This is of course simple in theory, but more challenging in practice. Where programme teams have a strong sense of “team” this process is much easier to implement. By its very nature Constructive alignment as a concept requires effective communication between module leads and an holistic programme design philosophy.
However, whilst this might seem challenging at first the rewards for successful alignment can be great, including increased student engagement and satisfaction with their learning (Wang et al., 2013).
Where programmes have large numbers of options modules it can be more challenging to align them to the programme learning outcomes, but nevertheless each module must consider its role within the overarching programme and the extent to which it is connected to the programme learning outcomes otherwise it risks not feeling part of the programme at all.
It can be even more challenging when option modules are shared across programmes and in some cases it may be possible to “align” a module to more than one programme (especially if they are in a similar discipline area) but in some cases it may be preferable to redevelop modules into separate ones for each programme (even though they may share some resources and activities.
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