Motivation
Up until now all curricula within the bachelor’s degree Dentistry are designed with ‘common sense’. However, the development of educational concepts and digital learning tools is evolving fast. Because of that, it can be useful to use a well thought out educational method in the process of curriculum redesigning. Is Carpe Diem a useful method for this, and in what way can it be applied in individual courses?
Desired solution
The curriculum has to be redesigned with the preservation of quality aspect (content) in mind, and in an innovative way. This means based on the principles of blended learning. With blended learning we mean a mix of different learning formats: physical education, digital learning and workplace learning
The goal of the bachelor redevelopment is to create a more flexible education programme and a better transition from bachelor to master for students. Especially the latter is an important challenge. The expectation is that the Carpe Diem method can provide lecturers and educationalists with the right tools to improve the education in a thorough and substantiated manner.
Action plan
The TLC voucher project actually consists of three subprojects. First of all, the entirety of the bachelor curriculum Dentistry will be redesigned by following the Carpe Diem method. After that an existing course of the bachelor will be redeployed, this is the course Cariology. If and when that course is evaluated positively the last step is to design new courses for the first year of the bachelor following the same method. If it turns out that the Carpe Diem method does indeed offer useful guidelines, this method could perhaps also be used for other revision processes.
Results
During the design sessions, lecturers, students and educational experts worked together on the redevelopment of the Bachelor’s curriculum in Dentistry using the Carpe Diem methodology. This resulted in an initial blueprint for the revised curriculum, which served as the basis for its further development.
The evaluation revealed that Carpe Diem was less suitable for redesigning the curriculum than had initially been thought. Participants felt it offered insufficient added value compared with other methods or the use of ‘sound educational judgement’. However, when redesigning the Cariology course, the method did provide structure and guidance. In particular, following the development process step by step helped lecturers to avoid starting directly with the content. Nevertheless, participants did not see any clear added value in using the Carpe Diem method for this course either.
The third sub-project – the design of new courses for the first year of the Bachelor’s programme using the Carpe Diem methodology – was not carried out. However, useful elements of the methodology will be incorporated into further curriculum development. The project also demonstrated that there is sufficient subject-matter and pedagogical expertise within the Department of Dentistry, the Radboud Health Academy and Radboud University to develop curricula. For future curriculum reviews, it is recommended that this expertise be pooled and that a practical step-by-step plan be followed, combining useful elements of Carpe Diem and other methodologies. In doing so, it is important to clearly distinguish between process guidance and subject-matter guidance.
Funding
This project is funded by a TLC voucher from the Radboud Teaching and Learning Centre. This voucher programme aims to set up projects in the field of educational innovation, lecturer development and educational research.
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