Back to the Education Future—Evidence-based Student-Centred Approaches to Online Curriculum Design and Delivery

Despite its great potential, the value of higher education has recently been questioned, inasmuch as it does not always ‘translate’ to economic and social prosperity. Regardless of our modes of course delivery (traditional classroom, blended, or totally online), as educators we need to rethink what higher education learning outcomes should be (both generally, and specific to the discipline/profession), and use a scholarly and preferably evidence-based approach to the design and delivery of curricula that afford students optimal opportunities to acquire desired learning outcomes. In this chapter, we approach this issue by firstly considering the scholarly work on desired outcomes of higher education in general, and of undergraduate psychology education as a specific example. In considering the latter, we introduce the concept of psychological literacy (the capacity to utilise psychological principles to achieve personal, professional and societal goals). Secondly, we argue that, from a professional and ethical perspective, all educators (regardless of discipline), including online educators, must take an evidence-based approach to curriculum design and delivery, with particular emphasis on the processes of backward design and constructive alignment. We outline three different evidence-based frameworks for achieving that goal. Thirdly, we describe two recent and ongoing online education Case Studies regarding the design and delivery of (1) a single online unit on the Psychological Science of Well-being, and (2) a Graduate Diploma (10 units) in Psychology. For each Case Study, the reasons for these undertakings, the approaches taken and findings so far are briefly outlined. Some general recommendations and conclusions are then given.