Collaborative Curriculum Development Research Articles

Exploration and Practice of Collaborative Curriculum Development between Universities and Enterprises Based on Industrial Associations

The purpose of this paper is to discuss how to carry out curriculum construction based on industrial association, so as to improve the practicability, adaptability and employment competitiveness of vocational education. Through theoretical analysis and practical case analysis, this paper discusses the advantages and characteristics of school-enterprise cooperation and industrial association cooperation, and puts forward suggestions on strengthening cooperation mode and mechanism innovation, hoping to provide certain reference for the development of vocational education.

Bridging the gap between academia and industry: a case study of collaborative curriculum development

Bridging the gap between academia and industry: a case study of collaborative curriculum development

University–Business Collaboration for the Design, Development, and Delivery of Critical Thinking Blended Apprenticeships Curricula: Lessons Learned from a Three-Year Project

University–Business partnership for collaborative curriculum design, development, and delivery is an important dimension of University–Business Collaboration (UBC), but scarce information exists on how to enhance partnership for the design, development, and implementation of new curricula. With these questions in focus, this article intends to present and discuss the perceived experience during a three-year European funded project, namely, Think4Jobs. This project exemplifies the significance and benefits of UBC in the design, development, and delivery of curricula that meet the evolving demands of the labour market while promoting Critical Thinking (CT) as a foundational 21st century skill to contribute to graduates’ employability. Think4Jobs project brought together a multidisciplinary team of researchers and business organisations from five European countries (Germany, Greece, Lithuania, Portugal, and Romania) with interests in promoting and developing CT and mitigating eventual competence gaps. The project’s success was attributed to key practices, including defining a common conceptualization of CT, employing Participatory Co-Design, and providing common training for university and business partners. Clear objectives, explicit roles, effective communication, and ongoing evaluation further enhanced the collaboration. Experiential learning, real-work problems, and case studies reinforced the curricula, bridging the gap between academia and the labour market. By embracing these insights, future UBC initiatives can empower graduates with the necessary skills to stand out in an ever-changing labour market, contributing to enhanced education and successful careers.

Building Bridges: Collaborative Curriculum Development in Pediatric Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry

Building Bridges: Collaborative Curriculum Development in Pediatric Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry

Core Books and Post-Pandemic Pedagogy

Abstract Responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have increased feelings of isolation and lack of support among faculty. Grounded in collaborative curriculum and professional development, the Core Books at CUNY project offers faculty the opportunity to work together to incorporate texts from Columbia University's core curriculum into first-year writing (FYW) courses. The project invites faculty to collaboratively develop, implement, and reflect on the shared curriculum. As an Open Educational Resource (OER), the resulting curriculum was well positioned to become part of CUNY's Model Course Initiative that makes consistent curriculum easily shareable on the college's OpenLab, an open platform for teaching, learning, and collaboration. This curriculum provides the agility necessary for post-pandemic teaching as it builds a sustained community among participating contingent and full-time faculty and across community-building initiatives. It provides support on multiple levels, is flexible and adaptable for new situations—pandemic or otherwise—and ameliorates the isolation of teaching. Community through shared curriculum is therefore a way forward and a model for English departments in the post-pandemic future.

Collaborative construction of artificial intelligence curriculum in primary schools

AbstractBackgroundThe recent discussion of introducing artificial intelligence (AI) knowledge to K–12 students, like many engineering and technology education topics, has attracted a wide range of stakeholders and resources for school curriculum development. While teachers often have to directly interact with external stakeholders out of the public schooling system, few studies have scrutinized their negotiation process, especially teachers' responses to external influences, in such complex environments.PurposeGuided by an integrated theoretical framework of social constructionism, this research examined the process of how a teacher‐initiated AI curriculum was constructed with external influences. The research focused on teachers' perspectives and responses in mediating external influences into local schools and classrooms.MethodsA 3‐year ethnographic study was conducted in relation to an AI curriculum project among 23 Computer Science (CS) teachers from primary schools. Data collected from ethnographic observation, teacher interviews, and artifacts, were analyzed using open coding and triangulation rooted in the ethnographic, interpretivist approach.ResultsThree sets of external influences were found salient for teachers' curriculum decisions, including the orientation of state‐level educational policies, AI faculty at a partner university, and students' media and technology environments. The teachers' situational logics and strategic actions were reconstructed with thick descriptions to uncover how they navigated and negotiated the external influences to fulfill local challenges and expectations in classrooms and schools.ConclusionsThe ethnographic study uncovered the dynamic and multifaceted negotiation involved in the collaborative curriculum development, and offers insights to inform policymaking, teacher education, and student support in engineering education.

Capacity-building and collaborative curriculum development: A transition from BPharm to PharmD degree at Nnamdi Azikiwe university in Nigeria

Introduction: The Nnamdi Azikiwe University (NAU) started its Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPharm) programme in the 2006-2007 academic year. However, NAU’s BPharm curriculum was not clinically focused, and NAU lacked expertise in implementing the clinical pharmacy focus of a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) programme. The NAU pharmacy programme set out to transition from the BPharm curriculum to a new PharmD curriculum. Purpose: The purpose of this article is to describe the capacity-building and collaborative development of the new PharmD curriculum at NAU. In consultation and collaboration with an expert Carnegie African Diaspora. Description: During a six-week visit, the collaborators co-designed a model didactic and experiential PharmD curriculum, harmonised course syllabi and content, and revised the Clinical Clerkship Logbook. Conclusion: The Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences applied for and obtained University approval for the PharmD degree as a graduate degree. The National University Commission approved the PharmD programme.

Counting on Indigenous accountants: Collaborative curriculum development for an Indigenous pre-accounting enabling program

With less than 100 registered Indigenous accountants in Australia compared to an estimated 200,000 non-Indigenous people in the field, there is serious underrepresentation of the Indigenous population in the profession. There are many imperatives for increasing the number of Aboriginal people in accounting, but the barriers that individuals face before or upon entering the field are formidable. Therefore, the development of enabling programs in higher education is essential. The objective of this research is to develop a curriculum for the Indigenous Pre-Accounting Enabling Program at Charles Darwin University (CDU) in Darwin, Australia that is culturally empowering, breaks down the barriers for entering university, motivates Indigenous students to study accounting, links students to Indigenous professionals, offer gateways into the industry, and establishes a community of Indigenous students online and on campus. The novelty of the program is its early involvement of Indigenous accountants as role models as well as Indigenous corporations, regulators of Indigenous businesses (such as the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations) and accreditation bodies such as the Chartered Professional Accountants and Chartered Accountants.

REVIEW OF PCK ENHANCEMENT PROGRAMS FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY TEACHERS: PROSPECTS FOR LOCAL INTERVENTIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES

Utilizing the systematic literature review method, this paper analyzed past professional development programs aimed at enhancing science and technology teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge to provide prospects for local interventions. Lesson study, teacher-mentoring, and school-based collaborative curriculum development were the most locally appropriate, demographically, and contextually. However, they can afford a few participants only. This setback can be offset by supporting the interventions with a partly technology-based delivery platform. The study concluded that an innovative intervention must be designed for local use because it must be acceptable to the country’s situation along all stages of implementation. The intervention must be collaborative, not too multi-faceted, and flexible enough to use quality materials and human resources without compromising efficiency and effectiveness. KEYWORDS: Lesson study, PCK, pedagogical content knowledge, science education, systematic review

Decolonising the science curriculum in England: Bringing decolonial science and technology studies to secondary education

Recent ‘decolonising the curriculum’ movements have called for Higher Education to rethink how it engages with diversity and colonialism in its lectures and syllabi. But what can these ideas mean for science subjects in secondary schools? Grounded on a decolonial perspective around the Science and Technology Studies (STS) field, this paper explores the implications from decolonial perspectives for school science by addressing the following questions: how can science teachers decolonise mainstream science curricula such as the National Curriculum in England with inputs from the STS field? And, what can this endeavour bring to the teaching and learning of science? To support this investigation, a collaborative curriculum development endeavour with a science teacher at a comprehensive school in London/United Kingdom is explored. This experience involved planning and teaching four science topics from the National Curriculum in England to a year 8 classroom (students aged 12–13) and a qualitative investigation was carried out through interviews, observations and informal conversations over the school year. Findings reveal that rather than competing for space in an already overcrowded curriculum, decolonial ideas can help teachers to enrich and better integrate different science topics, while also addressing contemporary concerns about critical thinking and representativeness in (science) education.

Data Management and Curation for Qualitative Research: Collaborative Curriculum Development and Implementation

Objective: This eScience in Action article describes the collaborative development process and outputs for a qualitative data curation curriculum initiative led by a library faculty (research data specialist) at an R1 research university. Methods: The collaborative curriculum development activities described in this article took place between 2015-2020 and included 1) a college-wide “call out” meeting with graduate methods instructors and additional one-on-one conversations, 2) a year-long training series for disciplinary faculty teaching graduate-level qualitative research methods courses, 3) guest lectures and co-curricular workshops, and 4) the development of a credit-bearing graduate-level course. Results: This practice-based article includes a reflection on the collaborative curriculum development process and impacts, including the development of networks between the Library and qualitative researchers across campus. The article provides a proof-of-concept example for developing relevant and trustworthy library data services for humanities and qualitative social-science researchers. Conclusions: Curriculum development activities focused predominately upon researcher-centered perspectives and identified needs. However, changes in institutional expectations for library faculty (i.e. requirement to teach credit-bearing courses) played a major role in how the curriculum was implemented, its impact and continued sustainability of outputs going forward.

Chemicals are contaminants too: Teaching appreciation and critique of science in the era of Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

AbstractThis article examines the tensions that arose as teachers, scientists, youth, and community organizers worked to develop a curriculum that was responsive to community concerns and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Within the context of urban heavy metal contamination and building on previous critiques of the standards, we identified how the ideological commitments of the NGSS hinder their applicability to community issues. We examine latent ideological commitments in the performance expectations (PEs) and disciplinary core ideas as they relate to historical and present causes and consequences of urban heavy metal contamination. Whereas the scientific enterprise and chemical industry produce harms and benefits, the NGSS focus on benefits and ignore that both harms and benefits of science are unevenly distributed. Given the pressure on teachers to implement the NGSS, this paper presents examples from collaborative curriculum development efforts that meet PEs while pushing students to ask critical questions and engage with their communities to challenge the standards’ alignment with the chemical industry. Ultimately, we argue that the NGSS position teachers as promoters of the status quo of the scientific enterprise and we document possibilities for the role of science teachers in US schools that are more transformative.

Medical students’ training needs and attitudes on substance abuse: implications for medical education in Greece

The present study is concerned with the outcomes from a training programme on addiction counselling addressed to medical students in Greece. The programme is the result of a collaborative curriculum development between KETHEA, a drug treatment organisation for heroin addicts, and HeLMSIC, a human rights organisation of medical students in Greece. The programme was developed as a response to the absence of relevant courses within the medical schools in this country. The study presents the local context in relation to heroin use, access to treatment and training curricula. The study also presents a small-scale research conducted on medical students’ beliefs and attitudes about their understanding about drug use. Research findings suggest that actions towards developing a holistic learning framework comprising core elements about drug use treatment and recovery are important for a better response to the needs of drug users and heroin addicts in Greece.

Building Staff Capacity through Reflecting on Collaborative Development of Embedded Academic Literacies Curricula

Most Australian universities articulate some policies around the integration of graduate learning outcomes in courses. This paper draws on a Federal Government funded project that adopted a developmental approach to students’ acquisition of course learning outcomes, through the embedding of academic literacies in course curricula. The project was part of a Higher Education Participation and Partnership Program (HEPPP), which focused on courses with a high proportion of students from a low socio-economic status (SES) background. However, the project took an inclusive approach to curriculum development by focusing on the needs of all students. In describing this project, the paper aims to explore the challenges and advantages of collaborative curriculum development. The findings, which are based on individual interviews with the project partners suggest that increased collaboration between course team members and professional staff, and the opportunity to reflect built the capacity of all staff, specifically their understanding of academic literacies. Evaluation of the project helped to confirm that a curriculum renewal process needs to ensure that members of course teams have time to fully engage in collaborative reflection. The evaluation supported a move to a more cooperative approach to curriculum development.

Leadership Styles of Principals and Teachers of Nigerian Unity Schools: Using School Environment as a Tool For School Achievement

Collaborative, non-traditional leadership practices have attracted little attention in research about sustainable school achievement in Nigerian unity schools. The involvement of teachers in the administration of schools is well justified and arise from the need to boost school environment for the sake of attaining school achievement. The absence of teachers in the administration of unity schools impedes the proper attainment of school achievement. The purpose of this research is to reports on the outcomes of transformational leadership efforts in Nigerian unity schools aimed at enhancing the use of teachers in the administrative set-up. This study was carried out in seven selected unity schools all located in the north-eastern part of Nigeria. The study used Multifactor questionnaire 5x, School level environment questionnaire (SLEQ) and School Improvement questionnaire (SIQ) with 5 Likert-scale that involved the use of 800 questionnaires which were sent in which 790 were returned and 760 found valid for data analysis. Participants were drawn from a wide range of disciplines across the sampled schools. The establishment and operation of these school relied on a transformational leadership methodology by principals that facilitates acts of initiative, innovation, vision and courage through group interaction rather than through designated hierarchical roles. This research used the quantitative approach. The study found out that transformational leadership approach is effective in overcoming problems associated with lack of involvement of teachers in the building of a fruitful environment capable of bringing a good school achievement through cultivating the habit of a transformational leader, the principals of unity schools enabled teachers and other stake holders to engage in peer-led professional learning, collaborative curriculum and pedagogical development, and to facilitate wider institutional change (school achievement). This paper demonstrates that the transformational leadership model for a high school achievement reported here is effective in building capacity for both teachers and students via involvement of teachers in building the environment. The model is flexible enough for a variety of institutional settings, and hence, recommends the use of teachers in secondary school’s administration.

Evaluation of the learning components of a blended Bachelor of Midwifery programme: student perceptions of how these contributed to their learning and their readiness for practice.

Background: New information technologies for communication and distance learning enable programmes of study to be delivered, wholly or partly, off campus increasing the choice and flexibility for students. In 2007, Otago Polytechnic (OP) and Christchurch Polytechnic Institution of Technology (CPIT) Schools of Midwifery began a collaborative curriculum development for a jointly owned Bachelor of Midwifery, using a blended learning model for students based in seven regional sites throughout the South Island of New Zealand. Aim: The aim of this survey was to evaluate the effectiveness of this new model of curriculum design and students' perceptions of their readiness for practice. Method: A non-experimental descriptive survey of a purposive sample was developed to capture student demographics, their experiences of the blended learning components, and their perceptions of their readiness for practice. Graduands in 2011, 2012 and 2013 were invited to complete the survey. Ethical approval was obtained from the Otago Polytechnic Ethics Committee following consultation with the Kaitohutohu (Māori Advisor). Findings: A response rate of 93% (14/15) students was achieved in 2011 for a paper survey and 47% (16/34) in 2012 and 50% (20/40) in 2013 with an online survey. Overall, the students agreed or strongly agreed that the weekly face-to-face tutorials, intensive block courses, online learning modules and online tutorials had all contributed positively to their learning, while some disagreed or strongly disagreed that aspects of their ākonga (tutorial) group process, the number of peer group presentations in intensives, and the level of oversight for their practice portfolio facilitated their learning. Almost all (12/13 in 2011, 14/14 in 2012; 11/12 in 2013) participants agreed or strongly agreed about the value of clinical placements and perceived themselves well prepared for midwifery practice. Conclusion: This survey was successful in identifying components of the blended delivery programme that students perceived enhanced their learning, and aspects of these that could be improved. Almost all who participated agreed that the programme had prepared them for beginning practice as a midwife.

Cross-cultural crisis intervention training via videoconferencing

This article describes the training of Chinese social work faculty and professionals in crisis intervention in order to assist them in applying crisis intervention skills to their work with earthquake victims in their region and develop the capacity for future relief efforts. The training included three modules on working with individuals, children, and families and was conducted via videoconferencing over three sessions. Assessment of learning needs and collaborative curriculum development are described. Opportunities, challenges, and strategies for cross-cultural training via videoconferencing are discussed.

Partnership to promote interprofessional education and practice for population and public health informatics: A case study

Team-based healthcare delivery models, which emphasize care coordination, patient engagement, and utilization of health information technology, are emerging. To achieve these models, expertise in interprofessional education, collaborative practice across professions, and informatics is essential. This case study from informatics programs in the Academic Health Center (AHC) at the University of Minnesota and the Office of Health Information Technology (OHIT) at the Minnesota Department of Health presents an academic–practice partnership, which focuses on both interprofessionalism and informatics. Outcomes include the Minnesota Framework for Interprofessional Biomedical Health Informatics, comprising collaborative curriculum development, teaching and research, practicums to promote competencies, service to advance biomedical health informatics, and collaborative environments to facilitate a learning health system. Details on these Framework categories are presented. Partnership success is due to interprofessional connections created with emphasis on informatics and to committed leadership across partners. A limitation of this collaboration is the need for formal agreements outlining resources and roles, which are vital for sustainability. This partnership addresses a recommendation on the future of interprofessionalism: that both education and practice sectors be attuned to each other’s expectations and evolving trends. Success strategies and lessons learned from collaborations, such as that of the AHC-OHIT that promote both interprofessionalism and informatics, need to be shared.

Establishing a community of practice for Occupational Therapy curriculum development: the value of a two-way process.

A novel application of the concept of a community of practice was adopted in the development of a revised curriculum for undergraduate occupational therapy education in July 2012. University Academic staff and invited practice scholars met together, half yearly for day long meetings to develop and review a new curriculum. The formation of this community of practice allowed for open discourse and feedback to integrate theory and practice. A qualitative study utilised two focus groups, one for academic staff and one for practice scholars, at the end of the third meeting. The focus groups were facilitated by an external researcher, recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis elicited five major themes. Participants reported a sense of community and commitment to the curriculum process. Five themes emerged from the focus groups: (i) a sense of community; (ii) a two-way process with mutual benefits; (iii) benefits to the curriculum and to student learning; (iv) future opportunities including resilience of graduates, and potential research collaborations; and (v) the structure and process of engaging in the community of practice. The commitment of time, planning and resources required to establish and participate in collaborative curriculum development with practice scholars is shown to be a valuable investment for occupational therapy academics, expert practice scholars and ultimately for student learning. Further studies of student and graduate outcomes from the curriculum are warranted. Potential future outcomes of this process include resilience in graduates and collaborative research with practice scholars.

Acquiring Skills Beyond the Bench Through the Great Diseases ‐ a Teacher‐Scientist Partnership

Young scientists know that being competitive in the job market requires skills and experience beyond the bench. Given the overproduction of biomedical scientists with PhDs relative to the number of openings for secure academic positions, it is critical that young scientists acquire broad skill sets. Participating in curriculum design partnerships with teachers offers scientists a novel career opportunity. Our collaborative curriculum development team of biomedical scientists has partnered with teachers to build inquiry‐based biomedical curricula focused on “Great Diseases” that impact global health (Infectious Disease, Neurological Disorders, Metabolic Disease and Cancer), and now the scientists are also leading dissemination of the curricula in classrooms nationwide. Teachers often feel unprepared to lead students in formulating questions, designing experiments and interpreting data, a major obstacle to implementation of curricula with novel scientific content or authentic science practice. Interacting directly with scientists helps solve this problem. Scientists work with teachers via one‐on‐one virtual meetings, during which the biomedical scientist offers the teacher structured real‐time mentoring in content and helps devise strategies to implement the material in the classroom, at the same time augmenting their knowledge of effective teaching methods. We have found that when teachers participate in structured mentoring their ability to teach about cutting‐edge biomedical science improves, which is passed on to the high school students, the ultimate beneficiaries.Funded through: NIH Grant: R25OD010953‐04, gift from Boston Scientific and Cubist Pharmaceuticals Grant