Analysis of the position of courses within the study programme as a basis for learning design

Introduction

Understanding the context in which a course is delivered within a study programme is essential for high-quality planning and alignment of teaching activities, as well as learning activities aligned with the goals and learning outcomes at the programme level. The learning outcomes and learning design of the course should also take into account students’ prior knowledge and their expectations, as we emphasised in the previous activity.

Working with this material contributes to achieving the learning outcome: to develop a learning design for specific learning outcomes and instructional topics.

Task objective

To analyse the position of your course within the study programme in order to identify key elements that affect the learning design, including learning outcomes, prerequisite and related courses, and student expectations.

What should be explored?

1. Learning outcomes of the study programme

• What are the general and specific learning outcomes of the study programme in which the course is delivered?

• How does your course contribute to achieving these outcomes?

• Which programme outcomes are partially or fully achieved through your course?

2. Prerequisite and accompanying courses

• Which courses precede your course (horizontally or vertically within the curriculum)?

• What are students expected to have already mastered before taking your course?

• Which courses follow your course - and how does your course prepare students for them?

• Does your course serve as a bridge between foundational and advanced content?

3. Student expectations and the role of the course

• How do students perceive your course (important, difficult, interesting, “just another course”, “a necessary evil”)?

• Are students familiar with the learning outcomes and objectives of the course?

• Which competencies do they expect to develop during the course?

• Does the course carry specific weight for their further professional development (ECTS credits, importance for programme completion, outcomes required for practice/employment)?

4. Findings from reaccreditation and other quality assurance procedures

• How do reaccreditation reports describe the fulfilment of standards related to achieving programme learning outcomes under the ESG standards?

• What recommendations regarding course quality have been provided by the faculty or university quality assurance committees?

How to collect information?

• Study documentation:

• curriculum and study plan

• descriptions of study programmes and courses

• matrices showing alignment between courses and programme outcomes

• Communication and collaboration:

• conversations with colleagues who teach related courses

• feedback from programme committees

• Student feedback:

• feedback from course evaluations

• short surveys on expectations and perceived importance of the course

• Quality assurance documentation:

• quality assurance committee reports

• reaccreditation reports of the programme and faculty

How to structure the analysis?

When preparing your analysis, try to answer the following questions:

1. How is my course aligned with the learning outcomes of the study programme?

2. What knowledge and skills do students bring with them, and what should they take away?

3. How does my course build on other courses in the study programme?

4. What are the students’ perceptions and expectations - and are they aligned with the course objectives?

What comes after the analysis?

The results of this analysis may help you:

• better align the content and activities in your course with the learning outcomes and goals of the study programme

• introduce elements of repetition or reinforcement of prior knowledge (e.g., through teaching assistants) to fill “knowledge gaps”

• adapt teaching and assessment methods to the actual needs of your students

• enhance collaboration with colleagues who teach the course, as well as with colleagues involved in the same study programme

• design a coherent learning design for your course

Note: This analysis does not require an exhaustive evaluation of the entire study programme, but rather a clear insight into the alignment and positioning of your course. This provides the foundation for a thoughtful and coherent learning design.

Literature:

ENQA (2015). Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG)