Curriculum Design

An Academic Developer's View on Curriculum Design

Curriculum design can be described as the process of defining the aims of a programme and creating the structures that enable students to achieve those aims. However, increasingly, those aims extend beyond disciplinary knowledge and skills and our curricula now reflect aspirations for the kind of graduates we hope our students will become, and the values, attributes and capabilities they will bring to their professional and civic lives. Curriculum design is therefore both complex and influential, and is I believe one of our most important responsibilities as educators. It shapes the student experience, creates opportunities for learning and personal development, and challenges us to consider how our TU Dublin programmes can be true to their discipline and also transformative, inclusive and responsive to a rapidly changing world.

Use the sections below to learn about how constructive alignment provides an overriding framework for effective curriculum design; and how learning outcomes can be written to ensure the student remains at the centre of the curriculum design process. You can also read about TU Dublin's Graduate Attributes - now embedded in our University policy and practice.

Dolores McManus
Academic Developer, TU Dublin