Curriculum Development Project Research Articles

Integration of palliative care into oncology: A curriculum development project.

202 Background: Program Directors of Oncology Fellowships cite lack of adequate faculty to teach communication skills, prognostication and symptom management to oncology fellows as a barrier to ensuring oncologists integrate palliative care into their own practice. We partnered with ASCO and its Training Program directors to develop, evaluate and disseminate a PC curriculum using an innovative format. Methods: All of the fellows in a program were randomized as a single group to one of 3 cohorts: digital education, digital education plus a 4-week palliative care rotation or delayed digital education (control). In the intervention, each fellow received 2 MCQs (on their phones or other device) focused on a particular teaching point, every other day. If answered incorrectly, focused education material was forwarded to the learner and the testing point was retested at a later date. Fellows in cohort 2 also participated in a clinical rotation at an ACGME approved PC program. Cohort 3 received the same training as cohort one, but beginning fellowship year 2, as a delayed control. Fellows’ PC knowledge was assessed during the in-training exam pre- and post-intervention. Opioid prescribing behavior was tracked after graduation and compared with a control group( group 4). Results: 283 fellows from 71 programs were quasi-randomized. The average ITE score of PC MCQs ranged from 70-73% correct across all groups and all years, for pre- and post-test scores. All fellows randomized to the PC rotation, completed it. Prescribing data was based on NPI numbers and available for all providers. 72% of cohort 1 prescribed opioids appropriately, 57% cohort 2, 72% cohort 3, 46% in a group 4 (1 vs 4, p=.0008; 2 vs 4, p=.2231; 3 vs l, p=.0011). Conclusions: Spaced education via a hand held device is acceptable, efficient and cost-effective. All groups showed acceptable knowledge on the in-training examination. Yet, opioid prescribing behavior improved as a result of the education intervention. The favorable impact on opioid-prescribing behavior was extinguished by the PC rotation, raising the question about the role of a PC clinical rotation.

Beyond a Tolerance of Ambiguity: Symbolic Competence as Creative Uncertainty and Doubt

Author(s): Richardson, Diane | Abstract: Tolerance of ambiguity has been referred to as “the indispensable component of symbolic competence” (Kramsch, 2006, p. 251) and the recommendation was later made for college-level language instructors interested in emphasizing symbolic competence in their classrooms to “bring up every opportunity to show complexity and ambiguity” (Kramsch, 2011, p. 364). Within foreign language (FL) education, however, there is often a tendency to encourage negotiation of meaning in intercultural communication as a means of overcoming ambiguity. Yet ambiguity is an integral attribute of poetic and academic language as well as of day-to-day interactions, and embodies the very experience of language learning. Thus, FL pedagogies that incorporate the notion of symbolic competence emphasize that ambiguity—that is, multiplicity or indeterminacy of meaning—is not to be reduced, solved, or overcome. Rather, it should be promoted in order to emphasize the creative, productive side of the accompanying uncertainty and doubt. This can lead to the enhancement of creative abilities in learners—abilities that may be useful in navigating the ever-changing language game in which they are engaged.This article makes the case for FL education to move beyond a pedagogy that simply tolerates ambiguity, to one that wholeheartedly embraces it so as to promote and activate symbolic competence. Drawing from a curriculum-development project for an intermediate German language and culture class at a large public university in the southwestern United States, I explore the three types of ambiguity that were highlighted in that course; namely, ambiguity of genre, ambiguity of perspective, and ambiguity of silence as they are experienced in and through a variety of literary and non-literary texts. The course focused on the ambiguity of a seemingly familiar genre, the fairy tale, and how learners’ understanding of this genre became more nuanced by engaging with multiple versions, perspectives, and cultural narratives related to it—from a variety of sources, including celebrity interviews, medieval literature, and sports discourse, among others. Based on the analysis of student reflections to various tasks and assessments, this article illustrates which moments of ambiguity learners identified, how they reacted to those ambiguities, and how this contributed to the enhancement of their symbolic competence.

(Dis-) Locating the transformative dimension of global citizenship education

Despite a groundswell of evidence for transformative education, manifestos for ‘transformative pedagogy for global citizenship’ remain under-theorized and pay limited attention to implications for practice. This paper connects theory and practice through analyzing a curriculum development project that sought to produce a framework for ‘engaged global citizens’. It considers the political and philosophical framings of the self and other, citizen and world, that underlie this empirical work, especially with reference to reflexivity, hermeneutics, democratic engagement and co-production. The resultant pedagogical framework, based upon concepts of transformative learning, attempted to undercut the homogenizing tendencies within global citizenship education (GCE). This discussion highlights the tensions and reifying effects of educational frameworks such as the Teaching Excellence Framework in the UK and the proposed framework for ‘global competence’ in the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment. Evidence is presented that frameworks which attempt to make explicit educational phenomena and processes are overdetermined by efficacy and metrics that become perverse ends in themselves. While the anticipated project output here was the framework itself, the substantive output was, in fact, practical: namely the ongoing deliberation and reflection upon the discourses that both do and undo the task of locating the transformative dimension of GCE.

Images and identity: Children constructing a sense of belonging to Europe

The European Framework for Key Competences (2006) promotes a shared European identity as a priority for assuring a cohesive future for the European Union (EU), yet the development of a discrete European identity remains acutely contentious, with critics claiming it is too shallow to support the bonds of solidarity needed to engender and support a shared ‘future together’. Most EU member states now have some sort of citizenship curriculum within their state education systems and most are aware that such programmes are difficult to introduce, to teach and to assess within conventional school curricula. However, much of the citizenship education literature tells us that educators are conscious of the problematic nature of exploring citizenship identities. Drawing on both philosophical perspectives and an empirical investigation undertaken by one of the authors, this paper argues that issues of belonging may prove a useful way to explore wider conceptions of citizenship. The research was designed to examine how visual art and citizenship education could be combined to explore and extend children’s notions of European identity, using data from Images & Identity, an EU-funded 2-year curriculum development project on citizenship and art education in the Czech Republic, England, Ireland, Germany, Malta and Portugal.

“Beyond Bali”: a transformative education approach for developing community resilience to violent extremism

The Bali bombings of 2002 and 2005 confronted Australia and its neighbours directly for the first time with the dangers of violent extremism. Since then, the Bali Peace Park Association (BPPA), consisting of former victims, their families and other interested parties, has been lobbying for the creation of the “Bali Peace Park” to be built on one of the bombing sites. Peace parks have been conceived as community-driven projects against violent extremism, and the planned Bali Peace Park embodies this principle. In 2012, the BPPA initiated “Beyond Bali”, an ambitious and highly relevant curriculum development project, and secured funding from the Australian Attorney General’s Department. Drawing on the expertise of a counter-terrorism expert, two university education experts and the first-hand experiences of victims and their families, the Beyond Bali curriculum package was created. Beyond Bali covers a range of topics and activities, including social science studies and ethical dilemma learning, is suitable for Years 8 and 9 students studying the Australian Curriculum, and is available for free from the BPPA: http://www.balipeacepark.com.au/beyond-bali-education-package.html. In this paper we position Beyond Bali as a transformative education resource within the fields of peace and global education and argue that it embodies UNESCO’s “learning to be” principle.

Integrating sustainability education into international marketing curricula

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to extend the current knowledge of curriculum developments in international business and marketing curricula. Integrating sustainability into business and marketing curricula of the universities are widely debated in previous literature. Sustainability is a global phenomenon; however, curriculum development projects aimed at integrating sustainability education into international business and marketing curricula are scarce. The study investigates the learning gaps in sustainability education among undergraduates enrolled in an International Marketing course to postulate a series of pedagogical practices, leading to effective integration of sustainability education into the curricula. Design/methodology/approach – Two-phased research method consisting of complementary data collection techniques informed the findings of this study. First, an online survey was conducted among 111 undergraduates enrolled in an International Marketing course. The findings of the survey are used in designing the second phase of data collection performed through a content analysis of essays written by 60 undergraduates evaluating sustainable marketing practices of international firms. Informed by the findings gathered through SPSS- and Nvivo-aided data analysis, this study postulates a series of pedagogical practices. Findings – The study argues that curriculum development projects in integrating sustainability into an existing curriculum in universities should be aimed at bridging undergraduates’ learning gaps in sustainability education. The main learning gaps identified in the study reveal that undergraduates find it difficult to view the social function of international business firms from a holistic point of view; critically assess sustainable marketing practices; and articulate futuristic views on sustainable marketing practices. Further, the content analysis revealed three major thematic categories: sustainability from reductionists’ perspective, sustainable marketing practices bring nothing “but good for businesses”, ambivalent about the future success of sustainable marketing practices. Triggered by these learning gaps, thematic categories and the theoretical underpinnings of Rusinko’s (2010) matrix for integrating sustainability education, the study offers a set of practical pedagogical guidelines to incorporate sustainability education into curricula. Research limitations/implications – The study is limited to exploring undergraduate student perspectives, and it would be worthwhile if educators’ perspectives are explored in future studies. The findings could be further improved by conducting a cross-sectional study across several business disciplines. Practical implications – Based on the findings of the study, a set of guidelines for developing a pedagogical plan to incorporate sustainable education into curricula is presented. Originality/value – Educators argue that successful curriculum development projects aiming at integrating sustainability into existing curricula should be aligned with the structure of the existing curricula, and those new pedagogical practices in integrating sustainability into existing curricula should be built on students’ learning gaps in sustainability education. To this end, this study examined undergraduates’ learning gaps in sustainability education and postulated pedagogical practices toward integrating sustainability education into an existing curriculum of international marketing.

New Collaboration Forms in Site-specific Blended Courses Abroad: Lessons Learned in the ADRIART.net Curriculum Development Project

New Collaboration Forms in Site-specific Blended Courses Abroad: Lessons Learned in the ADRIART.net Curriculum Development Project

Curriculum Transformation And Art Education

‘Images and Identity' is a research and curriculum development project, funded under the European Commission’s Comenius scheme, with partners in six EU countries. The project has developed and produced curriculum materials linking citizenship and art education. In 2010 it published on-line training materials that include: schemes of work that integrate art and citizenship learning; suggestions for facilitating lessons in which school children use digital media to represent and explore their personal and group identifications with Europe; and a visual resource of images by artists and schoolchildren that facilitates teaching about citizen identity. A book about this first stage of the project was published in 2013. In this paper the project coordinator will reflect on this initiative in the light of the position statement developed for this symposium. It will focus in particular on combining learning in the school subjects of citizenship, art making and art criticism and using digital media for visual communication.

Curriculum leadership in action: A tale of four community college heads of department leading a curriculum development project

College Heads of Department (HoDs) are increasingly expected to perform more curriculum-leadership tasks, maintaining and advancing the department curriculum, especially in developing countries. However, in practice, HoDs are reported to pay little attention to this aspect of their job due to several factors—one of which is a lack of professional support to play this role. This case study investigated how four HoDs of a community college perceived and enacted curriculum leadership during a curriculum-development project after receiving relevant training and assistance. The findings showed that the HoDs valued the relevance and usefulness of the professional support received, which made them realize the significance of their role as curriculum leaders. The findings also indicate that the ways the HoDs enacted the curriculum-leadership tasks and the challenges they encountered varied based on several factors. The conclusion drawn is that the support HoDs need and the challenges they encounter in assuming active curriculum leadership suggest their need for three professional competencies and the need for supportive organizational structures.

A course in dictionary use for Korean EFL teachers

This study examines knowledge needs for dictionary reference skills among Korean teachers of English within the context of a 12-h in-service teacher-training course in dictionary use. As an integral part of the curriculum development project, the study looked into various aspects of English teachers’ dictionary training needs, mainly by means of multiple survey instruments (i.e., before- and after-training questionnaires) and the qualitative analysis of the teachers’ during-course comments throughout multiple phases of the training process. The trainee-teachers’ spontaneous questions regarding dictionary use as well as their during-training feedback provided particularly useful information about the skills that should be focused on to meet the perceived training needs of current Korean teachers of English. The study has identified a clear need for typological and functional knowledge about the various dictionaries available, for informed dictionary choices, and for skills to exploit electronic dictionary functions. Most of the perceived needs were found to be related to across-dictionary skills, rather than skills specific to a particular dictionary. From this study, it was also found that explicit skill training can be a very effective mode of teaching for specific user-groups such as non-native teachers of English.

Results of a digital library curriculum field test

The DL Curriculum Development project was launched in 2006, responding to an urgent need for consensus on DL curriculum across the fields of computer science and information and library science. Over the course of several years, 13 modules of a digital libraries (DL) curriculum were developed and were ready for field testing. The modules were evaluated in DL courses in real classroom environments in 37 classes by 15 instructors and their students. Interviews with instructors and questionnaires completed by their students were used to collect evaluative feedback. Findings indicate that the modules have been well designed to educate students on important topics and issues in DLs, in general. Suggestions to improve the modules based on the interviews and questionnaires were discussed as well. After the field test, module development has been continued, not only for the DL community but also others associated with DLs, such as information retrieval, big data, and multimedia. Currently, 56 modules are readily available for use through the project website or the Wikiversity site.

Participation in a Multi-institutional Curriculum Development Project Changed Science Faculty Knowledge and Beliefs About Teaching Science

Despite significant pressure to reform science teaching and learning in K12 schools, and a concurrent call to reform undergraduate courses, higher education science content courses have remained relatively static. Higher education science faculty have few opportunities to explore research on how people learn, examine state or national science teaching standards for K12 schools, or learn and practice research-based instructional strategies. The contrast between what is expected of future and practicing teachers in their K12 classrooms and what they experience in content and instruction in typical college or university science courses can be striking. This paper describes a multi-institutional collaboration among content-area science faculty and K12 teachers to develop undergraduate content courses for future elementary teachers in life and Earth science. Using data from the project evaluation, we report evidence of change in faculty knowledge and beliefs about science teaching and learning, and how that this translated into pedagogical practice in their courses.

Drama into the curriculum – Sisyphus’ work

The conditions for drama in compulsory education vary from country to country. The situation in Queensland, Australia, is interesting as Drama was introduced as an arts subject in the compulsory school curriculum (P-10) in 2002. This paper uses a case study approach, to describe and analyses the context and conditions for this specific curriculum development project. Findings suggest that curriculum development is unlikely to be a predictable and linear process, and to some extent, curriculum documents are reflecting changes that have already occurred. The author proposes a list of considerations which may be of benefit to drama educators in a range of curriculum contexts.

Rubric‐Based Mapping for Institutional Curriculum Development Projects

Rubric‐Based Mapping for Institutional Curriculum Development Projects

Degrees of Change: Understanding Academics Experiences with a Shift to Flexible Technology-Enhanced Learning in Initial Teacher Education

The implementation of technology enhanced learning in higher education is often associated with changes to academic work. This article reports on a study of staff experiences with curriculum development and teaching in multiple modes of blended and online learning in a Bachelor of Education degree. The findings indicate that the changes experienced by these teacher educators were significant but not wholesale. More specifically, the findings highlight three particular areas of change that impacted on their role as teacher educators: changed pedagogical practices, particularly in staff-student communication, interaction and relationship building with students; increasing workloads associated with flexible delivery; and changed needs for staff capacity building related to issues of quality in technology enhanced learning. Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) refers to situations in which technology is used to enhance the learners’ experiences. This includes online learning, blended learning and other situations in which technology is used to enrich or extend place-based (on campus) teaching and learning. Although TEL is not associated with a particular pedagogical approach, it is often associated with the use of (a) active approaches to learning which involve both creation and use of rich multimedia digital resources, (b) purposefully designed learning tasks which employ technology to promote cognitive engagement with program content, (c) collaborative learning situations in which communication is mediated by technology, (d) the personalisation of learning experiences afforded by the use of flexible learning technologies, (e) improving learners’ access to authentic learning and practice contexts with networked technologies, and (f) connecting learners with knowledgeable teachers, coaches, mentors and peers who can support learning. For many academics, the implementation of technology-enhanced learning (TEL) in university degree programs is associated with change, particularly changes to academic work. The suggested change is based on two prevalent assumptions in higher education (HE): first, that the dominant teaching model in HE is direct instruction -didactic, teacher driven and limited with respect to consideration of the particular needs of individual learners; and, second, that by its very nature, TEL represents an improvement over historically established university teaching, based on an emerging track record of learner-centric pedagogies and practices which focus on learners, their experiences and the way technology creates opportunities to cater to a variety of learner needs (see Hannafin & Land, 1997). Thus, a contrast has been created which pits the ‘old’ (or status quo) and all of the problems that may be associated with current higher education systems against the ‘new’, in which technology is meant to not only disrupt the status quo, but provide a number of solutions to cure the ills of a ‘broken’ higher education system which may be slow to change. While this contrast is both an oversimplification and a generalisation, it reflects aspects of current teacher education in Australian Journal of Teacher Education Vol 40, 7, July 2015 44 Australia, which is the context from which this formative evaluation is drawn. For reasons both historical and pragmatic, teacher education has tended to favour in-person, face-to-face teaching and learning as the preferred mode of delivery in initial teacher education. This makes the implementation of flexible TEL in the context of initial teacher education particularly interesting as a case for the study of the change associated with the implementation of TEL. This article examines the notion of change associated with the implementation of TEL in one teacher education program in Australia. In this article, the relationship between the implementation of TEL and particular changes in organisation, technology or practice is not seen as a fait accompli. Rather, the focus is the potential for change and the evaluation of change as beneficial (or otherwise) to the intended outcomes of a development process. Broadly, this article addresses the following proposition: If a shift to TEL represents the opportunity to change, what changes are necessary and beneficial to the success of the technology enhanced version of the course or program? The approach to this general question is case study in an undergraduate program in Australia. The article focuses on a large-scale curriculum development project which sought to produce multiple flexible, technology-enhanced versions of each individual unit within the degree program. Drawing from academics’ experiences within this project, the article reports on the results of a formative evaluation of the first year of the project. This article aims to improve understanding of the nature and degree of change associated with the adoption of TEL in context and the implications of these changes for the structuring and support of similar development projects.

Responding 30 Years Later

This article was written very early in my career. I was part way through my doctoral degree study on environmental education (EE) theory and practice, and had just completed an evaluation of a national EE curriculum development project. In both of these projects, I found that despite the presence of an emerging discourse about what a distinctive EE is or ought to be, classroom practice represented as EE was essentially either informational or nature study in character — somewhat different from the ‘education for the environment’ being advanced by researchers and curriculum developers internationally at the time. It seemed to me that this situation was less one of teachers’ failure to implement government policy than one of EE curriculum developers failing to recognise teachers’ existing, robust personal constructions of EE (of the environment, education, teaching and learning . . .). An entailment of this position is that EE research has the opportunity and responsibility of exploring the relationship of teachers’ theories and practices and the professional contexts within which these are intelligible. Consequently, a new wave emerged of participatory research involving teachers-as-researchers directly investigating the meaning and significance of their professional work. Some of this work is represented in the following publications.

Using simulation‐based inference for learning introductory statistics

Recent curriculum development projects emphasize teaching simulation and randomization‐based statistical inference as a prominent feature in introductory statistics courses. We describe the goals, distinctive features, and examples from some of these projects. Technology is a key component of these courses, so we mention desirable features of the various technology products used with this approach. We also discuss how student learning is being assessed in such courses, along with how the curriculum effort itself is being evaluated. We also touch on some challenges that we have encountered with teaching these courses, both from a student and a faculty viewpoint. WIREs Comput Stat 2014, 6:211–221. doi: 10.1002/wics.1302This article is categorized under: Statistical and Graphical Methods of Data Analysis > Bootstrap and Resampling Statistical Models > Simulation Models

Attending to the Language and Literacy Needs of English Learners in Science

This article presents the results of a study testing the efficacy of an instructional model that attends to the science, literacy, and language learning needs of English Learners (ELs) through a curriculum development project. The model is based on the premise that reading, writing, and discourse are better served when these important language processes are regarded as a means to rich subject matter learning. The quasi-experimental study included fourth and fifth grade ELs who experienced a science curriculum in one of two conditions: (a) science, literacy, and language integrated curriculum; or (b) a content-comparable curriculum where the focus was “hands-on” science. ELs in the treatment condition outperformed ELs in the comparison group in science understanding and science vocabulary, but no statistically significant differences were found with science reading.

Piloting and Evaluating a Redesigned Self-Directed Learning Curriculum

In the fourth installment of the column following the self-directed learning curriculum development project at Kanda University of International Studies, Japan, Satoko Watkins, Neil Curry and Jo Mynard detail the process of conducting a pilot of a possible self-directed learning curriculum for freshmen students, that would meet the needs and principles established in the previous two installments. This pilot represents quite a shift for the learning advisors (LAs), as it would bring what has up until now been a largely self-study course into the mainstream classroom environment, taught by LAs. The installment offers an insight into the strengths and potential weaknesses of such a course, and how students responded to it.

Developing a Curriculum for Emergency Medicine Residency Orientation Programs

BackgroundNew residents enter emergency medicine (EM) residency programs with varying EM experiences, which makes residency orientation programs challenging to design. There is a paucity of literature to support best practices. ObjectiveWe report on a curriculum development project for EM residency orientation using the Kern Model. CurriculumComponents of the revised curriculum include administrative inculcation into the program; delivering skills and knowledge training to ensure an entering level of competence; setting expectations for learning in the overall residency curriculum; performing an introductory performance evaluation; and socialization into the program. ResultsPost-implementation resident surveys found the new curriculum to be helpful in preparing them for the first year of training. ConclusionsThe Kern Model was a relevant and useful method for redesigning a new-resident orientation curriculum.