A curriculum which takes for granted that lecture courses are the centrepiece
is hardly practice-based. Activities in which students are involved in
meaningful and substantial tasks must be the focus and this means engaging in
practice rather than hearing about practice. This would involve a whole
curriculum approach, with some components taking place in external settings and
some on-campus, but all having a strong practice focus and linked to an overall
purpose. Courses would need to be coherent and balanced from an individual
perspective and have learning outcomes, processes and assessment criteria suitable
for the appropriate university level and the nature of the qualification.
There would be structures that enabled agreement about what the
learner would do, the support the university and often an employer or other stakeholder
would provide and the types of evidence to be produced for assessment. Such a
curriculum may be described as post-disciplinary. It would be designed for
outcomes such as those that meet the top 10 skills as set out by the World
Economic Forum (Gray, 2016).
Components
of the curriculum could include:
- enquiry-based activities with substantive tasks involving working with others
- reflection and reflexivity on practice
- simulations and role play
- part-individual and part-group activities
- negotiation around learning contracts or agreements
- recognition of previous learning; to gain credit or the starting-point for reflecting on practice
- a portfolio of work accompanied by an evaluative narrative
- course-based and peer-group activities
- assessments that portray what students can do
See (link to examples on Uni website)
for examples of active learning.
It
would be unlikely for there to be the polarity between theory-based and
practice-based course modules that is common in existing professional curricula.
Such a dichotomy is a heritage from an earlier separation between academic and
vocational courses that it would be inappropriate to reify (Boud, 2012).
moving from an expert or transmission model of
higher education to a facilitative one
A distinct practice-led pedagogical approach is where the roles of
tutors move from teacher/ supervisor to facilitator/mentor/ coach and expert
resource. The more recent roles may include guiding and helping learners to:
·
become active in identifying their needs and
aspirations and managing the learning process
·
develop abilities of critical reflection and
enquiry
·
identify and work with issues concerning
workplace values and ethics
·
make effective use of workplace resources
·
develop and use academic skills in the
workplace
·
provide specialist expertise
·
inspire and encourage
Students
would be equipped with tools and strategies to interrogate and reflect on
practice. They would be partners in the design and development of these tools
and strategies to ensure that they met their own needs and those of different
practice settings in which they would need to operate. (Boud, 2012).
assessing through adequate and valid methods
that focus on the nature of active learning
A practice-based curriculum is typically issue-led and driven by
learner activities, not formal inputs. In that sense, assessing learners’
progress may be described as assessing ‘map-makers’ rather than confirming
their proficiency as ‘map-readers’ i.e. their expertise in propositional
knowledge. The focus is typically on learners’ reasoning and critical
reflection, how they develop their capability as practitioners and how they
make critical judgements in the work context.
The technicalities of this are commonly supported through generic
level statements and criteria at the relevant academic level. It may involve individual
learning outcomes and sometimes assessment criteria that are negotiated as part
of a learning agreement. A programmatic approach to active practice-based
assessment is required. Assessment should
reflect the kinds of social, cultural and contextual knowledge and abilities
that are used in the workplace (Lester and Costley 2010).
Assessments take whatever form is needed for the outcomes being
demonstrated and thus may not necessarily be writing in the conventional form
of essays, or responses to tests. Assessment is likely to involve peers and include
some elements of self-assessment.
Boud, D.
(2012). Problematising practice-based education. In Higgs,
J., Barnett, R., Billett, S., Hutchings, M. and Trede, F. (eds.) Practice-Based Education: Perspectives and
Strategies, Rotterdam: Sense Publishers, 55-69.
Gray (2016) The 10 skills you need to thrive in the Fourth Industrial
Revolution. World Economic Forum https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-10-skills-you-need-to-thrive-in-the-fourth-industrial-revolution/ accessed 30/01/2019
Lester, S.
and Costley, C. (2010) Work-based learning at higher
education level: value, practice and critique, Studies
in Higher Education 35 (5), 561-575
