Flexible

Pedagogic Principle 6

Active & Collaborative Caring &
Inclusive Creative Critical Experiential & Reflective Flexible

The need for flexibility in our educational offer has never been more pressing. Flexibility in learning (Barnett, 2014) can be encouraged through giving choice and flexibility in how, when and where students learn, and with whom. Modules can utilise various learning modes of participation (live in-place, live online, async in-place, async online) to accommodate students’ living and working needs. Students are given choice in how they are assessed and offered a range of ways in which they can present their learning.

By harnessing digital technology and machine learning, we can promote access to learning and engagement and develop the digital skills and data literacy integral to modern life. It is our ambition to equip our students to thrive in a postdigital future, by promoting awareness of digital innovations within each discipline and profession that we teach, and teaching the skills needed to leverage them (Rowe & Nicholls, 2021). Flexibility can also be conceived in terms of ‘beyond blended’ learning (Beetham & Macneill, 2023) through offering various modes of participation in learning. Finally, flexibility is not an absolute good (Barnett, 2014) and, hence, we should always be seeking (and justifying) the best pedagogical solutions to our students’ learning needs.   

Flexible teaching and learning helps students to develop the following Marjon Attributes:

- Digital Capability;
- Engagement; 
- Professionalism

What kinds of teaching and learning activities can I introduce to my practice?▼

These are some of the flexible teaching and learning activities (taken from the Marjon Pedagogic Glossary) that could be used:

Flipped classroom;
Immersive experience;
Independent study/ learning;
Webinar.

Case Study: Research Methods (Department of Health)▼

Nurturing independent learning through a flexible teaching approach

With our student demographic changing and with demands on our students’ time and attention increasing, the need for flexibility in our educational offer has never been more pressing. Flexibility in learning (Barnett, 2014) can be encouraged through giving choice and flexibility in how, when and where students learn, and with whom. Flexibility can also be conceived in terms of ‘beyond blended’ learning through offering various modes of participation in learning (Beetham & Macneill, 2023). In this case study, Ben Jane, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Health shares his flexible pedagogical approach to learning design.

Here are seven points from Ben’s experience that can help you ensure flexibility in the learning experience:

Build all your teaching around a central digital hub – Ben now designs all his teaching flexibly, consolidating all his teaching and learning materials on Canvas, which are organised in a coherent, accessible and frictionless way. Friction is minimised by reducing the number of clicks needed to access them, so his students can easily navigate them. Takeaway: think about how you can design your module in Canvas to become the place that your students turn to for their learning.

Blend synchronous and asynchronous learning – when designing his Research Methods module, Ben first considered which modes of student participation would best suit the type of learning required. In Research Methods, there is substantial knowledge to acquire about all the methods of data collection and analysis, and the delivery of this content in lectures each year was becoming increasingly arduous and repetitive for the teaching team. Lectures were also not proving to be the best way for students to acquire the knowledge they required to complete their own research projects, so Ben began to experiment with creating asynchronous resources on Canvas, such as short videos, slides, text, reading, and quizzes. He found these resources could then be blended with targeted synchronous sessions like workshops or seminars that gave his students opportunities to apply their knowledge to cases or problems, or to check their understanding and troubleshoot as required. Takeaway: if you have a content-heavy module, like Anatomy & Physiology, think about what aspects of your teaching could be more flexibly delivered to promote independent and deeper learning - what opportunities for asynchronous learning can you build in?

Build a narrative around content – Ben gives careful thought to how his students will navigate their way around the asynchronous learning content on Canvas. For instance, rather than offering a list of readings or resources, and treating Canvas as a repository for documents, he crafts a narrative that explains the purpose and relevance of each component. This storytelling approach helps students understand why certain materials are important and how they fit together in the broader learning journey. He took time to understand how his students learnt research methods – what did they need to understand first, how did they build their knowledge, how could he provide opportunities for them to master skills and application of content, and how long should he suggest they spend on each topic? Takeaway: Don’t assume that your students will automatically know how to navigate and prioritise their learning, so think carefully about how they will encounter the material on Canvas and scaffold what you want them to do once they get there.

Foster flexibility and autonomy – linked to the previous point, Ben designs his modules to allow students to choose their own learning pathways rather than always relying on him. Whether they need to revisit foundational concepts or embark on advanced topics, the flexible structure he has created supports his students’ diverse learning paces and interests and ultimately promotes their independent learning. Takeaway: Consider how you can present activities to students so they can progress when they master a certain level.

Streamline resource curation – Ben has compiled and hyperlinked key resources (including academic articles with DOIs) into an organised repository but has built these into a themed page in Canvas. This not only makes resource access easier for his students, but he hopes it will reduce repetition in his workload over time. Takeaway: Take a longer view of your module content. Once you’ve created a page for a certain topic, then the following year you should only need to update the resources and check hyperlinks are still working.

Promote collaboration and shared resources – Ben has found there are benefits in this flexible approach for teaching staff as well as students. Many teaching staff are asked to teach similar modules across Schools so by developing and contributing to a central, collaborative resource (for example, a shared Research Methods page), he anticipates that this can be used and adapted by different programme and module teams, reducing workload and overwhelm of teaching staff. Takeaway: Explore collaborative opportunities to create module content. This not only improves quality through peer review but also helps us to build a supportive and innovative teaching community in our university.

Continuously evolve your approach - developing an effective flexible teaching strategy is an iterative process, as Ben has found over the past few years. Takeaway: Embrace gradual changes, experiment with new methods, and be open to feedback from both students and colleagues to refine your practice over time.

#caring & inclusive

#flexible

Resources

AdvanceHE Flexible Learning in Higher Education.

Barnett, R. (2014). Conditions of Flexibility: Securing a more responsive higher education system. Higher Education Academy.

Beetham, H. & MacNeil, S. (2023). Beyond Blended: Post-pandemic curriculum and learning design lessons from the Higher Education (HE) sector. JISC.

JISC. Digital Experience Insights. Reports and Briefings.

The Canvas Design Hub provides inspiration, resources and templates for academic colleagues developing engaging VLE content (produced by Ben Jane and Ian Stonebridge).