Curriculum structure: principles and strategy

TLDR

The report offers curriculum design guidance that is not prescriptive on discipline time allocation, targets undergraduate curriculum developers but is broadly applicable to graduate entry, postgraduate, and dental professional courses, and reflects a European perspective on converging educational standards across 29 countries. The report aims to provide general guidelines for curriculum structure and specific advice on learning principles, restructuring, and change leadership. It illustrates educational philosophies such as vertical and horizontal integration, discusses competence, learning outcomes, degree levels, assessment, and offers recommendations.

Abstract

This report provides general guidelines for the structure of a curriculum, followed by specific advice on the principles of learning and teaching, the process of restructuring and change leadership and management. It provides examples of several educational philosophies, including vertical and horizontal integration. It discusses the use of competence, learning outcomes, level of degree and assessment and provides a number of recommendations. It does not seek to be prescriptive of time allocation to disciplines within a curriculum. Although this report has been written primarily for those who will develop an undergraduate curriculum, the information may be sufficiently generic to apply to the recent development in graduate entry ('shortened dental' or 'accelerated') courses and to postgraduate degree planning and higher education certificate or diploma courses for other dental care professionals (auxiliaries). The report may have a European bias as progress is made to converge and enhance educational standards in 29 countries with different educational approaches - a microcosm of global collaboration.