The scholarship of curriculum practice and undergraduate program reform: Integrating theory into practice

Abstract

Scholarly approaches to curriculum practice are critical to the success of undergraduate program reform.

Fink About It: Development and Evaluation of a Communications Curriculum for Healthcare Professionals

“…The demands of professional bodies, and accreditation processes, can have a large bearing on emphasising this model, as seen in the professional courses. Although product models are useful, they often overlook the important human aspects such as attitude, emotional response, and personal values, as highlighted by Hubball and Gold, who provide a more holistic definition: "a coherent program of study that is responsive to the needs and circumstances of the pedagogical context and is carefully designed to develop students' knowledge, abilities and skills through multiple integrated and progressively challenging course learning experiences" (Hubball & Gold, 2007). Knight (Knight, 2001) likewise espouses the advantages of a process model of curriculum design, as more intuitive for third level, highlighting that it is not only content that is important but transition to autonomy and the acquisition of transferable skills necessary for lifelong learning.…”

An Evaluation of Foundation Provisioning Curriculum Delivery Workshops for Enabling Epistemological Access

“…Implementing a learning-centred curriculum requires an integrated approach that combines both pedagogical and organisational change strategies. The integrated learning-centred curricula model combines learning context strategies (support, leadership qualities, teamwork, et cetera); planning strategies (critical and specific learning outcomes); assessment strategies (range of assessment methods and opportunities); and programming strategies (diverse learning strategies: interdisciplinary learning modules, learning technologies, problem-based learning, lectures, independents study, and field experience) that allow students opportunities to acquire, integrate and apply knowledge in diverse settings (Hubball and Gold, 2007;Hubball and Burt, 2004).…”

Diverse Methodological Approaches and Considerations for SoTL in Higher Education

“…Further to important preliminary questions, SoTL researchers are challenged to consider broader and interconnected factors (e.g., theory-practice integration, process-outcome relationships) about their practice in order to formalize their SoTL research questions for investigation (Friedman, 2008;Norton, 2009). The framework in Figure 1 has been employed to assist faculty members with the formulation of SoTL research questions in diverse higher education settings (Hubball & Albon, 2007;Hubball & Burt, 2007;Hubball & EdwardsHenry, 2009;Hubball & Gold, 2007;Iaria & Hubball, 2008;Lanyon & Hubball, 2008;Steele, Hubball, & Day, 2009 This framework takes into account complex higher education contexts and highlights a wide range of potential time-phased SoTL research questions that can be selected.…”

“…Essentially, SoTL internalizes theory and practice through a systematic and cyclical process of inquiry that involves hypothesis testing, planning, observing, analysis, and action (Clarke & Erickson, 2004;McKinney, 2007;Mills, 2000). Thus, SoTL provides unique opportunities for faculty members to reflect on and initiate positive changes to their teaching and learning practices as well as engage students and colleagues in the process (Friedman, 2008;Hubball & Gold, 2007). Further SoTL attempts to find common ground within and across disciplines by engaging the scholarly community in critical educational issues in higher education (Senge & Scharmer, 2008).…”