More than the sum of its parts

Reflections on a networked program supporting curriculum innovation at a research-intensive university.

Abstract

Curriculum renewal in higher education is a complex process involving multiple stakeholders across faculties, departments and supporting units with priorities and processes that commonly differ, adding to the complexity. Incentives for instructors to modify their curriculum include funded centralised programs that may also draw on the expertise of academic developers, learning designers and media producers. Here we reflect on our recent experiences working together across disparate academic and professional teams within a centrally funded curriculum renewal and innovation program in a large research-intensive university. One year after the implementation of a formalised network of supporting academic fellows, program reach significantly improved, and several projects implemented award-winning innovations. Early reflections on experiences across our supporting teams suggest that collaborative project work has contributed to more effective and innovative curriculum change initiatives. We propose a deeper investigation of these processes in a research project, to further inform curriculum innovation at research-intensive universities.