1. Centre for HE Research and Practice Learner-centred Curriculum Professor Diane Hazlett

2. To provide a supportive environment, in which innovative approaches to learning, teaching and leadership are encouraged, valued and rewarded, for all staff and students in the University UNIVERSITY OF ULSTER LEARNING AND TEACHING STRATEGY 2013/14 – 2017/18 VISION GOAL To lead innovation in learning through flexible, inclusive and accessible provision We will realise our goal through the following three strategic aims: and enabling aim: To provide transformative, high quality, learning experiences through the promotion of meaningful staff student partnerships that engender a shared responsibility Empowering learners to excel in professional life through transformative higher education To provide appropriate learning opportunities which are flexible, responsive to and inclusive of the needs of students, professions, industry and the wider community To enhance Ulster’s role as a sector leader for student employability as an integral part of the wider student experience.

3. Core Strategic Aims Institutional reference points to Learning and Teaching Strategy 2013/14-2017/18 To enhance the quality of the student learning experience. To target, recruit, support and retain a diverse range of students. To promote and foster creativity in curriculum design and delivery. To promote learning, professionalism and employability through the integration of academic theory and relevant professional vocational practice.

4. Pedagogies for Engagement STUDENT

6. Place for learning

7. Learner-centred Curriculum 1.Creation of Community 2.Sharing of Power 3.Use of Assessment for continuous improvement (Cullen et al., 2012)

8. Learner-centred Curriculum  Student-centred, interactive and innovative programmes  Curricula designed to promote leadership in students  Develop students’ thinking skills  Reflect new models of learning and practice  Effectively integrate technology  Promote a lifelong career commitment  Include intra- and interdisciplinary learning experiences  Prepare students for the roles they will assume

9. ASSOCIATIVE – builds concepts or competencies in stages e.g. Guided instruction, Drill and practice CONSTRUCTIVE (individual) – achieves understanding through active discovery e.g. Experiential learning, Problem-based learning CONSTRUCTIVE (social) – achieves understanding through dialogue and collaboration e.g. Conversational model, Reciprocal teaching SITUATIVE – develops practice in a particular community e.g. Work-based learning, (Continuing) Professional Development Pedagogic Design Learning Perspectives

10. Learning Activities Learner-Centred Curriculum Design

11. Learning Design in course teams: Implications for professional learning – teachers and students STUDENT TEACHER ASSESSMENT DESIGN

12. Pedagogies Active, Flexible, Collaborative

13. Students/graduates of learner- centered programs (Blumberg, 2004 ) Know why they need to learn and how to learn Have self awareness of their learning abilities and their process of gaining it Are responsible and are prepared to become informed citizens Can retrieve & evaluate information Use knowledge to solve problems Can communicate their knowledge in real settings

14. Curriculum Design and Application How do the team?.... Encourage staff-student contact? Develop independent critical thinking? Encourage active learning? Provide prompt feedback? Emphasise time on task? Communicate high expectations? Respect diverse talents and learning styles? Support curriculum with blended learning?

15. Indicators of Learner-centredness- Evaluation and Assessment Are the learning outcomes clearly stated and tied to assessment and evaluation measures? Are there formative assessments and summative evaluations? Is assessment and evaluation ongoing through the semester or only at the end? Are assessments used as learning tools or just grades? How do students know what their performance is and how grading is presented on the syllabus?

16. Focusing on Assessment for Learning: The newly adopted Ulster Principles of Assessment and Feedback for Learning aim to promote and encourage effective assessment and feedback practice, for students and staff at Ulster. Ulster staff are requested to familiarise themselves with the seven principles and to consider and plan how to embed the principles into their teaching, to enhance assessment and feedback practice. This should be evident in the revalidation documents and discussion with the panel

17. Aims: to establish a culture where learning design and feedback practices drive curriculum design and engender student learning (Crisp, 2012; Norton, 2009b; Price et al., 2011; Olsson & Roxå, 2012). to embed the Ulster Principles of Assessment and Feedback for learning in the practice of all involved in teaching and supporting student learning to further develop staff student partnerships and interactions to support this theme to disseminate effective practice and encourage pedagogical research and dialogue in assessment and feedback

18. Assessment and Feedback Harness technology to facilitate the assessment process in an effective and efficient manner (Hepplestone and Parkin, 2012) Encourage and maximise opportunities for dialogical assessment and feedback processes – both staff- student and student-student (Beaumont et al., 2008; Boud et al.,1999; Blair & Cartney, 2010; McGinty, 2012; Nicol, 2010) Consider the role of on-going feedback for undergraduate and taught masters students undertaking research projects

19. Assessment and Feedback Encourage creativity in assessment design to engage and motivate students, particularly the use of active learning approaches such as problem-based learning and authentic assessment (Boud, 1997; Gulikers, 2004; Savery, 2006) Engage staff in conducting action research projects that explore and disseminate their assessment and feedback practices more fully (Norton 2009a;) Utilise institutional processes to drive and measure changes in practice and their impact e.g. UKPSF, PD&R, student survey on the quality of teaching, programme management, SoTL and Pedagogic Research.

20. Constructive Alignment

21. 1.Clarify good performance Help to clarify, from the early stages of a programme, what good performance means (goals, criteria, standards);Clarify good performance 2.Encourage time and effort on task Encourage 'time and effort' on challenging learning tasks, which recognise the importance of learning from the tasks, not just demonstrating learning through tasks;Encourage time and effort on task 3.Deliver timely high quality feedback Deliver timely learner-related feedback information that helps students to self- correct and communicates clear, high, expectations and professionalism;Deliver timely high quality feedback 4.Provide opportunities to act on feedback Provide opportunities for students to act on feedback and close any gap between current and desired performance through complementary and integrated curriculum design and pedagogic practice;Provide opportunities to act on feedback

22. Encourage positive motivational beliefs Encourage positive motivational beliefs Ensure that all assessment has a beneficial, constructive, impact on student learning, encouraging positive motivational beliefs, confidence and self- esteem; Develop self-assessment and reflection Develop self-assessment and reflection Facilitate the development of self- and peer-assessment skills and reflection on learning, to enable students to progressively take more responsibility for their own learning, and to inspire a lifelong capacity to learn; Encourage interaction and dialogue Encourage interaction and dialogue Encourage interaction and dialogue around learning and professional practice (student-student, lecturer-student and lecturer-lecturer) including supporting the development of student learning groups and peer learning communities.

23. Website: http://www.ulster.ac.uk/centrehep/assessmenthttp://www.ulster.ac.uk/centrehep/assessment

24. Implementation Ideas (pdf cards) 1.Clarify good performanceClarify good performance 2.Encourage time and effort on taskEncourage time and effort on task 3.Deliver timely high quality feedbackDeliver timely high quality feedback 4.Provide opportunities to act on feedbackProvide opportunities to act on feedback 5.Encourage positive motivational beliefsEncourage positive motivational beliefs 6.Develop self-assessment and reflectionDevelop self-assessment and reflection 7.Encourage interaction and dialogueEncourage interaction and dialogue

25. Professional Engagement: UKPSF “…staff engaged in delivering or supporting a collaborative programme are appropriately qualified for their role” Areas of Activity Core Knowledge Professional Values

26. Team engagement with L&T Enhancement

27. Student Engagement Student engagement is about what a student brings to Higher Education in terms of goals, aspirations, values and beliefs and how these are shaped and mediated by their experience whilst a student. SE is constructed and reconstructed through the lenses of the perceptions and identities held by students and the meaning and sense a student makes of their experiences and interactions. As players in and shapers of the educational context, educators need to foster educationally purposeful SE to support and enable students to learn in constructive and powerful ways and realise their potential in education and society (RAISE 2010).

28. Recent/Current initiatives SE strategic work stream CHERP/SU focus groups with students prior to revalidation HEA funded Students as Partners change programme 2012-2013 CHERP conference Jan 2013 – Student Engagement: a catalyst for transformative change HEA/Paul Hamlyn foundation funded What Works? Student Retention & Success Change Programme 2012-2016 Ulster Student Experience Principles

29. Student Engagement (SE) Institutional reference points: Learning and Teaching Strategy 2013/14-2017/18 Graduate qualities Guidelines for first year teaching Transition policy Principles of Assessment and Feedback for Learning HEA What Works Student Retention and Success Change programme Ulster Student Experience Principles

30. Where is this relevant in revalidation/evaluation documentation? – Section BCommentaries B2.5 Learning, Teaching & Assessment B2.7Creativity, innovation & good practice B2.10.1Graduate Qualities B2 10.2Widening Participation B4Modules

31. Learning & Teaching Strategy/SE linkages (1) Strategic Aim 2Key supporting objectivesSection To provide transformative, high quality, learning experiences through the promotion of meaningful staff student partnerships that engender a shared responsibility To develop students’ knowledge, skills and confidence through active learning experiences with fellow students from diverse backgrounds, to engender a sense of student belonging and identity B2.5 B210.2 B2.5 B2.7 B210.2 To develop supportive partnerships and learning communities amongst and between students and staff to engender mutual respect and trust To develop ways of working that foster students’ active engagement with their learning and career progression and values their contributions to shaping the design and delivery of programmes. B2.5 B2.7

32. Learning & Teaching Strategy/SE linkages (2) Strategic Aim 2Key supporting objectivesSection To provide transformative, high quality, learning experiences through the promotion of meaningful staff student partnerships that engender a shared responsibility To ensure that all students are clear about what they can reasonably expect of their course and what is expected from them B210.2 B4 B210.1 B2.5 B2.7 B210.1 B2.5 B2.7 B4 To embed within the curriculum opportunities for students to develop as global citizens, socially, ethically and environmentally aware, sensitive to international contexts and cultures To exploit opportunities within course design and programme delivery for internationalising the curriculum and the student body To provide explicit opportunities for students to learn about sustainability, formally and informally, engaging with communities and employers. To develop and implement more efficient and effective methods for collecting, analysing and responding to student feedback on a timely basis.

33. Student Perspective Student Feedback Guide http://uusu.org/files/focus-on-feedback-2011.online.pdf For students… by students… with students… Students were involved in the working group that devised the Principles and received HEA funding to develop the ‘Focus on Feedback’ Student Feedback Guide.