Curriculum design step-by-step

Contents:

• Developing an accessible inclusive curriculum
• Understanding constructive alignment
• A six-step guide to course design
• Step 1 – QAA subject benchmarks
• Step 2 - course aims
• Step 3 – course learning outcomes
• Step 4 – module learning outcomes
• Step 5 – assessment tasks
• Step 6 – teaching activities
• Step 7 – resources
• References and further reading

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Developing an accessible and inclusive curriculum

When designing your curriculum, it is important to keep inclusivity and accessibility at the forefront of your mind. Doing so will help all students fully participate and close awarding gaps and will only improve your teaching, learning and assessment for all.

Also key to developing an inclusive curriculum is ensuring you embed opportunities for students to develop the employability skills they will need after graduation, and gain insights into the range of opportunities available to them after graduation. This is because the only opportunities we can be confident are available and accessible to all are those that we embed.

Understanding constructive alignment

Constructive alignment is the process of ensuring your learning outcomes, assessment and teaching activities are fully integrated across a course. This integration helps to produce a focused and scaffolded learning experience for your students, leading to reliable assessment that accurately and consistently measures the extent to which students have achieved their course learning outcomes (Cleaver and McLinden, 2021).

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A seven-step guide to course design

The design of an entire course will need to consider the following six stages in the teaching and learning process, ideally in this order:

1. Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) subject benchmark statements
2. course aims
3. course learning outcomes
4. module learning outcomes
5. assessment tasks
6. teaching activities
7. resources.

Below, we will go through each stage of the sequence, beginning with stage 1 (at the sector level) and progressively narrow our focus until we’re considering the resources needed within a specific teaching session.

Step 1 – QAA subject benchmarks

When designing a course, begin with the QAA subjects benchmark statement (SBS) for your subject. Written by subject specialists, they set out the disciplinary benchmark standards, the minimum threshold standards that a student will have demonstrated when they are awarded an honours degree. You will need to demonstrate how your course LOs map against the relevant QAA benchmark when seeking validation for your course. 

If you are designing a masters course, see also the QAA Masters Degree Characteristics Statement.  

Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Body (PSRB) accreditted courses will also need to align to their PSRB expectations. Typically, PSRB expectations or frmaeworks align closely to relevant QAA subject benchmark statements. 

Step 2 - course aims

Course aims are broad statements which summarise the overarching goals and intentions of a course. They should address the purpose of the course and what it is trying to achieve, as well as the intended benefits for students. 

Course aims provide a clear direction and reference point for everyone involved in course design and help prospective learners with key information so they can quickly assess what makes your course distinct from comparable courses elsehere and whether the course is relevant to them.

Alongside these aims, course learning outcomes then operationalise these broad aims by setting out specific and measurable (assessable) statements of what a student will know, understand or be able to do by the end of a course.  

See How to write course aims, for further guidance and examples.

Step 3 – course learning outcomes

Course learning outcomes (CLOs) outline the broad threshold knowledge, understanding, and skills that students will be able to demonstrate upon successful completion of the course. Course learning outcomes need to be:

• Consistent in how they are written: using a testable verb, object and context.
• Student-centred: Focused on what learners will achieve rather than what instructors will teach. 
• Measurable: Clearly state observable actions or skills. 
• Achievable: Realistic within the scope of the course. 
• Relevant: Aligned with course aims and discipline-specific needs
  

All CLOs must be assessed at the level of the award. So, for an undergraduate degree, you must be able to assess all of the course learning outcomes at Level 6. Of course, you will also be assessing them, in a variety of ways, at lower levels.

See How to write learning outcomes for further guidance how to ensure your course learning outcomes meet these criteria, and to view examples.

Use the QAA subject benchmark (usually the section under benchmark standards) to help construct your course learning outcomes. Remember, the benchmark acts as a guide and can be amended to suit the needs of your individual course.

Use the learning outcomes map on your course specification doucment to show how your modules align to the CLOs. Note that, one module should not meet all of the course learning outcomes because this would mean students would only have to take that one module to pass the course. 

For an example of a course learning outcomes map see the course specification document on the Academic Quality and Partnerships (AQP) validation page. 

Step 4 – module learning outcomes

Module learninig outcomes (MLOs) follow similar principles to course learning outcomes (CLOs). However, rather than aligning these outcomes to the QAA subject benchmark, you will now be aligning them to the course learning outcomes. Also, in comparison to CLOs, module leanring outcomes are more narrow and focussed. 

See How to write learning outcomes for further guidance the difference between CLOs and MLOs and to view examples of MLOs pitched at different levels.

Things to remember

It is important to remember that:

• when assembling the modules for your course, think about which modules need to be core and which optional
• the UoS stipulates that a 15-credit module should have no more than four learning outcomes, whilst a 30-credit module should have no more than six learning outcomes
• when creating the module learning outcomes, ensure you have oversight into how your module relates to other modules on the course, ensuring course learning outcomes are being addressed evenly
• you should pitch your module learning outcomes at the appropriate level. Use the University spreadsheet of FHEQ levels and relevant language
• your learning outcomes need to be achievable. The next section will look at how the module assessment aligns with the learning outcomes. You may find that module learning outcomes need to be amended slightly in light of your assessment development.

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Step 5 - assessment tasks

Constructive alignment encourages a course-level approach to assessment tasks. This supports:

• mapping assessments across the course and clearly explaining their purpose and expectations
• communicating learning and assessment requirements clearly and consistently
• encouraging students to reflect on feedback within and across modules.

In this step of the curriculum design process, decide how you will test student achievement against your learning outcomes. At this stage focus solely on your summative assessments, i.e. those which contribute to module marks. You can then move on to identifying opportunities for formative (non-contributory) assessment and consider how your teaching will help students develop the necessary knowledge and skills.

• Asessment must be valid

  Validity refers to the extent to which an assessment measures what it is intended to measure. In higher education, this means that the assessment tasks (e.g., exams, essays, projects) should align with the learning outcomes, objectives, and skills they are designed to evaluate.

  To be valid, assessments must also be reliable. This means they should produce stable and repeatable results under consistent conditions, regardless of who administers or scores it.

• You only need to assess each module learning outcomes once

  Assessing individual module learning outcomes more than once can lead to over-assessing students and creating unnecessary work for yourself or your colleagues. See, for example, this short film by The University of Plymouth, on designing assessments to the learning outcomes. The video explains that by tailoring assessments to the learning outcomes, and making clear to students what the assessment seeks to test, you can reduce workloads for all and make the assessment more accessible for students.

  A student can pass a module without passing all assessments (unless this is a PSRB requirement, e.g. in some healthcare courses). In other words, it is not essential that students demonstrate through assessment that they have met all of the module learning outcomes.This is because a well-designed course will ensure course learning outcomes are assessed multiple times across modules and levels.

• Assessment can engage students in learning

  When reviewing and planning assessment it is important to consider, not only whether they constructively align with learning outcomes, and reliably test achievement against them, but also how they engage students in learning and skills development.

• You should consider assessment volume and workload

  There is no set rule on how many summative assessments to have per module. You will want to strike a balance between having only one assessment (which is very high stakes for your students) and many assessments (which could result in over-assessing students and increase workload for both students and staff). We suggest having at least two forms of assessment per 15 or 30 credit module.

  If you have more than one assessment, you will need to consider weightings for each one. Speak to your Director of Teaching and Learning (DTL) if you are unsure of the recommended weightings for assessments within your school.

  You should also carefully consider the estimated workload hours required to prepare for and complete assessments within a module. For more information on how to do this, see Assessment Equivalencies Guidelines.

  If the module has more than one assessment, it should be clear which assessment assesses which learning outcome(s).

• Assessment should be scaffolded across a course

  Your course should be designed to provide students with opportunities to become familiar with the range of assessment approaches used and to ensure they receive actionable feedback on their submissions.

  From this perspective, your summative assessments can also have a formative function. For example, an assessment task scheduled in the middle of a term can help guide student efforts in subsequent summative assessments within the same module, or later in their course. Similarly, you could consider how feedback from an end of module assessment can be applied in later modules.

  Formative assessments can also be used to ensure that all students have the chance to practise new forms of assessments.

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Step 6 - teaching activities

Keeping constructive alignment in mind, the next step is to consider how your teaching content and activities help prepare students for their assessments, whether through in-class activities or through formative assessments. While this approach to teaching might seem utilitarian, it certainly doesn't have to be.

See for example, the approach to active essay writing used by Wendy Garnham (Professor in Psychology) who uses fortnightly tasks to prepare students for their upcoming assessment. Each task has an intriguing name such as conversation collage, sling your hook, geographe dream and painting a Rembrandt. The structured nature of this approach is designed to support students in planning their essays and avoid last-minute stress.

It can be difficult to get students to engage in class. To help boost participation, the Active Learning Network has published 100 Ideas for Active Learning, which is a practical handbook to inspire innovative educational experiences. It is for educators and curriculum designers who wish to apply active learning tools and strategies in their own teaching and learning contexts.

When designing teaching activities, you can embed employability and entrepreneurship skills by linking your content to skills development and career management. This is something that can be easily incorporated in to any module of a degree and is likely to already be happening across some delivery within your school. See the excellent Embedding Employability and Entrepreneurship Toolkit, developed by the Careers team.

See also our guidance on teaching methods.

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Step 7 - resources

All resources should be made available to students via Canvas, which is the University's cloud-based online study platform, supporting both our on-campus teaching and online distance learning courses. Don't forget to communicate with your students on how they can access resources, when resources will be made available, and why they are of value.

The University has provided guidance on Canvas module set-up, including the required School templates. For any queries, email educationalenhancement@sussex.ac.uk

All essential and supplementary module content must be provided in an accessible format. If accessibility issues are identified an alternative format should be made available or steps taken to make the content accessible. SensusAccess can be used to convert files into alternative accessible formats.

The University has provided guidance on digital accessibility to ensure resources are usable for all students and staff, including those with disabilities and specific learning differences.

The accessibility of Microsoft Word documents or PowerPoint files can be checked using the MS Office Accessibility Checker. All links to module content and external sites should have meaningful descriptions.

Canvas modules will include a reading list set up in the University reading list system specifying those readings that are essential and recommended, grouped by week or topic. All essential reading list items must be available online.

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References

Betts, Tab, and Paolo Oprandi. 100 Ideas for Active Learning, OpenPress @ University of Sussex, 2022. Available at: https://openpress.sussex.ac.uk/ideasforactivelearning/

Biggs, John, and Catherine Tang. Teaching for Quality Learning at University, McGraw-Hill Education, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/suss/detail.action?docID=798265.

Bovill, Catherine. Short guide to writing intended learning outcomes for courses, Institute for Academic Development, 2018. Available at: https://www.ed.ac.uk/sites/default/files/atoms/files/shortloguide.pdf

Cleaver, Elizabeth, and Mike McLinden. A Launch Pad for Future Success: Using Outcomes-Based Approaches to Scaffold the Pandemic Year and Build for the Future, QAA, 2021. Available at: https://www.qaa.ac.uk/docs/qaa/guidance/using-outcomes-based-approaches-to-scaffold-the-pandemic-year-and-build-for-the-future.pdf

Garnham, Wendy. ‘The active essay writing initiative,’ School of Psychology Blog, 2021 https://blogs.sussex.ac.uk/psychology/2021/10/06/the-active-essay-writing-initiative/

Miner, Amy, Jennifer Mallow, Laurie Theeke and Emily Barnes. Using Gagne’s 9 Events of Instruction to Enhance Student Performance and Course Evaluations in Undergraduate Nursing Course. Nurse Educ. 2015 Available at: https://doi.org/10.1097/NNE.0000000000000138

Teaching and Learning Plymouth University. Assessment to the Learning Outcomes. 2015. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M8wTQ0-uek&t=4s UCL. Inclusive Curriculum Healthcheck, 2018. Available at: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/teaching-learning/education-strategy/1-personalising-student-support/bame-awarding-gap-project/ucl-inclusive

Winwood, Bridget, and Alice Purvis. How to write learning outcomes, Sheffield Hallam University, 2015. Available at: https://academic.shu.ac.uk/assessmentessentials/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/How-to-write-Learning-outcomes-2015.pdf

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