An agile approach to co-creation of the curriculum
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v5i2.4475Keywords:
students as partners (SaP), co-creation, agile teamwork, curriculum developmentAbstract
The importance of developing meaningful student engagement through partnerships is an increasing area of interest and practice within the context of learning and teaching in higher education. This case study reports on an approach used in a co-created curriculum project that aligned the values and principles of student-staff partnerships with those of an agile framework. Through an analysis of the individual team reflections captured during and after the project, the study explores how the agile approach could help address imbalances of power between students and staff in higher education. The results of the study show that team members found that working in this new way increased confidence in co-creating teaching and learning with staff and fostered a positive team relationship, although some reflections indicate that assumptions of power are deeply embedded within the structures and roles of higher education. However, our findings suggest that this way of working can result in positive experiences for students and staff and could be applied to a wide range of student-staff partnership projects.
Downloads
References
Agile Alliance. (2019). What Is Agile? https://www.agilealliance.org/agile101/
Bovill, C. (2014). An investigation of co-created curricula within higher education in the UK,
Ireland and the USA. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 51(1), 15–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2013.770264
Bovill, C., Cook‐Sather, A., & Felten, P. (2011). Students as co‐creators of teaching approaches, course design, and curricula: Implications for academic developers. International Journal for Academic Development, 16(2), 133–145. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2011.568690
Bovill, C., Cook-Sather, A., Felten, P., Millard, L., & Moore-Cherry, N. (2016). Addressing potential challenges in co-creating learning and teaching: Overcoming resistance, navigating institutional norms and ensuring inclusivity in student-staff partnerships. Higher Education, 71(2), 195–208. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-015-9896-4
Cook-Sather, A., Bovill, C., & Felten, P. (2014). Engaging students as partners in learning and teaching: A guide for faculty. Jossey-Bass.
Cook-Sather, A., Bahti, M., & Ntem, A. (2019). Pedagogical partnerships: a how-to guide for faculty, students, and academic developers in higher education. Elon University Center for Engaged Learning. https://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/books/pedagogical-partnerships/
Davies, A., & Mueller, J. (2020). Project development methodologies, management and data modelling. In A. Davies & J. Mueller (Eds.). Developing medical apps and mHealth interventions (pp. 25–73). Springer.
Eraut, M. (1994). Developing professional knowledge and competence. Falmer
Press.
Finlay, L. (2008). Reflecting on ‘reflective practice.’ Practice-Based Professional Learning Paper 52. The Open University. http://oro.open.ac.uk/68945/1/Finlay-%282008%29-Reflecting-on-reflective-practice-PBPL-paper-52.pdf
Healey, M., Flint, A., & Harrington, K. (2014). Engagement through partnership: Students as partners in learning and teaching in higher education. Higher Education Academy. https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/engagement-through-partnership-students-partners-learning-and-teaching-higher
Matthews, K. E. (2017). Five propositions for genuine students as partners practice.
International Journal for Students as Partners, 1(2), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v1i2.3315
Mercer-Mapstone, L., & Marie, J. (2019). Practical guide: Scaling up student-staff partnerships in higher education. Institute for Academic Development, The University of Edinburgh. https://www.ed.ac.uk/institute-academic-development/learning-teaching/staff/student-engagement
Owen, J., & Wasiuk, C. (2020). Student and Teaching Engagement Through Partnerships. https://medium.com/student-teaching-engagement-through-partnerships
Schön, D.A. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. Temple Smith.
Schön, D.A. (1987). Educating the reflective practitioner. Jossey-Bass.
Scrum.org. (2020). The scrum guide. https://www.scrum.org/resources/scrum-guide
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 John Owen, Catherine Wasiuk
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process - this applies to the submitted, accepted, and published versions of the manuscript. This can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (see The Effect of Open Access).