The document describes the Viewpoints project, which aims to create curriculum design tools to promote effective learning. It discusses the project's framework and themes of assessment & feedback, information skills, learner engagement, and creativity & innovation. Each theme includes principles and implementation ideas on cards. The document outlines a typical workshop where a course team discusses objectives, maps selected cards to a learner timeline, and chooses relevant examples to tailor to their course. Benefits included providing focus for discussion, considering new options, and seeing the learner perspective to improve assessment and feedback. Resources from the project aim to enhance curriculum design and the learner experience.

1. The Art of the Designer:
creating an effective learning
experience
Catherine O’Donnell, Rebecca Galley and Vilinda Ross
Blended Learning Conference
13th June 2012

2. An introduction to the
Viewpoints Project and
typical walkthrough of
the workshop approach
Catherine O’Donnell

3. An Introduction to Viewpoints
 Viewpoints is a JISC funded curriculum
design project.
 It has a remit to create a series of
reflective tools to promote & enhance
effective curriculum design.
 The tools use a learner timeline with A short video introduction
established pedagogical principles and on YouTube:
ideas as prompts to help staff consider http://www.youtube.com/wa
areas of their curriculum while
considering the learner perspective.

4. Viewpoints 3 Part Framework
• Inform, inspire and plan.
• There are benefits for
- Curriculum development.
- Course teams.
- Students.
• 4 themes
- Assessment and feedback,
- Information skills,
- Learner engagement and
- Creativity and innovation.
• 2 views
- Course and module.

5. Assessment and Feedback Theme
REAP (http://www.reap.ac.uk/)
1. Clarify good performance.
2. Encourage time and effort on task.
3. Deliver high quality feedback.
4. Provide opportunities to act on feedback.
5. Encourage interaction and dialogue.
6. Develop self-assessment and reflection.
7. Give assessment choice.
8. Encourage positive motivational beliefs.
9. Inform and shape your teaching.
*Implementation ideas for each principle on back of cards.

6. Learner Engagement Theme
The principles of learner engagement are based upon the
8 Learning Events Model developed by LabSET, University of Liège, Belgium.
1. Receive.
2. Create.
3. Debate.
4. Explore.
5. Imitate.
6. Experiment.
7. Practice.
8. Meta-Learn.
*Implementation ideas for each principle
on back of cards.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/viewpointsproject/

7. Information Skills Theme
SCONUL 7 Pillars (http://www.sconul.ac.uk)
1. Define the task and understand the topic.
2. Identify appropriate resources.
3. Search effectively.
4. Find and extract information.
5. Compare and analyse information.
6. Organise and share information ethically.
7. Interpret information and create new
content.
*Implementation ideas for each principle on back of cards.

8. Creativity and Innovation Theme
CHEP creativity working group
(http://www.ulster.ac.uk/centrehep/creativity_curriculum.html )
1. Collaborative learning.
2. ‘Open-box’ modules.
3. Negotiation.
4. ‘Real-life’ learning situations.
5. Novel approaches to learning.
6. Assessment that focuses on process.
7. Use of debates.
8. Beyond the discipline.
9. Enquiry-based learning.
*Implementation ideas for each principle on back of card have still to be added.

9. A typical Viewpoints
Assessment and Feedback
workshop walkthrough

10. Learner timeline worksheet & resources

11. Discussing the objective
 The team agree the objective for their session and
write it at the top of the module worksheet.

12. Reading the front of the cards
 The team read the principles on the front of the
cards, choosing ones appropriate to their objective.

13. Mapping the cards to the learner timeline
 The team take their selected cards and map them to the
appropriate point on the timeline (e.g. at the induction
phase, during first few weeks of course)

14. Reading examples on cards
 The course team turn the cards over and read the
examples/ideas on the back.

15. Choosing relevant examples
 The team select any
examples that would fit with
their course objective and
their teaching practice.

16. Adding in own ideas/comments
 The team write on any of their own ideas or comments,
in order to tailor the examples to their own module.

17. Sample finished worksheets

18. Photos

19. Typed up
Worksheets

20. Supporting documentation
e.g. Mappings, Tools and technologies and Resources etc.

21. Course Teams Benefits
“Provides a focus for discussion”
“Useful for raising options people hadn’t considered”
“Used the cards as a starting point to plan induction classes, helped in
organising lesson plans”
“Awareness of need to continue to develop e-learning tools to support
traditional learning method”
“Greater understanding of what we are looking for collectively”
“Visualisation of course in a holistic manner”
“Importance of timely assessment…Mapping assessment to eliminate over
assessment and introduce a variety of assessment tools”

22. Individual Benefits
“Useful as a memory aid of what we need to include”
“Shaping and organising thoughts and ideas”
“Provide new ideas on enhancing effective learning and feedback”
“Learning how to align my module and come up with alternative ideas for
teaching and learning”
“Opportunity to see the opinions of other members of the course team when
choosing cards”
“Become more confident and knowledgeable concerning my approach to
assessment and module design”
“…early engagement of the student in their learning”

23. Learner Benefits
“Good resources to stimulate discussion”
“Scaffolded learning”
“To be implmented next academic term”
“Opportunity to see things from the learner’s perspective in terms of building
in regular feedback”
“Identifying what learners should be doing at every stage of lesson”
“…early engagement and formative assessment/feedback made the
students more independent in their learning and allowed them to process
what assessment was measuring and how”

24. Viewpoints resources site:
http://viewpoints.ulster.ac.uk/resources
Viewpoints project blog:
http://viewpoints.ulster.ac.uk

25. Further information
Viewpoints project blog: http://viewpoints.ulster.ac.uk
Viewpoints resources site: http://viewpoints.ulster.ac.uk/resources
Dr Alan Masson, Project Director - aj.masson@ulster.ac.uk
Catherine O’Donnell, Academic E-Learning Consultant - c.odonnell@ulster.ac.uk
Dr Vilinda Ross, Research Fellow - v.ross@ulster.ac.uk

26. An opportunity to see some of
the OULDI & Viewpoints Project
resources
Rebecca Galley, Catherine O’Donnell and Vilinda Ross

27. An opportunity to discuss
usefulness of the resources
and ideas for applying them in
your own institutions
Questions?