In 2018, the Catholic University of Parana set to revise all its undergraduate programs to find opportunities for more active learning. I was invited to create a workshop model to revise each course with the participation of its stakeholders. The undergraduate courses in Pharmacy, Biotechnology, Veterinary Medicine, and Dentistry adopted my workshop model, which called for the involvement of teachers, students, employers, and professional representatives. The workshop included Lego Serious Play and Gamestorming to evaluate the course structure, curriculum, and values.
This workshop aims to gather external perspectives on the undergraduate course to inform the course portfolio review. Items to be reviewed included course values, desired graduate profiles, and the curriculum. The workshop wraps up with an open discussion on course quality and student training.
Stakeholders
- Program directors
- Current students (undergraduate and graduate)
- Alumni
- Staff
- Entrepreneurs
- Representatives of professional associations
1) Lego Serious Play: Imagine the Course as a Place (40 minutes). This activity allows participants to express the contradictions of the curriculum in a fun way.
2) Stakeholders’ Empathy Map (group participants by profile, compare, correct, and discuss biases):
What are they seeing, doing, feeling, hearing, thinking? (30 minutes). This game aims to foster empathy for the various profiles related to the course by confronting different perspectives. Participants put in each other’s shoes and consider the curriculum from that perspective.
3) Value Prioritization: What Values Should the Course Cultivate?
Each participant votes with 5 Lego pieces on the 55 Values deck value cards. (15 minutes). The objective of this activity is to reflect on the priorities for student development.
4) Q&A Panel on the Course Curriculum (20 minutes):
Each participant can add as many questions as they want about the course while faculty respond. Each question is written on a pink Post-it, and the responses are written on blue Post-its. A response may also generate new questions. This activity aims to organize the discussion among several people simultaneously, creating a tangible outcome that can be analyzed later.
5) Closing Discussion (20 minutes)