Teaching a Mixed-Level Class: Strategies for Success

CPD activities at the local university

Design and development of the refresher module:

Before the start of this CPD activity, the program coordinator should help secure enough time for this activity and the corresponding innovation in education. In the Design and Development phase the course coordinators involved (those who directly build upon the high school knowledge) dive into the expected high school end competencies and match those with the entry requirements of their corresponding courses. This can be done as an online activity using a matrix with the high school competencies on one axis and course entry requirements on the other axis. This will be simultaneously carried out for all four required disciplines (maths, physics, chemistry, biology) so coordinators will be able to follow each other's work at all times. The coordinators will also be instructed to look into examples of (similar) refresher courses reported in the literature and to come up with a proposal for their course. In a face-to-face session following the online exercise, the coordinators will provide each other with feedback on the matrix and discuss their proposals for a refresher course. The diverse backgrounds of the coordinators will also be taken into account when reflecting on proposed ideas and approaches. The program coordinator will steer the team towards a concensus and a plan of action that will result in the creation of a contructively aligned refresher course overarching all four disciplines. The nature of the refresher course will at this point also need to be defined (synchronous or asynchronous, online or face-to-face). A creation of student learning communities may also be a part of the refresher course. With a clear plan and agreements in place, the course coordinators will work "offline" in their course-planning teams on developing their portions of the refresher course. The coordinators will regularly meet to ensure good alignment of the work carried out on each of the disciplines. The program coordinator will oversee the whole process to make sure that the intended objectives are met and well aligned with the BSc RMT program as a whole. Everyone involved in the process will regularly be invited to reflect on the progress of their work as well as on the progress of the project as a whole.

Teaching and learning materials

The program coordinator will prepare the information on the end competencies of high school students and the matrix for crossreferencing these with course entry requirements. The program coordinator will also create a platform for storing and structuring literature relating to the design of similar refresher courses. Teams of teachers will be led by course coordinators (course-planning groups) to develop the teaching, learning and assessment/diagnostic tools for the refresher module. Survey questions for period student evaluations will also be prepared to monitor the (perceived) impact of the project.

Sustainable implementation

In this phase the refreshed module will be implemented for the first time. The module will be offered in parallel with the courses that directly build upon the high school pre-knowledge. Students will receive clear instructions on how to best make use of the available package. Teachers and coordinators will be instructed to observe the implementation and note any feedback and potential points of improvement.
With a refresher module in place, there will no longer be a need for additional time required to develop a new module; the periodic fine-tuning of the module will simply become one part of the cooordination of the corresponding courses.

Expected impact of the CPD User Case

The User Case is expected to raise the awareness of different student backgrounds among the course coordinators and their corresponding teaching teams. It also aims to develop the competencies necessary to deal with heterogeneous pre-knowledge in their student populations. The User Case is anticipated to eventually increase the success rates of courses resting on maths, physics, chemistry and biology. It also intends to increase student satisfaction with the corresponding courses and the study program in general. In line with this, the User Case is also expected to increase the satisfaction of the teaching staff in this course and in turn also their motivation to teach which should also be reflected in student success and perceived satisfaction.

Plans for eventual continuation of the CPD within the same topic

Following the implementation of the refresher module, the innovation will be evaluated. This will not only take place during the first periods in which students follow the module but also throughout the whole academic year. The coordinators and teachers will reflect on the design and implementation of the refresher module. Their reflection will also be complemented with peer-review and any evidence of impact such as student success, and formal and informal student evaluations. Based on all the input, the refresher module will be evaluated and, if necessary, revised before being reimplemented in the next academic year. If successful, the BSc RMT refresher module will be expanded to other Bachelor and Master programs within the Biomedical Domain (BSc and MSc Biomedical Sciences, BSc Brain Science).

Developing confidence in sound course design (type P1-1)