Are you looking to make changes to your curriculum? Interested in learning what have others done to support curricular innovation in the areas of content, skills, experience, and structure?
This page will be an ever-growing library of articles and general readings related to curricular changes of content, skills, experiences, and structure that can support your curricular renewal and/or innovation.
Renewal and innovation comes from doing new things. New and unique elements structured into students’ learning, specifically “High Impact Practices” or HIPs, can support innovative and student-centric curriculum.
See below for helpful readings and resources to support curricular renewal and innovation and contact us to add your own.
Content innovation in curriculum may look like the addition, or foregrounding, of content related to:
- Anyangwe, Eliza. (2012, May 15). 20 ways of thinking about digital literacy in higher education. The Guardian – Blog University.
- Barker, Nathan, and Laurie Harris. 2017. A Survey of Digital Literacy in General Education Degree Requirements at Southern Utah University Peer Institutions. In 2017 International Conference on Computational Science and Computational Intelligence (CSCI) (pp. 1172-1175). IEEE.
- Beck, Estee. 2021. Critical digital literacy as method for teaching tactics of response to online surveillance and privacy erosion. Computers and Composition, 61, 102654.
- Bhatt, Ibrar, and Alison MacKenzie. 2019. Just Google it! Digital literacy and the epistemology of ignorance. Teaching in Higher Education, 24(3), 302-317.
- Farias-Gaytan, Silvia, Ignacio Aguaded, and Maria-Soledad Ramirez-Montoya. 2022. Transformation and digital literacy: Systematic literature mapping. Education and Information Technologies, 27(2), 1417-1437.
- Hoechsmann, Michael & DeWaard, Helen. 2020. Landscape and terrain of digital literacy policy and practice: Canada in the twenty‐first century. The Handbook of Media Education Research, 363-371.
- Spante, Maria et al. 2018. Digital competence and digital literacy in higher education research: Systematic review of concept use. Cogent Education, 5(1), 1519143.
- York’s A Framework and Action Plan on Black Inclusion
- Buckner, Elizabeth, Elic Chan, and Eun Gi Kim. 2022. Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion on Canadian Universities: Where do international students fit in? Comparative & International Education, 51.
- Fazle, Trilliah, Anna Feliciano, Lucy Brown, Faith Roberts, Jourdan Owens, and Francesca Duncan. 2022. Student-Led Effort to Incorporate Social and Structural Determinants of Health into Undergraduate Medical Education: Civic Engagement, Advocacy, and Anti-Racism.
- Hagopian, Amy et, al. 2018. Adopting an anti-racism public health curriculum competency: the University of Washington experience. Public Health Reports, 133(4), 507-513.
- Hamilton, Darren. 2021. #Blackmusicmatters: Dismantling anti-black racism in music education. The Canadian Music Educator, 62(2), 16-28.
- Joneja, Mala, et al. 2022. Anti-Black racism and medical education: a curricular framework for acknowledging and learning from past mistakes. CMAJ, 194(41), E1425-E1428.
- Miller, Sarah, Jennifer E. Kerr, and Jo Handelsman. 2022. AJEDI in science: leveraging instructor communities to create antiracist curricula. Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education, 23(1), e00248-21.
- Moore, Sharon E., et al. 2022. Addressing Anti-Black Racism through the Social Work Curriculum: Informed, Prepared and Competent?. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 42(2-3), 142-156.
- Beck, Kumari, and Michelle Pidgeon. 2020. Across the divide: Critical conversations on decolonization, indigenization, and internationalization. International education as public policy in Canada, 384-406.
- Bruhn-Zass, Elisa. 2022. Virtual internationalization to support comprehensive internationalization in higher education. Journal of Studies in International Education, 26(2), 240-258.
- De Wit, Hans, and Philip G. Altbach. 2021. Internationalization in higher education: global trends and recommendations for its future. Policy Reviews in Higher Education, 5(1), 28-46.
- Strielkowski, Wadim, et al. 2021. Relationship between globalization and internationalization of higher education. In E3S Web of Conferences (Vol. 301, p. 03006). EDP Sciences.
- Villar-Onrubia, Daniel and Brinder Rajpal. 2018. Online international learning: Internationalising the curriculum through virtual mobility at Coventry University. In Perspectives on the Internationalisation of Higher Education. Routledge.
- Zajda, Joseph, and W. James Jacob. 2022. Discourses of Globalisation and Higher Education Reforms: Emerging Paradigms. In Discourses of Globalisation and Higher Education Reforms: Emerging Paradigms (pp. 1-17). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
- Indigenous Framework for York University
- Special issue of Teaching in Higher Education: Possibilities and complexities of decolonising higher education: critical perspectives on praxis, 26(7-8).
- Efimoff, Iloradanon. 2022. A thematic analysis of Indigenous students’ experiences with Indigenization at a Canadian post-secondary institution: Paradoxes, potential, and moving forward together. The International Indigenous Policy Journal, 13(1), 1-29.
- Heath, Theresa, and Christopher Johnstone. 2022. Imaginaries, Integration, and Resistance: The Case of Initiatives in Internationalization, Interculturalization and Indigenization in a Canadian University. Journal of Studies in International Education, 10283153221137652.
- Harrison, Neil, and Ivan Clarke. 2022. Decolonising curriculum practice: Developing the indigenous cultural capability of university graduates. Higher Education, 83(1), 183-197.
- Page, Susan, Michelle Trudgett, and Gawaian Bodkin-Andrews. 2019. Creating a degree-focused pedagogical framework to guide Indigenous graduate attribute curriculum development. Higher Education, 78, 1-15.
- Sammel, Alison, and Arturo Segura. 2020. Supporting Indigenization in Canadian higher education through strong international partnerships and strategic leadership: A case study of the University of Regina. Indigenizing Education: Discussions and Case Studies from Australia and Canada, 147-161.
- Siemens, Jeremy, and Katelin HS Neufeld. 2022. Disruptive Knowledge in Education for Reconciliation: The Effects of Indigenous Course Requirements on Non-Indigenous Students’ Attitudes. Canadian Journal of Education, 45(2), 375-399.
- Steinman, Erich, and Scott Scoggins. 2020. Cautionary stories of university indigenization: Institutional dynamics, accountability struggles, and resilient settler colonial power. American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 44(1), 73-96.
- York University’s Answering the Call
- Hess, David J., and Alexander Maki. 2019. Climate change belief, sustainability education, and political values: Assessing the need for higher-education curriculum reform. Journal of Cleaner Production, 228, 1157-1166.
- Holmes, Jayden et al. 2022. Online learning and teaching for the SDGs–exploring emerging university strategies. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 23(3), 503-521.
- Kligler, Sophie Karwoska, et al. 2021. Climate change curriculum infusion project: An educational initiative at one US medical school. The Journal of Climate Change and Health, 4, 100065.
- Pálsdóttir, Auður, and Lára Jóhannsdóttir. 2021. Signs of the United Nations SDGs in University Curriculum: The Case of the University of Iceland. Sustainability, 13(16), 8958.
- Zguir, Mariem Fekih, Sana Dubis, and Muammer Koç. 2021. Embedding Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and SDGs values in curriculum: A comparative review on Qatar, Singapore and New Zealand. Journal of Cleaner Production, 319, 128534.
Curricular innovation in regards to skill building may look like a program that features explicit opportunities to develop skills such as:
- Mauldin, Rebecca L., Sarah C. Narendorf, and Amber M. Mollhagen. 2017. Relationships among diverse students in a cohort-based MSW program: A social network analysis. Journal of Social Work Education, 53(4), 684-698.
- White, Charles R. 1998. Placing community-building at the center of the curriculum. Metropolitan Universities, 9(1), 55-62.
- Bächtold, Manuel, Pascale Roca, and Kévin De Checchi. 2023. Students’ beliefs and attitudes towards cooperative learning, and their relationship to motivation and approach to learning. Studies in Higher Education, 48(1), 100-112.
- Banerjee, Arna, et al. 2016. A simulation-based curriculum to introduce key teamwork principles to entering medical students. BMC medical education, 16, 1-12.
- Guy, Batsheva and Brittany Arthur. 2021. Impact of COVID-19 on a Participatory Action Research Project: Group-Level Assessments with Undergraduate Women in Engineering. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 25(3), 5-14.
- Kluth, Paula and Diana Straut. 2003. Do as we say and as we do: Teaching and modeling collaborative practice in the university classroom. Journal of Teacher Education, 54(3), 228-240.
- Coleman, Jennifer C., Nancy H. Hensel, and William E. Campbell (Eds.). 2022. Undergraduate Research in Online, Virtual, and Hybrid Courses: Proactive Practices for Distant Students. AAC&U and Stylus Publishing.
- Farry, Colleen. 2022. Experiential Learning in the Archives: Case Studies in Digital Humanities Pedagogy for Undergraduate Research. Pennsylvania Libraries: Research & Practice, 10(2), 40-53.
- Hinckley, Robert A., Jack McGuire, and Tara L. Danforth. 2021. Improving Student Success in the Capstone Seminar: The Importance of a Prior Research Intensive Experience. Journal of Political Science Education, 17(1), 20-31.
- Miller, Sarah, Jennifer E. Kerr, and Jo Handelsman. 2022. AJEDI in science: leveraging instructor communities to create antiracist curricula. Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education, 23(1), e00248-21.
- Sangster, Heather. 2021. The use of “writing retreats” in supporting geography and environmental science undergraduate independent research projects. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 1-21.
- Canas, Eugenia, et al. 2019. What makes for effective, sustainable youth engagement in knowledge mobilization? A perspective for health services. Health Expectations, 22(5), 874-882.
- Dierckx, Chloé, Bieke Zaman, and Karin Hannes. 2022. Sparking the academic curriculum with creativity: Students’ discourse on what matters in research dissemination practice. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 14740222221132952.
- Hidayat, Dadit and Randy Stoecker. 2021. Collective knowledge mobilization through a community-university partnership. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 25(2).
- Clancy, Kelly A., and Kelly Bauer. 2021. Scaffolding research methods across the curriculum: an exploration of embedded curricular design. In Teaching research methods in political science (pp. 161-176). Edward Elgar Publishing.
- Emaikwu, S. O. 2011. Integrating entrepreneurship skills acquisition in the university curriculum for national development. Journal of Research in Education and Society, 2(3), 40-48.
- Mann, Llewellyn, et al. 2021. From problem-based learning to practice-based education: A framework for shaping future engineers. European Journal of Engineering Education, 46(1), 27-47.
- Pertegal-Felices, María Luisa, et al. 2017. Development of emotional skills through interdisciplinary practices integrated into a university curriculum. Education Research International, 2017.
- Swanson, D. J. 2008. Training future PR practitioners and serving the community through a” learn by doing” undergraduate university curriculum. Public Relations Quarterly, 52(3), 15.
Innovative curriculum could learning experiences rather than just courses. Think about adding following elements into a program:
- Eynon, Bret and Laura M. Gambino. 2021. High-Impact ePortfolio Practice: A Catalyst for Student, Faculty, and Institutional Learning. AAC&U and Stylus Publishing.
- Lewis, Lyn. (2017). ePortfolio as pedagogy: Threshold concepts for curriculum design. E-Learning and Digital Media, 14(1-2), 72-85.
- Matthews-DeNatale, Gail. (2013). Are we who we think we are? ePortfolios as a tool for curriculum redesign. Online Learning Journal, 17(4).
- Bertram, Rosalyn M., Soo-Whan Choi, and Megan Elsen. 2018. Integrating implementation science and evidence-based practice into academic and field curricula. Journal of Social Work Education, 54(sup1), S20-S30.
- Chiarella, Domenico, and Grazia Vurro. 2020. Fieldwork and disability: An overview for an inclusive experience. Geological Magazine, 157(11), 1933-1938.
- Cossu, Remo, I. Awidi, and J. Nagy. 2022) Can we use online technology to rejig the traditional laboratory experience to improve student engagement? Higher Education Pedagogies, 7(1), 1-19.
- Phillips, Elizabeth et al. 2018. A virtual field practicum: Building core competencies prior to agency placement. Journal of Social Work Education, 54(4), 620-640.
- Rudzki, Elizabeth N., et al. 2022. A guide for developing a field research safety manual that explicitly considers risks for marginalized identities in the sciences. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 13(11), 2318-2330.
- Alkaabi, Khaula. 2021. A Capstone Course Linking Geography Knowledge and Entrepreneurship Skills: An Instructional Approach to Entrepreneurship Education. Review of International Geographical Education Online, 11(4).
- Chen, Julia, et al. 2021. Helping Students from Different Disciplines with their Final Year/Capstone Project: Supervisors’ and Students’ Needs and Requests. In English across the curriculum: Voices from around the world (pp. 91-106). WAC Clearinghouse.
- Fang, J., Jim, and Jacqueline O’Toole. 2023. Embedding sustainable development goals (SDGs) in an undergraduate business capstone subject using an experiential learning approach: A qualitative analysis. The International Journal of Management Education, 21(1), 100749.
- Gosselin, David C., & Golick, Doug. 2020. Posters as an effective assessment tool for a capstone course. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, 10, 426-437.
- Hovorka, Alice. J. (2009). A capstone course of “geographic ideas.” Journal of Geography, 108(6), 252-258.
- Kirkscey Russell, et al. 2021. Capstone Experience purposes: an international, multidisciplinary study. Teaching and Learning Inquiry, 9(2).
- Lu, Hwangji S., and Robert Smiles. 2022. Capstone Course Redesign: A Case Study in An Online Academic Program. European Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2(3), 9-16.
- Mossa, Joann. (2017). Capstone portfolios and geography student learning outcomes. In Pedagogic Research in Geography Higher Education (pp. 273-283). Routledge.
- Yarbrough, Wynn. 2020. Begin the Begin: Re-Envisioning and Re-Designing the Capital Capstone Course in the Interdisciplinary General Education Program at the University of the District of Columbia. The Journal of General Education, 69(3-4), 271-286.
- Allen, Kim, et al. 2013. Becoming employable students and ‘ideal’creative workers: exclusion and inequality in higher education work placements. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 34(3), 431-452.
- Ferns, Sonia, and Keri Moore. 2012. Assessing student outcomes in fieldwork placements: An overview of current practice. International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning, 13(4), 207.
- Gómez, Mar, Evangelina Aranda, and Jesús Santos. 2017. A competency model for higher education: an assessment based on placements. Studies in Higher Education, 42(12), 2195-2215.
- Jackson, Denise, and David Collings. 2018. The influence of work-integrated learning and paid work during studies on graduate employment and underemployment. Higher Education, 76(3), 403-425.
- Jones, Chris M., Joseph P. Green, and Helen E. Higson. 2017. Do work placements improve final year academic performance or do high-calibre students choose to do work placements? Studies in Higher Education, 42(6), 976-992.
- Nolan, Clodagh, et al. 2015. Higher education students registered with disability services and practice educators: issues and concerns for professional placements. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 19(5), 487-502.
- Chittum, Jessica R., Kathryn A. E. Enke, and Ashley P. Finley. 2022. The Effects of Community-Based and Civic Engagement in Higher Education. AAC&U.
- Hurd, Clayton and Timothy K. Stanton. 2022. Community engagement as community development: Making the case for multilateral, collaborative, equity-focused campus-community partnerships, Community Development, DOI: 10.1080/15575330.2022.2121297
- Hamner, Jenny B., Barbara Wilder, and Linda Byrd. 2007. Lessons learned: Integrating a service learning community-based partnership into the curriculum. Nursing Outlook, 55(2), 106-110.
- Lewis, Laura A. et al. 2016. The role of field education in a university–community partnership aimed at curriculum transformation. Journal of Social Work Education, 52(2), 186-197.
- Nelson, Karen, Kendra Schnarr, and Elizabeth Jackson. 2022. The Impacts of Science Shops for Community Partners and Students: A Case Study of a Cocurricular Canadian Model. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 26(2), 103-124.
The structure of your program may be the way you innovate. Innovative program structure may look like (re)organizing your program so that it involves:
- Garth Stahl, Sarah McDonald & Jennifer Stokes. 2023. Indigenous university pathways, WIL and the strengthening of aspirations: Robbie’s journey as a learner. Higher Education Research & Development. DOI: 10.1080/07294360.2023.2175796
- McNamara, Judith, et al. 2012. Work-integrated learning as a component of the capstone experience in undergraduate law. Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education, 13(1), 1-12.
- Wong, Billy & Hoskins, Kate. 2022. Ready, set, work? Career preparations of final-year non-traditional university students. Higher Education Pedagogies, 7(1), 88-106.
- Ardissone, Alexandria N., et al. 2021. The need for equitable scholarship criteria for part-time students. Innovative Higher Education, 46, 461-479.
- Colby, Ira C. 2013. Rethinking the MSW curriculum. Journal of Social Work Education, 49(1), 4-15.
- Werth, Wolfgang, and Christian Madritsch. 2019. Innovative elements for a balanced and successful study and work program in part-time engineering education. In 2019 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON) (pp. 819-822). IEEE.
- Butcher, John, and John Rose-Adams. 2015. Part-time learners in open and distance learning: Revisiting the critical importance of choice, flexibility and employability. Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 30(2), 127-137.
- Goldingay, Sophie, et al. 2020. Online and blended social work education in Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia: Negotiating the tensions. Advances in Social Work and Welfare Education, 21(2), 62-74.
- Vanermen, Lanze, Joris Vlieghe, and Mathias Decuypere. 2022. Curriculum meets platform: A reconceptualisation of flexible pathways in open and higher education. Curriculum Inquiry, 52(4), 443-468.
- Volungeviciene, Airina, Margarita Tereseviciene, and Ulf-Daniel Ehlers. 2020. When Is Open and Online Learning Relevant for Curriculum Change in Higher Education? Digital and Network Society Perspective. Electronic journal of e-Learning, 18(1), 88-101.
- Abramovich, Samuel. 2016. Understanding digital badges in higher education through assessment. On the Horizon, 24(1), 126-131.
- Dowling-Hetherington, Linda & Glowatz, Matt. 2017. The Usefulness of Digital Badges in Higher Education-Exploring the Student Perspectives. Irish Journal of Academic Practice, 6(1), 1-28.
- Gibson, David, Kathryn Coleman, and Leah Irving. 2016. Learning journeys in higher education: Designing digital pathways badges for learning, motivation and assessment. Foundation of digital badges and micro-credentials: Demonstrating and recognizing knowledge and competencies, 115-138.
- Lemoine, Pamela & Richardson, Michael. 2015. Micro-credentials, nano degrees, and digital badges: New credentials for global higher education. International Journal of Technology and Educational Marketing (IJTEM), 5(1), 36-49.
- Selvaratnam, Ratna Malar, and Michael David Sankey. 2021. An integrative literature review of the implementation of micro-credentials in higher education: Implications for practice in Australasia. Journal of Teaching and Learning for Graduate Employability, 12(1), 1-17.
Interested in renewing or innovating your curriculum?
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