At Tampere Universities, curriculum design is based on the competence-based approach. This means that the planning of teaching begins with identifying the academic and general competences specific to different disciplines as well as understanding generic competences. In competence-based education, the main emphasis is on students, their learning and the development of their competences. The focus is on students’ active engagement and knowledge construction. Students draw on their existing understanding and skills to integrate new knowledge and abilities and, through the interaction of the two, they modify their previous conceptions and construct new knowledge, both individually and collaboratively. Thus, the student is an active constructor of knowledge, which raises the question of how to engage students in active knowledge building.
One key approach is to ensure alignment in teaching, also known as constructive alignment. Constructivism refers to how a student learns and builds knowledge, while alignment refers to designing teaching in a way that supports students as active constructors of knowledge. When an aligned whole is achieved in the learning process, deep learning is promoted rather than surface learning, and learners become actively committed to building their knowledge (Ruhalahti 2019; Biggs & Tang 2011)
Alignment means that
- the identified competence needs and the learning outcomes derived from them,
- the competence assessment methods and criteria,
- the teaching and learning methods used in instruction and the activities that support teaching, and
- the atmosphere within the study environment
form a coherent whole. The study environment plays a key role, for example, in supporting psychological safety – a prerequisite for all learning – and in shaping the interaction between teachers and students. When learning outcomes, assessment methods, learning activities and the study environment form a clear, coherent and mutually supportive whole, it becomes easier for students to guide their learning and achieve the expected learning outcomes.
Alignment should be ensured not only at the level of individual courses but also across study modules and degree programmes. This guarantees that the degree programme as a whole is not a collection of disconnected parts but rather represents a logical continuum of learning and competence development throughout the studies. The collaborative development of curricula plays a key role in achieving this coherence.
Through collaborative planning, it becomes clear which competences the study modules and degree programmes aim to develop, how individual study units support both the programme-specific and the common learning objectives defined by the higher education community, and how the course units are interconnected. Collaborative planning also helps to prevent duplication of content and ensures that workloads remain balanced for both students and teachers (comprehensive review of workloads). Constructive alignment, the prevention of duplication and the balancing of workloads are key factors that enhance students’ motivation and commitment to their studies, while also supporting their overall well-being.