Teaching and learning under the constructive alignment principle
The concept of “constructive alignment” is a principle used for devising teaching and learning activities and assessment tasks, that puts students at the centre and aims to define and communicate the instructional design before the teaching takes place. The constructive approach indicates that knowledge acquisition and creation is the responsibility of the individual learner (i.e. guided by the student) rather than teachers, as traditionally expected.
In a teaching and learning process, teaching is desired to be as effective as possible. At the same time, students shall have a good learning experience that will help them acquire and develop the knowledge and skills needed. To achieve these two goals, the education process should start with designing appropriate Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO) that serve the student, the teacher the institution and the context. Therefore, the ILOs will guide the learning, as well as the entrepreneurial practice of an institution.
The entrepreneurial university
Our understanding of an entrepreneurial university is oriented towards and strategically positioned to, deliver a range of societal contributions, with a focus on economic impacts. Entrepreneurial Universities not only promote entrepreneurial thinking and acting among students and staff, but the institution itself is becoming an entrepreneurial agent. Then, active learning becomes a core and guiding element in the entrepreneurial university.
The element of “alignment” (from the concept of constructive alignment), when referring to the entrepreneurial university, will imply that universities should align or transform themselves at every level, starting from their institutional commitment and strategic development to the daily teaching practices and activities. Many universities have realised that merely adding an entrepreneurship centre, an industry liaison office or changing the vision statement is not enough. Rather, a much more transformative approach is needed. With this multilevel alignment, the university will be able to provide the students with access to the appropriate experiences that will lead to knowledge development and entrepreneurial endeavours. The alignment of the university goals and vision with the desired graduate attributes should be oriented towards delivering a range of societal contributions that can transcend university borders to societal and community needs.
Constructive alignment in an entrepreneurial university
The constructive alignment principle lines up with the understanding of “entrepreneurship”, from a social constructivist view, in which the reality and the outcomes of an entrepreneur are built on the individual actions concerning the surrounding context. The power then resides on the individual to achieve learning by undertaking entrepreneurial endeavours. As the learning is connected to the endeavour, and both are experience- and outcome-based, the learning will occur at the same time that the entrepreneurial outcome is developed.
So, what does it mean in terms of teaching and learning? An entrepreneurial university undertakes education that is focused on the development of entrepreneurial mindsets and skills and promotes a wide range of career opportunities including intrapreneurship, self-employment, and entrepreneurship. Research leads to income and intellectual contributions with a high potential for commercialisation. Third mission activities are focused on entrepreneurship. This is reflected in the university’s education, research, and external-facing activities.
Placing the concept of constructive alignment at the centre of an entrepreneurial university brings the focus on the alignment of IOLs with the principles and values of the entrepreneurial institution. These principles must reflect the needs, challenges, and opportunities of their (local) context and communities. The most direct way to achieve this is by embedding entrepreneurship in the curricula, which in practice means analysing and updating the learning outcomes towards the entrepreneurial mindset and skills, relationship management, and community engagement, among others. The IOLs should be designed by addressing questions such as:
Biggs, J. Enhancing teaching through constructive alignment. High Educ 32, 347–364 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00138871
-
seventyfourimages @envato