Overview of Monday 2 September session - Critical thinking and overview of Module 3.

Aria is one of the design models we discussed today in class. Two participants have been asked to use the Aria model to design a one day lesson on how to milk a goat. This may sound frivolous but it is not as easy as you might first think. One participant has practical experience in this area, like myself so I know how tricky it can be.

So what else did we cover today in class?
1. Critical thinking - In the first part of the session, we looked at critical thinking, and brainstormed what it means. Why - is a word that featured strongly. We went over the Emilia case study exercise in the module on Critical thinking - Practical models and frameworks.

2. Module 3 - an overview of two of the topics in Module 3: Educational design, and Quality assurance by Paul Left via Adobe Connect web conferencing. Please listen to the recording of the session (approx 30 mins) - Learning and Teaching in Practice_2sept2013_Ed design - even if you were in class it is a good idea so you can review what was said.

3. Discussion - after the session with Paul, we discussed the Aria model. More detail and other models can be found on the course website - Methods and Approaches.  We also talked about how quality assurance broadly works at Otago Polytechnic.  This is shown in the image below and includes: 

• Course or programme approval, 
• course evaluations, and
• annual programme review where information about enrolment and completions and other aspects of the programme, e.g., student evaluations, innovations and issues, are shared with Leadership Team.

More detail about the steps for developing a new course or programme at this institution are listed below the image.

Steps in quality assurance at Otago Polytechnic

Steps for quality assurance at Otago Polytechnic - new course or programme


Step 1: This might be a request from industry for a new course or programme, or teachers may perceive the need for this based on their experience and feedback from colleagues in the field.  
Step 2: discuss the idea with immediate managers - decide if this idea is viable, and undertake a functional analysis - talk to industry, potential students, colleagues etc., and prepare a short report.

Step 3: prepare and put forward a proposal to Academic Board. Approval needs to be granted to take the idea further and develop a curriculum document. 
Step 4: work with an educational designer to plan the programme, and someone from the Quality Enhancement Centre to prepare a formal curriculum document. 
Step 5: programme manager takes the curriculum document to Quality and Approval committee and amend as necessary.
Step 6: the curriculum document  is submitted to Academic Board for approval. 
Step 7: once the new programme is moderated and approved internally, it is submitted to NZQA (New Zealand Quality Assurance) for external approval.

Some of the steps we discussed are shown in the image below which was taken from the whiteboard. 

Portfolio activity for the Critical Thinking topic 

• Record your views about the concepts of critical thinking, on your blog.
• Why do you believe critical thinking is important for student learning?
• Share your views on the Moodle discussion forum for Module 2.

For Module 3: work through the material on Educational Design and  Quality Assurance, to make sure you have a good understanding. Then complete the portfolio activities.