Involving students in curriculum work

The preparations of a curriculum have to account for the target audience – students. Students have to be given the opportunity to participate in the reform or update of a curriculum, and students’ experiences have to be taken into account in the final product. Students have experience of the courses that are useful and in demand in their field, and they also know which courses did not turn out to be useful. Dialogue with students on the content of a curriculum is also important in creating a new curriculum.

How can students be involved in curriculum work? At the least, it involves collecting feedback on courses and their topicality and development. More participatory work would involve discussions with students and joint workshops within degree programmes. This allows students to share their views and experiences on the contents of a previous curriculum. On this basis, the next curriculum can be adjusted where necessary and kept the same where appropriate.

At Jamk level, it would be beneficial to have a group of students from different degree programmes, which would allow students from different backgrounds to express their views on curriculum work in general.

Lauri Kujala (JAMKO) 20.6.2023