Curricula / Notes on Contributors

Curricula / Notes on Contributor

External Partnerships at University of the Arts London: Overview of findings from focus group and interviews

This report investigates a range of external partnerships at University of the Arts London (UAL) that are currently embedded within the curricula, or complementing curricula activity, in order to understand and further develop a process of working with external partners to enhance learning and teaching

Students and staff co-creating curricula: a new trend or an old idea we never got around to implementing?

Within higher education, there is increasing interest in conceptualising students as producers, partners and co-creators of their own learning (Little, 2010; McCulloch, 2009; Neary 2010; Werder and Otis, 2010). One particular area of interest focuses upon students and academic staff co-creating curricula (Bovill et al, 2011; Delpish et al, 2010). The nature of co-created curricula can vary greatly and might include: students being consulted about changes to the content of course design; students designing part of a virtual learning environment; students designing marking criteria; or designing some of their own learning outcomes. The concept of co-created curricula is not new. However, discussion about co-creation of curricula has been most strongly evident in schools based literature, with many important discussions framed within ‘student voice’ and critical pedagogy discourse. In contrast, there has been less engagement in co-creation discussion and practice within higher education contexts until more recently

Multicultural Curriculum in Rural Early Childhood Programs

This study investigated the use of multicultural curricula in early childhood programs (licensed and licensed-exempt) in rural communities in Wyoming. In previous studies, little attention has focused on the nature of multicultural education in rural schools. This study specifically explored the ways in which existing instructional strategies and curricula were utilized to address the diverse learning needs of young children, and the ways in which culture and race are embraced and celebrated in early childhood programs in rural communities. Data showed a positive correlation (r= .45 p = \u3c .01) between national accreditation of early childhood programs and the availability and use of multicultural curricula

Medical education and the pursuit of excellence : the quest for the Holy Grail?

Medical education in Europe is currently facing enormous challenges brought about by the number and the diversity of medical schools that are now within the fold. This diversity is amplified by different educational systems, cultural and socioeconomic issues, health care delivery systems and the ever increasing burden of communicable and non-communicable disease. There is also a movement away from traditional taught curricula to curricula that emphasise self-directed learning and thererby promote lifelong learning. The ultimate goal of undergraduate medical curricula should be to produce a medical doctor with certain core competances and the right basis for further specialisation and adaptability to different roles in health care. Furthermore, increasing professional mobility has highlighted the need for the establishment and maintenance of standards for quality assurance common to all EU countries.peer-reviewe

CHANGING EMPHASIS IN AGRIBUSINESS CURRICULA

Required courses for agribusiness degrees at forty-three schools were divided into six categories. The ranges in the percentage of required credits by category were quite large. Industry leaders, alumni, and employers have suggested increasing the course work on communications and business skills to improve the curricula. However, a comparison of degree requirements over time for a sample of twelve programs did not reveal major increases in emphasis for these areas. Departments should consider customer needs and competing programs as they review their curricula and attempt to add more value to their educational products.Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

iSchools in Central and South Europe: Developments and Challenges of Cooperation

The countries of Central and South Europe entered the 2000s with plans to restructure their higher education systems based on Bologna recommendations and some other EU supported guidelines. The Humboldt tradition at the universities in the region, necessity to introduce new academic profiles as well as the use of ICT in higher education, is leading the way towards the restructuring of existing programs or designing new curricula and to cooperation between the LIS and IS departments in the region. This panel will address the special concerns for restructuring curricula in the wider information sciences field (Library and Information Science - LIS, Information Science ??? IS, Records Management ??? RM, education for digital services etc) Panelists will address three questions with respect to i-schools developments and trends in their respective countries: ??? What are the basic concerns in developing new curricula in their respective countries? ??? How do the multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary issues influence curricula design in IS? ??? What are the future steps, particularly in regard to regional cooperation? After each of the panelists will have presented his position concerning these three questions, they will discuss especially the issues on inter-/multidisciplinarity and on future regional cooperation. The audience of the panel discussion is invited to join this discussion

A Documentary Analysis of Nursing Degree Curricula

This twelve month study was undertaken by a research team based at University College Suffolk and aimed to compare the learning outcomes and content of pre and post registration nursing degrees. Curriculum doccuments from 50 pre and post registration degree programmes from 32 instutions were catalogued and coded for descriptive characteristics. A subset of 15 doccuments was subject to in-depth analysis. This subset was selected to reflect the characteristics of the main sample of doccuments. The Research Highlights outline the context in which this study was undertaken and presents summaries of both the descriptive , and categorical data and the findings of the indepth analysis. Finally, the major implications of these findings are summarised

Education in Pediatrics in US Colleges and Schools of Pharmacy

Objective. To determine the extent to which pediatrics is taught at US doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) programs and to characterize what is being taught and how. Methods. A 40-question online survey instrument was sent to accredited and candidate-status US PharmD programs. Results. Of 86 participating programs (67.2% response rate), 81 (94.2%) indicated that pediatric topics were included in their required classroom curricula (mean, 21.9 contact hours). A pediatric elective course was offered by 61.0% of programs (mean, 25.9 contact hours). Advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs) in pediatrics were offered by 97.4% of programs, with an average of 27 students per program completing this practice experience annually. Conclusions. Almost all responding programs incorporated pediatrics in their required curricula. Pediatric elective courses provided an adequate mean number of contact hours, but 39.0% of programs did not offer an elective course. One-fifth of students completed a pediatric APPE prior to graduation. Continued expansion of pediatric-focused classroom and experiential curricula across US PharmD programs is recommended