Project Officers) Project funded by Dynamic Learning Maps

Overview of Dynamic Learning maps Interactive ‘Web 2.0 Sharing, rating and reviews Harvesting multiple sources (‘Mashups’ ) Facilitating communities of interest Curriculum Maps Overview, Prior learning, Current & Future learning Personal Learning Personalised, sharing, reflective notes and evidencing outcomes Linking Learning Resources Curriculum & External Resources

e- Learning Technical Overview (Newcastle) Curricula databases Library databases ePortfolio / blog Repositories External Feeds Learning Resources Life-long Learning Record ID-MAPs project Student Information Systems reflection evidencing discussion adding resources, rating & reviewing Learning Maps (topic-specific) Curriculum map Personal learning Community

Aims and objectives Core objective: to develop navigable curriculum maps, which will: – Support learners, teachers & curriculum managers by enhancing understanding of complex curriculua and connections between different elements of the curriculum. – support personal learning (mapping, making connections, reflection & portfolio learning) – be interactive/participative (appropriate to the changing experience & expectations of modern learners) – support extra-curicula opportunities & transferable skills (e.g. Graduate Skills Framework) – provide an extra source of data to enhance curriculum management/QA (longer term) Technical objectives include: – Draw on existing curricula data and learning resources (where available) – Use established standards & specifications, including life-long learning – Produce a ‘generic’ tool that will support different curricula/curriculum elements, & be available to the JISC community

Progress Baseline description and 5 user scenarios Short review of Web-based mind mapping and other graphical information mapping tools Engagement with JISC programme activities Pilot evaluation with MBBS stage 1(n=69) and stage 2(n=124) Technical developments: - initial developments based on a ‘connected nodes’ approach - interface (text and ‘mind-map’ views) - tool for curriculum managers to map programme outcomes to modules - initial links with portfolio (latest UK specifications for LLL)

Core Presentations Core Presentations Cases Core Conditions Core Conditions Units Sessions Learning Outcomes Learning Outcomes Assessment Learning maps: - interconnected nodes - strength of connections - types of ‘nodes’ Personal Learning Records Personal Learning Records Curriculum Map (Medicine) Diseases & Conditions Diseases & Conditions Anatomy & Physiology Anatomy & Physiology Community Maps Mapping MBBS

MBBS Core Conditions An individual student’s encounters including rotations, electives & SSCs -diverse experience Diseases & Conditions -reflects broader student experience -’gaps’ to map: curiosity / exploratory -gateway to additional sources of reference Curriculum Map -core conditions Community Map -diseases and conditions Why Community Maps as well as Curriculum Maps? Ability to filter maps to show only curriculum content

Initial Focus Group (following viewing concept demonstrator) Informal focus group: year 4 medical students: Very keen on concept Would need training, especially for those less confident with IT Could it be used as additional feedback from students to lecturers? “This idea has engaged me from the outset and has potential, I believe, to revolutionise the MBBS course (as well as other courses) in many ways.” From a students point of view, one could be much clearer on ‘the big picture’, as you have a curriculum map laid out in front of you, it is simpler and easier to find out curriculum content, learning outcomes and formal resources, all linked together, and also seeing how similar topics are interlinked throughout the course.” “It seems a really good idea but it important that we get training on how to use it.”

and related information mapping software Short review of Web-based mind maps Buzan style mind maps Simple mind maps Concept maps Organisational diagrams Image-rich mind maps 3D topicscapes

Initial interfaces & user preferences Text-based interface Mind-map style interface Forthcoming focus groups: explore options e.g. colour coding terminology e.g. ‘nodes’ or topics

Refining the Learning Maps application Student input, focus groups Input from curriculum leaders & support staff Populating the curriculum maps Focus Groups, late 2009 / early 2010 Psychology Medicine Speech Therapy Initial Piloting and evaluation (curriculum maps for a single academic year) Piloting in Medicine in Semester 2, 2009 Piloting in Psychology & speech & language sciences? Evaluation Questionnaires based in goals & baseline + focus groups BOS approval, ethics approval Sustainability Review Larger piloting from Sept (Medicine, psychology, speech & language sciences) Next steps

Baseline & Challenges

Curriculum Maps: elsewhere… Willett T.G. Current status of curriculum mapping in Canada and the UK. Medical Education, 2008, 42, survey of Canadian and UK medical schools to determine the current status, characteristics, and challenging and successful aspects of their efforts in curriculum mapping. 31 Medical schools responded to a questionnaire: the majority of schools are in the process of building maps only 20% of schools have managed to complete them Great variation amongst Schools: software used to construct the maps educational elements included in the maps variety of educational outcome frameworks are employed for curriculum evaluation. Major challenges include: complexity human resource demands use of medical ontologies, faculty development interface desig n

Challenges for Curriculum Mapping ♯ 1 Stage 5  Stage 4  Stage 3  Stage 2  Stage 1  2007/082008/092009/102010/112011/12 Student journey through the curriculum ‘here and now’ teaching focus e.g MBBS: between major restructuring of the curriculum (aprox. every 5-7yrs) :  stable: units (modules), programme outcomes  minor adjustments: sessions, cases, unit outcomes (responsive to evaluation / QA)  more variation in assessment & differences in delivery by 4 ‘Base Units’ (stages 3 & 5) Challenge: the curriculum changes over time

Challenges for Curriculum Mapping ♯ 2 Stepped availability of study guides, cases and timetable data Semester 2 Available  Semester 1 Available  Sept 2008Jan 2009Sept 2009Jan 2010 i.e. a fully detailed / data-driven curriculum map for the current academic year would not be available until Semester 2. A partial map would be no good at all! (Needs to be a semi-persistent map but drawing on latest information as it becomes available). Resources (presentations etc) are uploaded into the VLE on a ‘just in time’ basis.

Challenges for Curriculum Mapping ♯ 3 VLE / curriculum databases (baseline)  designed to support complex curricula with large number of contributors  using familiar Word documents (well formatted ‘portal documents’)  these populate databases and structure the VLE when they are uploaded  supports changing curriculum with views by multiple academic years Fit for purpose, but raise challenges for online curriculum maps: Codes used in VLE and timetable are not persistent  e.g. ‘PPD2.15’ may referrer to completely different teaching sessions from one academic year to the next  Problematic as resources are linked to these non-persistent codes Key data is in the form of non-standardised text  e.g. learning outcomes, core presentations / conditions etc.  language is inconsistent between study guides (modified for context)  hard to differentiate between unit-specific and programme outcomes & content

Demonstration: Mapping outcomes to modules Contextualising language Demonstration: Mapping outcomes to modules Contextualising language Challenge: Key data is in the form of non-standardised text

Challenge: overview of the curriculum – connecting it all together Demonstration: connecting different elements of the curriculum Demonstration: connecting different elements of the curriculum

Challenge: where is x taught in the curriculum? Occasional teachers: quick overview of where a given topic in the curriculum better contextualisation & appropriate level reduced duplication (unintended) Curriculum Managers: QA + External inspections Example of what a list could look like:

Challenge: personal learning Challenge: cross modular learning

Challenge: graduate skills framework / transferable skills Challenge: community & changing nature and expectations of modern learners -sharing, rating and commenting on external resources

Add, rate and comment / review resources

Search High volume of results mixed relevance Saturation (too many Connections – ‘hairball’) e.g. MBBS: 50+ learning outcomes per module. High- level outcomes present in virtually every module. Challenge: Getting the right balance Automation Specificity & Granularity Initially reliant on manually making connections (curriculum & community) Maintenance costs as the curriculum changes Refine relevance scoring Data on connected topics used to improve future automation/specificity (related keywords / strength of connections)

Further Information

Stakeholders & diversity of requirements Differences in perception of what curriculum maps are/should be Group work 1. Individually read handout of ‘high-level’ educational objectives -rate in accordance of their relative importance to you (5 mins) In groups: 2. Discuss the objectives and importance to stakeholder groups Pick 5 to ‘unpack’ and discuss in detail Feedback key points to the

I prefer ?

The map will help me better understand the MBBS curriculum?

It is easy to use?

The map would benefit my learning?

I understand the concept of Learning Maps?

Knowing how a teaching session relates to the rest of the curriculum is important to me?

Having the map will be useful for preparation before a teaching session?

Having the map will be useful for reviewing and reflecting after a session?

Having the map will be useful for revision?

It would be useful to add notes and reflections to teaching sessions and other parts of the map?

I only want information and resources provided by teaching staff ?

I frequently supplement my learning with external resources on the web ?

How often would you envisage using the map (once complete) ?