Global Utilities

La Trobe University
Curriculum, Teaching and Learning

Curriculum design

Curriculum design at La Trobe is guided by the principles of constructive alignment, as embedded in the Undergraduate Curriculum through the Design for Learning Project.

Curriculum design principles

The curriculum design principles at La Trobe University are intended to guide your course design and development, and course evaluation in ways which are consistent with good curriculum, teaching and learning practices in Higher Education.

The principles focus on the key inter-related aspects of the curriculum: the educational intended learning outcomes and standards for the course; the relationship between broad course intended learning outcomes and standards and specific subject designs; teaching and learning activities; assessment; and course and subject evaluation, monitoring and renewal:

  1. The Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) and standards of each course should aim to describe the intended graduate capabilities for the course, appropriate for the course level. You can access information on ILOs here (PDF 93KB) | (DOC 606KB).
  2. The graduate capabilities for the course are aligned with the La Trobe University's Design for Learning goals and are embedded in the Faculty Graduate Capability statements, as appropriate for the profession or discipline.
  3. The curriculum design will enable students to develop Faculty Graduate capabilities within the context of the profession or discipline.
  4. Every subject is designed to advance one or more of the intended learning outcomes, and its design is consistent with the standards of the course. Students should have an opportunity to achieve all of the aims and therefore develop all of the intended Faculty Graduate capabilities.
  5. The curriculum design will ensure that there is a diverse teaching and learning activities, educational media and assessments that embed opportunities for students to develop the graduate capabilities.
  6. Assessment of the Faculty Graduate Capabilities will occur in the cornerstone, midpoint and capstone subjects or elements of these subjects, according to the Graduate Capabilities and ILO Standards developed by the University and the Faculties.
  7. Reporting from assessment of the Faculty Graduate Capabilities will occur in the cornerstone, midpoint and capstone subjects or elements of these subjects.
  8. The University Graduate Capabilities Reference Group will oversee the development of graduate capabilities intended learning outcomes and standards.
  9. Curriculum, Teaching and Learning Committee processes will monitor current provision and ensure appropriate curriculum renewal and innovation.

The principles and identified Faculty Graduate Capabilities are grounded in the idea that curricula should be designed to enable students to develop the desired graduate capabilities, embedding the development of La Trobe University broad capabilities within professional and disciplinary fields (see for example Barrie, 2007). Development of intended graduate capabilities requires constructive alignment between course and subject intended learning outcomes and standards,  teaching and learning activities and assessment (Biggs and Tang, 2007), in ways which are appropriate for the professional/ disciplinary and cultural contexts in which the course is offered.

Implementation of the principles

The principles are intended for use as part of course design and accreditation processes for new courses and course accreditation and review processes for existing courses. They will be embedded in the quality enhancement systems, to ensure that relevant questions will be addressed by course teams as part of their design and review activities, with the responses available for review by the Programs Committee and the Curriculum, Teaching and Learning Committee.

References

Barrie, S.C., (2007). A conceptual framework for the teaching and learning of generic graduate attributes. Studies in Higher Education Vol.32, No. 4, pp 439-458.

Biggs, J and Tang, C.  (2007)  Teaching for Quality Learning at University, 3rd Edition, Buckingham: The Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press.