1.11.2015
Dear colleagues, all Aalto learning professionals taking part in curriculum design;
In accordance with the annual timetable for curriculum design, we are about to kick off the curriculum
planning process for the academic year 2016–2017. In the curriculum planning process we are to take
into consideration the guidelines and principles regarding the educational programmes confirmed by
Aalto Academic Affairs Committee in 2010-2014. Moreover, the curriculum planning process is
influenced by four key factors:
1.
2.
3.
4.
The strategic planning of educational programmes
The feedback received form the courses and the programmes
The development of the programme portfolio
The needs of the students and authorities to provide education in the summer months
One of the strategic objectives of Aalto is to educate professionals with capabilities to create disruptive
change, sustainable value and wellbeing. These capabilities need to be rooted in disciplinary excellence,
augmented by creativity, multidisciplinarity and entrepreneurship. To achieve these ambitious strategic
targets, we need to ensure that the educational programmes attract the best talents by addressing grand
challenges with high quality and co-creative learning experiences. We also need to enhance success of
our students by focusing on study capabilities and advancing study support. Moreover, our strategy
encourages us to strengthen student working life capabilities and accelerate study progress by leveraging
deep industry-academia relationships in projects courses. What comes to advancing learning methods,
our strategy puts pressure to create and deploy forerunner e-learning solutions.
Based on the above, the target setting for the curriculum planning process is highly ambitious regarding
the content and learning methods of the programmes. However, the curriculum planning process itself is
to be carried out according to previously well proven guidelines, with the exceptions, firstly to invest in
the strategic planning of the programmes in the starting phases of the process and secondly, collecting
and processing programme level feedback data towards the end of the academic year.
Strategic planning of the programmes
The aims of strategic planning is to guide the programmes to focus on competencies that meet the needs
of society, and ensure the quality of our programmes and courses. A central goal of strategic planning is
ensuring that curricula provide students with skills that meet the needs of the world of work. To this end,
it is crucial that the process of curriculum design involves thinking about the future of the discipline and
of the related professions as well as about the change the latter are undergoing. Useful questions to ask
include: How are the disciplines and related professions changing? What are the long-term innovation
potential and employment prospects like in the professions? Which are the areas where value is created
and which areas are developing to the opposite direction?
An important element in strategic planning is collecting information from outside the university through
literature reviews and interviews, as well as international and Finnish reports and surveys. In addition,
collaboration partners and interest groups may provide a great deal of useful information on the future
scenarios of the field.
Feedback as a part of the programme planning
The quality of the programme and its courses should be assessed with the help of students and teachers,
as well as external stakeholders.
A well-functioning feedback system includes not only the collection of information at the level of courses
and programme but also the use of that information in future curriculum design. At the moment,
emphasis should be put on meeting the expected learning outcomes, course workloads and progress of
studies. Scheduling of courses across the study periods at the rough level and across the days / hours at
the detailed scheduling level have strong impact on the graduation and progress of studies.
Contacts to external stakeholders allow us to gain information on the placement of the graduates, or on
the graduates’ or their supervisors’ perspective on the adequacy of the skills of the graduates for work in
the field. Feedback is gathered by the schools’ networks and employee organisations. From the university
viewpoint, essential sources of feedback are Bachelor feedback (Ministry of Education and Culture),
employment statistics (Statistics Finland) and Aalto alumni; it is also worth making benefit of field-specific
data, such as TEK and SEFE questionnaires targeted at new graduates.
The development of the programme portfolio
Educational programme porfolio is assessed regularly as part of the Schools’ annual review. The potential
updates of the portfolio are processed as part of the Schools’ strategy dialogues in Spring. The guidelines
to change the portfolio, e.g. in launching new programmes, are specified in the decisions of Aalto
Academic Affairs Committee, Aalto Learning Steering Group processes each amendment in the portfolio
by using the feedback provided in e.g. self-assessments and student application statistics, as stated in the
annual calendar of programmes.
Summer education
As part of the round-the-year educational opportunities we are systematically developing our offering
during the summer months, as strongly advocated by the Government of Finland. Our idea is to design
the supply of courses to meet the growing demand of summer education among the students, not as an
isolated effort, but rather integrated as part of the ”normal” curriculum planning, meaning that the
courses offered during summer 2016 are to be designed as an integral part of academic year 2016-2017
curiculum.
Courses offered during the summer months do not need to imitate the format of courses provided in the
Fall and Spring semester. For instance, there may be less lecturing based activities, which could be
compensated by additional student assignments. E-learning courses and project type of courses are more
easily amenable for summer education.
The preparation process of curriculum planning work
Curriculum planning work is aimed to be carried out according to the well-proven schedules and
principles. OOPAS-group has produced a schedule, which provides the framework for the design and
planning work. The progamme directors are responsible for the curriculum planning work in their
programmes. The Vice Dean and the Manager of the Academic Affairs co-ordinate and support the
process in each school.
Eero