“it just requires a totally rethinking of the of the content and pedagogy around it. And that requires, you know, requires people changing their styles, people changing their ways of teaching”
Foundations of Learning and Teaching
The foundations of course design are shaped by our Learning and Teaching Strategy, and our pedagogy.
PrinciplesOur Learning and Teaching strategy sets out our commitment to:
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Click the image to read our Learning and Teaching strategy |
Block and Blend
Our Block and Blend design puts our students at the heart of a compassionate and empowering academic experience. As we redesign our courses for the new academic framework, the majority of our courses will use a use a model of 6 plus 1 where the module content is learned through six weeks of teaching, while a seventh week is used for any final assessment. The following week will be used for timetabled enrichment activity or as a block break, where students can take stock of their learning and prepare for the next module. Each module, or block covers 30 credits.
Myth busting and principles
When designing or redesigning courses for block and blend, it is helpful to keep these principles in mind:
- Block does not include fewer teaching hours - the amount of tutor structured learning should be the same as a traditional semesterised module.
- Blend does not just mean online. Blend is about a blend of the right activities, delivered at the right time, in the right way to support students in achieving learning outcomes.
- Block and Blend modules may need to include content in a different order, and delivered in different ways to be effective.
Progressive Learning and Teaching
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Our approach to learning and teaching is progressive, through which we support our students to develop confidence and ability in relation to a range of skills, behaviours and knowledge as appropriate for their course. This also relates to the Graduate Attributes and underpinning skills we support all of our students to achieve. Understanding how confident a student is feeling, and what might help them to develop further will often take place during Personal Academic Coaching. |
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Strategies for Progressive Learning
The learning and teaching strategies for Progressive Learning project
Project overview:
Background
The aim of the ‘Learning & teaching strategies for progressive learning project’ was to explore learning and teaching strategies for promotion of progressive learning, and to develop guidance materials on how to promote this at Level 4, 5 and 6, in face-to-face and blended learning experiences (Appendix 1).
The objectives for the project included:
- Explore learning and teaching approaches to encourage progressive learning from level 4-6 in face-to-face and blended learning experiences with colleagues, identifying examples of best practice.
- Develop a series of resources which provide advice and guidance on how to adapt learning and teaching strategies at each level to encourage progressive learning.
- Share the project findings and guidance resources through a range of professional learning experiences (for example, CELT CPD sessions and internal conferences).
Activity
The project involved collaboration between fourteen colleagues with academic representatives from across schools and from a range professional services from the University of Suffolk.
Project members engaged in a series of meetings from January to June 2025. Initial activity involved reflection upon current approaches to progressive learning (Guided -- Negotiated -- Independent) and how we encourage students to develop skills and attributes throughout their learning journey. The project group distinguished three themes they wished to explore and investigated these in sub-groups, with the project group members selecting themes based upon their particular interest and expertise.
Each sub-group collaborated to develop advice and guidance for the theme they were exploring, with the strategies for progressive learning captured below.
