Programme development
Whether you are developing a new programme from scratch or making amendments to an existing programme, learning designers will work flexibly to support you with the process.
Learning design support runs alongside support from the Teaching & Learning Support Office and the Quality, Standards, Design and Enhancement (QSDE) committee. We work closely to support you through each stage of the approval process.
Read more about the Humanities approvals processes for new programmes and programme amendments on the Humanities Programme Development page.
Our programme development principles
As Learning Designers we value excellence, collaboration, and inclusion.
Excellence
We work with academic colleagues, specialists, and students to ensure our programmes offer students the best possible learning experience. Our approach aligns with the University’s vision to be a ‘university to which our students, staff and alumni are proud to belong, and where our values unify us in what we do and how we do it’.
Collaboration
Our learning design approach is essentially collaborative–working in partnership with you and involving specialists and students in the development process to benefit from their expertise and experience. We help you ensure your programmes and course units are consistent with current research and effective practices. These practices include active and collaborative learning activities, formative feedback, and authentic assessments supported by appropriate use of digital technologies.
Inclusion
Understanding how students engage with learning is critical to designing programmes that fulfil the University’s commitment to ensuring that ‘everyone can participate fully and reach their full potential’. We help you identify areas of your programme that would benefit from considerations of accessibility and opportunities for all students to participate equally.
Evaluate your programme
There are several reasons to evaluate an existing programme :
- as part of a comprehensive programme review; to revamp part of a programme (optional units, for example)
- to check that programme still meets the demands of industry and continues to offer the latest subject-specific knowledge/research
- as a response to student feedback; as a result of your own or departmental action research
- because you want to enhance or change the programme assessment strategy
Your school Learning Designer can help you to conduct an evaluation – please get in touch or book a consultation
Make changes to an existing programme
Learning Designers can also support major programmes amendments as part of a wider process facilitated by Faculty TLSE. We advise you to contact your Teaching & Learning officer and your school Learning Designer as early as possible to discuss your requirements, and to plan timescales and support.
Amendments to programmes are dealt with under a one-stage process using the University guidelines for approval of major amendments to existing undergraduate and taught postgraduate programmes. Major amendments include (but are not restricted to):
- Programme Title changes including award changes
- Changes to units which effect a change to the learning outcomes of a programme
- Restructuring of the programme
- Introduction of new pathways or specialisms, including addition of a delivered programme
- Addition of entry awards (PGCert/PGDip)
- Changes to PSRB accreditation, and units as a result of
- Changes to major elements of teaching, learning or assessment, e.g. dissertation amendments, introduction of distance delivery or changes/removal of summative assessment
For further information on the programme amendment approval process , see the Humanities Teaching and Support pages
Develop a new programme
To develop a new programme, Learning Designers work alongside the Quality, Standards, Design, and Enhancement (QSDE) committee to support the approval process for new programme development.
QSDE oversees the approval and design of new UoM programmes as well as amendments to existing ones. As part of the approval process for new programmes, a series of stages is followed, each designed to ensure quality, effectiveness and financial viability of UoM courses. Learning designers work with programme proposers as an essential part of this remit.
With the support of learning design, new programmes go through two main stages:
NPP1 – Approval in principle
NPP stands for ‘New Programme Proposal’. To support these stages, learning design offers a suite of workshops, on-going development and enhancement consultations, and liaison with programme proposers and Teaching and Learning Officers.
Explore student co-creation (of a programme)
If you are thinking about involving students in the evaluation or redesign of your programme, great! There are many potential benefits to this from both a student experience and pedagogical perspective.
For further information and guidance, please see our Student Co-creation page or book a consultation to get you started on your co-creation journey.
Evaluate your programme assessment strategy
It is sometimes necessary to evaluate and review an assessment strategy. This might be because you are updating units or a whole programme, or because you feel a current assessment strategy does not meet student needs. The UoM emphasis on sustainability, employability, and the like, can influence programme and unit reviews. How should you go about it?
There is a range of questions which you can ask yourself at the outset to clarify the aims of your assessments review :
- Why do I want to conduct an assessments review? Are there specific issues I hope to resolve by conducting a review of this kind?
- What do I hope the outcome of doing so will be?
- What have students and staff said about the current assessments strategy?
- Have I looked at the Maximum Summative Assessment guidance?
- Which units/programmes will be part of this review?
- How long will the review take? What is the deadline?
Your school learning designer can support you in conducting an evaluation. Book a consultation.
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