Author: Dr John Andrew O’Rourke, Dr Bronwyn Relf, Dr Nicole Crawford & Sue Sharp
Edith Cowan University, University of Newcastle, University of Tasmania

Edition: Volume 59, Number 1, April 2019

Introduction: The curricula in higher education not only provides guidance and direction for students, but aligns with industry standards to safeguard quality offerings in specific programs. While there has been increasing focus on the importance of the curriculum particularly for first year university students, very little is known about the curriculum and design principles that exist in open-access enabling programs in Australia. In the following paper, a comprehensive examination of the curriculum of three large open-access enabling programs is presented. The research team explored the curriculum design via a rigorous mapping exercise to establish potential principles to guide enabling curriculum design. In developing the curriculum-mapping tool for this research project, it became apparent that limited attention has been given to enabling curriculum design in the academic literature. Given increasing attention towards Australian enabling education, the findings of this study emphasise the importance of clarity between the intended and the enacted curriculum, such as in unit learning outcomes and program attributes.

Keywords: enabling education, open access, curriculum mapping, higher education, intended curriculum, enacted curriculum

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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 59:1. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.