One of my key curricular design initiatives that has driven high-quality learning within a course that I convene (MFAC1527), relates to a series of revision activities that I designed, to be embedded throughout the course. This activity is introduced on day 1, with time allocated in weeks 2, 4, 6, with a final collated revision activity at the end of the course. In this series of activities, students are encouraged to discuss the content they have learnt so far, identify the key concepts that they need to learn deeply, and develop mock-examination questions that relate to these key concepts. Subgroups of students focus on various aspects, and by the end of the course, each group has a collection of questions (and model answers) that extend across the full spectrum of key concepts of the course. This leads on to the final course activity where students reflect on the course overall, and discuss the relevant questions as a means of consolidating their understanding. This activity has been refined through feedback each year, and is now regarded by students and teaching staff as a key learning activity. The excellent outcomes demonstrated by students at the end of course exam provide further evidence of the effectiveness of this approach.
Design of a course revision activity to support higher quality learning