Using phenomenography to inform curriculum development in the areas of Digital Curation and Digital Sustainability

Tony Reeves

doi:10.47408/jldhe.v0i0.265

Abstract

A British university is proposing to introduce two new postgraduate certificate qualifications in Digital Curation and Digital Sustainability. The proposed courses are intended to formalise this knowledge into a curriculum that enables professional practitioners working in related areas to develop their knowledge of how to manage digital assets in a sustainable manner. This case study sought to investigate the knowledge and skills required by digital professionals working in the areas of Digital Curation and Digital Sustainability at the university. The roles and responsibilities of these professionals were diverse, and the sample included specialists in the areas of digitisation and preservation of archive film and photography, copyright for digital assets, database and web development, bid writing, and managing digitisation projects. A phenomenographic methodology was used to identify the variations in how these professionals understood their work, and the categories of description emerging from the study identified them as researchers, specialist advisors, technical specialists, service providers, and perpetual students. The data analysis and resulting outcome space suggested that a problem-based learning curriculum would provide an effective way of preparing students to succeed as professionals in the areas of Digital Curation and Digital Sustainability.

Highlights

Using phenomenography to inform curriculum developmentThe concept and practice of Digital Curation has evolved in response to the need for organisations and individuals to be able to store and retrieve digital assets such as web pages, images, documents and videos (Pennock, 2007; Yakel, 2007)
The category of the perpetual student and its position as the foundational layer of the outcome space highlights Schon’s (1987) position that ‘knowingin-action’ is central to professional practice, and that much of this knowledge is acquired through situated learning
The outcome space itself indicates the dependency of each specific area of expertise and could be interpreted as representing a form of progression through the disciplines of Digital Curation and Digital Sustainability, further research is required to confirm this hypothesis

Summary

Introduction

Using phenomenography to inform curriculum developmentThe concept and practice of Digital Curation has evolved in response to the need for organisations and individuals to be able to store and retrieve digital assets such as web pages, images, documents and videos (Pennock, 2007; Yakel, 2007). Understanding the different roles of knowledge and knowing within organisations is increasingly viewed as a core competency (Cook and Brown, 1999), and some universities have responded to this need to prepare their graduates by either implementing programmes of digital literacy or by embedding the teaching of these literacies into existing curricula (Duggan, 2013). The university in question is seeking to target employees working in relevant professions by providing courses that will enable them to develop their professional practice through better management of digital assets.

Objectives

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion