Renewing the Sydney undergraduate curriculum
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21324812 |
|---|---|
| Authors | P Pattison (0000-0001-9626-2897, The University of Sydney, corresponding author), Adam Bridgeman, Adam J Bridgeman (The University of Sydney), Ainslie Bulmer (The University of Sydney), Peter McCallum (0000-0002-4546-0452, The University of Sydney), Richard Miles (0000-0002-0409-7706, The University of Sydney) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 86 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 1489-1506 |
| Publication date | 2023-12-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Higher Education (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0018-1560 • E-ISSN: 1573-174X |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s10734-022-00982-x |
| PMID | 36536882 |
| OpenAlex | W4312067454 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 17 |
A number of commentators have recently called for a re-examination of the purpose and value of undergraduate education, arguing that change is required if universities are to deliver the value in educational outcomes that students and communities now require for a changing and challenging world (for example, Aoun, 2017; Bok, 2020; Davidson, 2017; Fischman & Gardner, 2022). Indeed, some have argued that such change is necessary to stem an emerging crisis in universities’ ‘social license to operate’ (Bok, 2020). In this paper, we review the case for undergraduate curriculum change and present a case study of one Australian university’s engagement with this challenge, describing the reasons for change, the desired outcomes, and some early impacts on students’ study patterns. The change took place at the University of Sydney over the period from 2014 to 2021 with a new undergraduate curriculum introduced for commencing students from 2018. Intended to prepare students for a changing world, the new curriculum sought a balance between graduates’ expertise in a primary field of study and a set of broader capabilities that would support their capacity for future learning and for creative and effective engagement in life and career, including an understanding of broader intellectual landscapes; the skills for collaboration, invention, and influence; and the integration of knowledge with professional and personal ethics and values. The aspiration to develop such capabilities is shared with many universities around the world, and we describe here how the available evidence base was used to guide whole-of-University curriculum redesign in this case. We also identify areas where further research would be of value
Curriculum · Engineering ethics · Higher education · License · Pedagogy · Political science · Public relations · Social change · Sociology · Value (mathematics) · Engineering · Higher Education and Employability · Higher Education Practises and Engagement · Higher Education Research Studies
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| Citations per year | 1.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2024 - 2024 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |