Block delivery as the future of Higher Education? Learning from design and implementation

Aiming to enhance the student learning experience De Montfort University (Leicester, UK) embarked on a significant university-wide curriculum transformation project, to review and redesign academic programmes of study for delivery in an intensive, block modular approach. The approach enhances consistency of curriculum design and delivery through the development and implementation of standardised 30 credit, sequential, block modules per level of undergraduate study.

Curriculum transformation facilitated opportunities for teams within the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Media, to revisit, reimagine and redesign the curriculum in response to student feedback, employer and industrial recommendations aligned with graduate outcomes, and a desire to create a future-facing unique curriculum offer that best responds to the needs of students, individually and collectively.

The strategic leader for this curriculum transformation within the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Media, which is home to around 5,500 students at the Leicester campus, explains the rationale and process that facilitated re-validation (curriculum approval) for 51 programmes in a fourteen month period; the majority within just three months, and those requiring greater liaison with external accrediting bodies taking a little longer. Each programme required a unique set of considerations, aligned with the underlying principles of the University’s approach to change, recognising the varied nature of content, delivery and engagement across a wide range of taught subjects.

Opportunities and challenges arising through extensive and fast-paced curriculum transformation, both within the Faculty and across the University, are explored through this presentation. Alongside curriculum change was the need to review and re-align academic regulations and academic processes to facilitate re-validation and delivery in reduced timeframes. An overview of changes will be summarised, along with how exemptions from the University’s standard model were considered and supported.

Examining innovation and inclusivity at the heart of this curriculum change, as well as impact within the first two years of delivery, the continuous evolution of academic programmes is explored. Learning from curriculum design and curriculum change processes provides insights into the most effective methods for initial curriculum redesign.

As the second year of delivery in the new block approach concludes, learning and impact from the initial experiences of students and staff are explored, considering strengths and areas for further development, enhancement and growth. As a Faculty and University we ask what comes next for Higher Education? Is block delivery the future?