Case Study: Using Module Roadmaps and Scaffolding to Unpack The Hidden Curriculum

O Haruna and SDCA/Graphics

Abstract 

The Hidden Curriculum is recognised as ‘the unstated norms, values and beliefs that are transmitted to students through the underlying structure’ of a programme (Giroux & Penna 1979, p. 22; Weller 2016, pp. 55-56). As a result, it problematises EDI concerns (threshold concepts and senses of belonging) for students transitioning into university culture, particularly for first years. This case study explains how Module Roadmaps, and an accompanying package of resources, can unveil the unspoken expectations of academic programmes using the first module students face in Part A. 

1. Backgrounds 

ACA140 (Graphic Design Contexts) is a 6 week, 20 credit module for 170 students and is the first module first year Graphic Design students face at university. Having overseen the module in its inaugural year as a Deputy Module Leader, I was given the chance to act on my observations in the following year as a Module Leader. Key conclusions were that students struggled to understand Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) and how taught sessions sought to reinforce them. In addition, students did not know the behavioural expectations of the course resulting in students leaving sessions early without explanation, surface-level learning (or expecting staff to solve their academic problems), and a lack of confidence in pursuing pastoral support. Given these challenges formed barriers to positive student experience and higher attainment throughout modules, a Module Roadmap, alongside a package of resources that fed out of it, was developed as an early intervention to help students recognise how taught content constructively aligns to ILOs, enabling them to act in accordance with the course’s hopes and desires. 

2. Methodology

 

The goal of the Module Roadmap was to foreground how taught sessions related to one another and should empower students to demonstrate the ILOs. By focusing ILOs in specific session types and days, students could more easily grasp how taught content would be reflected in their assessable outcomes. For example, Monday seminars and lectures championed Knowledge & Understanding and Subject Specific Cognitive Skills, whilst Tuesday lectures and studio sessions zeroed in on Subject Specific Practical Skills & Key/Transferable Skills. 

To ensure the teaching team stuck to the Module Roadmap, I created the teaching materials for all taught sessions (excluding lectures) along with 5-10minute (staff only) Explainer Videos to ensure staff understood the intentions behind them. The teachings slides had an established format, opening with Reminders & Etiquette, reminding students of staff expectations, e.g.  sign in, sign up to the campus GP, when to leave and clean up, and how to access pastoral support services. In addition to this, 5–10-minute Weekly Explainer Videos were offered to students recapping a given week and helping them prepare for the next, with the hope it could communicate more clearly that lengthy Noticeboard postings. 

Lastly, my Open Office Hours were co-ran as optional classes with professional services staff (e.g. Academic Librarians, Wellbeing Advisers, Admin Staff) where students could raise queries en masse as well as have more niche or sensitive issues addressed on a 1:1 basis. 

3. Issues

 

Whilst the Module Roadmap might take a lot of time to make, unless your module undergoes great change, they can be quickly updated and reused next year. The downside is, once they have been created, delivery becomes fixed, and teaching cannot respond to arising trends, problems, or desires of any given cohort. Short Explainer Videos might take multiple takes in order to offer a smooth delivery, and from an inclusivity point of view, using MS Teams’ to record Explainer Videos prevented subtitles to be recorded. 

4. Benefits

 

  • The Module Roadmap combatted the Hidden Curriculum by showing how teaching sessions constructively aligned and link together, making information recall easier. It also includes definitions of different session types.  
  • Staff-focused video explainers (for learning content that was distributed by the module leader) reduced the time and uncertainty involved in preparing to teach. It also eliminated difficulties for the module leader having to explain the same teaching content multiple times to staff individually. 
  • Student-focused video explainers (MS Teams recordings of presentations) instead of weekly, written Module Noticeboard Postings were easier to digest since they contained a mixture of voice, text and image.  
  • Co-lead Open Office Hours, enabled easy access academic & pastoral support, increased the visibility of key staff, and reduced emailed queries. For the Creative Arts, whose cohorts are plausibly more dyslexic than others (Bacon & Bennet 2013, pp. 19-20), Academic Librarians and Academic Language Support Services were crucial. 

5. Evidence of Success 

 

Students’ mid-module feedback and end of module feedback were all collected through MS Forms suggested the Module Roadmap was useful and could be implemented earlier in the module, with a couple of students explicitly valuing the introduction of video explainers. Staff feedback was also collected on a weekly basis using MS Forms, and was immensely positive about the Explainer Videos, even encouraging a Co-Programme Leader to experiment with the format for their MA course using Loom. Roughly 30-40 students attended the first few weeks of drop-in sessions with queries around writing and referencing, matching the co-lead sessions of the module leader and ALSS & Academic Librarians, confirming writing insecurities would pique and be resolved around the module’s middle weeks.  

6. How Can Other Academics Reproduce This? 

 

Miro offers a user-friendly interface for designing your own Module Roadmap that can be updated in real time and shared with staff and students with a link. Following student feedback, the Module Roadmap ought to be available to students in Week 1 so they can more aptly plan ahead as well as recap with. Periodic reminders of grounds rules and support service is as simple as copying and pasting slides or creating a PowerPoint slide template specific to your module at the beginning of a taught session. Explainer Videos, comprised of PowerPoint presentations and audio, might be best recorded using Panopto within your browser (lboro.cloud.panopto.eu), rather than MS Teams. Doing so would enable subtitles to be easily added, better picture quality and tools to monitor views/engagement. 

Professional Services and other academics can be strategically drafted into Co-lead Open Office Hours to bolster cohorts’ confidences around previous years’ weaknesses and feature within the Module Roadmap. For example, students might have queries around acquiring reasonable adjustments (at the beginning of Part A) and have queries around extensions (at the end of modules), so co-leading sessions with Admin teams or your school’s wellbeing advisors might benefit them greatly. 

7. Reflections

 

The next step in helping students transition into university is learning about how students typically learn creative arts subjects in pre-university courses. Once a concrete, as opposed to an imagined, idea of how students learn is established, shifts in learning practices and education expectations can be more directly targeted and addressed. In future, it might be beneficial for Part A module leaders to invest in Outreach initiatives to collect such insights whilst offering potential º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ students a better understanding of what º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ entails. 

8. References 

 

Bacon, A. M. & Bennett, S. (2013) ‘Dyslexia in Higher Education: the decision to study art’, European Journal of Special Needs Education, 28:1, pp. 19-32. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08856257.2012.742748 (Accessed: 28 Jan 2024)  

Giroux, H. & Penna, A. (1979) ‘Social Education in the Classroom: The Dynamics of the Hidden Curriculum’, Theory & Research in Social Education, 7:1, pp. 21-42. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00933104.1979.10506048   

Griffiths, S. (2009) Teaching and learning in small groups. In: Fry, H. Ketteridge, S. & Marshall, S. (Eds.), A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. 3rd edn. Oxon: Routeledge, pp. 72-84. Available at: https://vufind.lboro.ac.uk/Record/467963 (Accessed: 28 Feb 2024)  

Roediger III, H. L.Putnam, A. L. & Smith, M. A. (2011) ‘Chapter One - Ten Benefits of Testing and Their Applications to Educational Practice’, Psychology of Learning and Motivation, 55:1, pp. 1-36. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B9780123876911000016 (Accessed: 28 Jan 2024)  

Weller, S. (2016). Academic Practice: Developing as a Professional in Higher Education. London: SAGE. 

Case Study - O Haruna