Alignment in teaching
Alignment in teaching is a means to promote learning centricity, which is our strategic goal at Aalto University.
The term "aligned" refers to the concept of constructive alignment, in which constructive means that the student builds their knowledge by interpreting new knowledge based on their previous experience, and alignment means that the learning activities to be evaluated should reflect what the student should learn. In other words: learning is more determined by what a student does than by what a teacher does.
Alignment is aimed at both the course- and the programme-level
At the course-level teaching is aligned when learning activities are designed to facilitate achieving the intended learning outcomes. The teacher’s task is to design a learning environment where learning activities support the achievement of the learning outcomes, and assess performance in relation to learning outcomes. Also, new skills are adapted and put into practice only after the student has been introduced and made familiar with the subject through previous studies.
The teacher’s important task is to describe in the learning objectives the level of performance that the student achieves when studying the subject. This can be done by using verbs in the intended learning outcomes that indicate the level of proficiency, for example, in the following way: After completing the learning activity, the student will be able to "list the steps of action X" or "describe and argue action X" or "execute action X" or "create instructions for action X" . (Biggs & Tang 2011, 98.) The verb describes what is done during the course to achieve the goal. The teacher's role is to assess how well the goals have been achieved in relation to the intended learning outcomes.
Once the intended learning outcomes have been clearly described, students will see at what level their skills should be at after studying a certain course or degree.
At the programme-level, alignment means that the planning of the teaching has taken into account the entirety of the degree and the building of students' competence gradually and consistently both in single courses and in study modules. The ILOs of each course deepen the ILOs of the previous courses and lead to the ILOs of the following courses. Alignment in curriculum supports the smooth progress of students' studies and graduation in the target time. The key to building alignment is a common understanding of the curriculum and its co-development. The co-development of curriculum aims to avoid overlaps and takes into account the workload in studies. An intact, aligned and predictable study path supports the students' wellbeing and motivation.
More information and tools for building alignment
Key methods and tools for building alignment that you can find in the Teacher’s Handbook or linked from other sites:
- The foundation of alignment in both the programme and the course -levels consists of carefully crafted intended learning outcomes and collaborative design of teaching and curriculum with the teacher community.
- In the planning and assessment of course alignment, you can use the downloadable templates below (template for building alignment at the course-level, examples and templates for course planning).
- The study workload calculator is a useful tool for evaluating the workload of planned methods in relation to the credit points.
- A key method for building alignment in the programme-level curriculum is curriculum mapping.
- You can delve deeper into the practices and principles of aligned teaching in the pedagogical training courses at Aalto University.
Curriculum design at Aalto University | Aalto University
Curriculum mapping | Aalto University
Aalto University pedagogical training for faculty | Aalto University
Additional information and references:
- Biggs, J. & Tang, C. 2011 (alkup. 1999). Teaching for quality learning at university. What the student does. Buckingham: The Society for Research into Higher education & Open University Press. Saatavana 30.3.2023: https://cetl.ppu.edu/sites/default/files/publications/-John_Biggs_and_Catherine_Tang-_Teaching_for_Quali-BookFiorg-.pdf
- Helsingin yliopisto. Linjakas opetus ja opetuksen suunnittelun 10 vaihetta.
- Sari Lindblom-Ylänne ja Anne Nevgi (toim.) 2009. Yliopisto-opettajan käsikirja, WSOYpro Oy. Luku III Linjakasta opetusta ja oppimista yliopistossa. Saatavana 30.3.2023 palvelusta
- Tampereen yliopisto, Tampereen ammattikorkeakoulu. Linjakas opetus: