A two-stranded whole-of-course approach to postgraduate education

Abstract

ABSTRACT Whole-of-course approaches have emerged as an important topic in the contemporary outcomes-based education environment. While research-informed accounts of whole-of-course approaches exist, most take undergraduate education as the default. Few examples feature postgraduate education where students seek career enhancement rather than entry. Employing case study methodology, this paper discusses an innovative whole-of-course approach taken in the design and delivery of an Australian postgraduate education course. What marks it as innovative, is that the whole-of-course approach consists of two interrelated strands: One follows a (more familiar) whole-of-course practice of scaffolding graduate attributes, course and subject learning outcomes and is primarily driven by university interests and academics. A second whole-of-course process works alongside the first but is driven by postgraduates’ professional practice and career goals. The paper concludes by suggesting that a whole-of-course approach to design combined with a whole-of-course student process can reconcile postgraduates’ learning needs with the interests of the university.