In a context in which explicit attention to the curriculum has been sidelined in universities’ strategy, this book makes an argument for why curriculum matters, both in understanding the effects of unbundled online learning and more broadly. It takes up two particular curriculum issues which are amplified in an unbundled context: differences in the formulation of curriculum between disciplines and professional fields, and the extent these are recognised in university strategy; and the push for constructivist pedagogies, and its effects on curriculum construction.
Since the onslaught of MOOCs in 2012, unbundled forms of online learning offered via partnerships with external online program management and MOOC providers have grown significantly across the university sector. There has been much debate about the implications of these partnerships but the focus has predominantly been on the engagement of students and their learning. This book takes a different and novel approach, looking instead at the effects on curriculum and knowledge.
Drawing on selected case studies, the book reflects on how university leaders and academics engaged with MOOCs and other forms of unbundled online learning in the early 2010s, and the effects of these reforms on curriculum practice. It captures in detail the complex and difficult work involved in university curriculum making in a way rarely seen in discussions of higher education. And it generates new in-sights about some of the critical problems manifest in the ongoing moves to embrace unbundled online learning today.
Author(s): Kate O'Connor
Series: Rethinking Higher Education
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 170
City: Singapore
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Contents
Abbreviations
1 Curriculum and Crisis in the Unbundled University
1.1 Introduction
1.2 The Problem of Unbundling Curriculum and Pedagogy
1.3 Foregrounding Curriculum
1.4 Case Studies of Unbundled Online Initiatives
1.5 Structure of the Book
References
2 The Changing Context of University Teaching
2.1 Introduction
2.2 The Changing Context of University Teaching: Academic Autonomy and Teaching as a Policy Problem
2.3 Online Learning and the Rise of OPMs
2.4 ‘Best Practice’ in University Teaching: The Push for Constructivist Pedagogies and Alignment
2.5 Conclusion
References
3 Understanding Curriculum in Higher Education
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Engaging with Curriculum in Higher Education
3.3 The Politics of Curriculum and the Centrality of the Knowledge Question
3.4 The Relations Between Curriculum and Pedagogy
3.5 Curriculum as About Future Possibility
3.6 Curriculum as a Material Practice
3.7 Conclusion
References
4 Disciplinary Knowledge and Constructivism: Key Curriculum Debates
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Disciplinary and Professional Forms of Knowledge
4.3 Disciplines and New Forms of Knowledge: The ‘Mode 2’ Debate
4.4 Constructivism and the Knowledge Question
4.5 Conclusion
References
5 Making the Case for Unbundled Online Initiatives
5.1 Introduction
5.2 SandstoneU, TechU, and the New Unbundled Initiatives
5.3 OPMs and MOOCs as Mechanisms for Changing Teaching Practices
5.4 Assumptions and Understandings About Curriculum and Knowledge
5.5 Conclusion
References
6 Developing Unbundled Online Subjects at SandstoneU
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Case 1: Behavioral Ecology, MOOC Initiative
6.3 Case 2: Interdisciplinary Logic, MOOC Initiative
6.4 Case 3: Classical Studies, OPM Initiative
6.5 Conclusion
References
7 Developing Unbundled Online Subjects at TechU
7.1 Introduction
7.1.1 Case 4: Teacher Education (TechU, OPM Initiative)
7.1.2 Case 5: Business Studies 1: Sports Management (TechU, OPM Initiative)
7.1.3 Case 6: Business Studies 2: Sports Management Supply Chain Management (TechU, OPM Initiative)
7.2 Conclusion
References
8 Disciplines, Professional Fields, and Their Significance
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Differences Between Disciplines and Professional Fields in Curriculum Development
8.3 Unbundling and the Differences Between Disciplines and Professional Fields
8.4 Institutional Policies and Differences Between Disciplines and Professional Fields
8.5 Conclusion
References
9 From Constructivism to Clarity and Control
9.1 Introduction
9.2 The University Leaders: Tensions and Contradictions in the Aims to Encourage Constructivist Teaching
9.3 The Lecturers’ Experiences: Moving Toward Clarity and Control
9.4 Unbundling and Challenges for Constructivist Teaching
9.5 Conclusion
References
10 Unbundling, Curriculum, and Knowledge: What is Being Missed?
10.1 Introduction
10.2 The Problem of Unbundling
10.3 Why Curriculum Matters
10.4 Looking Forward
References
Appendix: Interviews and Documentary Sources
Overview of Data Collected
Universities, Unbundled Online Initiatives, and Subjects
Participant and Subject Details
List of Interviews and Documentary Sources Reviewed
Reference
