"BY THE END OF THIS COURSE YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO...": TOWARDS CONSTRUCTIVE ALIGNMENT IN THE SLP CURRICULUM

This paperdescribestheway in which constructivealignmentisbeing implemented intheSpeech-language Pathology (SLP) programmeata South African university. We focuson oneofthecourses, Human Communi­ cation Development, that comprisesthefouryearprogrammeof study. Afirstyear,first semester coursethat is attended by both SLP and Audiology students, it aims to introduce fundamentals of the communication process and its development at a pre-clinical level. We aim to show how theoretical principles from higher education can be implemented at a micro level in a course of the SLP Programme.The principles of construc­ tive alignment are introduced and exemplified through description of the revision of this course. All aca-demicandclinicalstaffinvolvedintheprogrammecontributed tothedevelopmentofthecourse.Atemplate for curriculum revision is presented which allows for the explicit alignment of intended learning outcomes, teaching and learning activitiesand criterion referenced assessment. Staff participants recorded reflections ontheirownlearninginpersonalreflectionlogs.Throughthisjournalingprocessparallelsaredrawn between the'teachers'voyage of discovery and that of the students.

professionals who are not only able to carry out the 'techni cal' or subject-specific challenges of being an SLP but also have an understanding of ethical aspects o f practice, are able to demonstrate flexibility of thinking, problem-solv ing skills, creativity as well as communication and interper sonal skills that allow the facilitation of change in their cli ents' lives. Pascoe, Stackhouse and Wells (2006) talk about 'thinking therapists,' i.e. SLPs who are able to evaluate their practice in an ongoing and self-critical way. It is not sur prising therefore that although institutions can provide teaching in subject-specific content and even professional methods, the application has to be found within the actu al work context. Inevitably many students face difficulties in transferring their theoretical knowledge to clinical set tings. The divide between theory (what happens in lectures) and therapy (what happens in clinics) is often perceived by staff and students alike as wide. Whitworth, Franklin and Dodd (2004) describe SLP students in the UK whose clin ical practice reflected what they had experienced in clini cal placements, irrespective of their theoretical knowledge gleaned in lectures.
In order to be able to practice their profession, students must meet the criteria specified by the profession's regula tory body in whatever country they choose to work. Edu cators designing curricula need to steer a tricky course be tween ensuring that these outcomes are met by the end of the programme, but that at the same time the experience of students is a rich and interesting one affording them the op portunity for deep, rather than surface learning. Deep learn ing has been defined as learning which achieves outcomes because students are engaged with their learning and have no desire to cut corners. They wish to fully understand their subject. In contrast surface learning is where students are not engaged fully with their learning. Their main focus is to pass a course rather than achieve mastery o f a subject. Learning does not happen in a long-lasting and effective way (Biggs 8c Tang, 2007). Chadwick (2004) writing about orthodontic specialists training in the United Kingdom not ed that whether constructive alignment can be achieved in the curriculum ultimately depends on the relationship be tween these aspects of the educational process and the vari ous bodies responsible for their delivery in the UK. Similar ly Toohey (1999) notes that while professional competence standards can be very useful sources for guiding curriculum design their tendency is to focus on the technical perform ance of specific tasks and roles. I f learning outcomes include technical competency these should be balanced by outcomes in knowledge and attitudes that contextualise these skills (Chadwick, 2004).
In addition to the complex task of managing academic and clinical learning, SLP courses face a challenge in that -they are typically heavily loaded courses in terms of con tent (Whitworth et al., 2004). The timetable from most SLP programmes typically leaves little room for self-study or reflection, skills which are increasingly shown to be im perative for deep learning (Gultig, Lubisi, Parker & Wede kind, 1998;Irving & Young, 2005). SLP is a profession that draws heavily on the combined knowledge of other disci plines such as psychology, linguistics and biomedical sci ences.

The SLP curriculum in South Africa
In South Africa, there has already been rapid transfor mation in the education of SLPs since the mid-1990's when training programmes began making changes in line with the new democracy and the urgent need to address previous im balances in the country's higher education system and to provide equitable service to the underserved majority of the population. Many of the SLP programmes in SA have been aggressively recruiting students who represent the diversity of the SA population. Graduates are urgently needed who will be able to speak languages other than English and Af rikaans (as has traditionally been the case), and who them selves will be able to access the diverse array of cultures in the country. Furthermore, since there are few universities in Africa which train SLPs apart from those in'South A f rica, there are a great many students from the continent who have languages and cultures beyond those of only this coun try. Linguistic and cultural diversity is a great asset and the richness of diversity in our classrooms is an exciting asset to be embraced. Nevertheless studying in a language that is not a first language poses challenges. In addition to linguistic diversity students come from a variety of cultural and edu cational backgrounds. Their experience of language for aca demic purposes varies widely: some students will arrive at university equipped with basic academic skills such as being proficient in reading academic texts, using glossaries and in dexes, writing definitions and carrying out literature search es. Other students will not have been exposed to tasks such as these and will need support to master these basic skills. In a profession in which language is central to the job, linguis tic diversity can present complex dilemmas.
As for all SLP graduates, SLPs wanting to work in SA must exit their programmes o f study with the necessary knowledge and skill to work independently as stipulated by the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA, 2003). The situation in South Africa is different to countries such as the UK and USA where SLPs will typically work in settings where formal mentoring and supervision arrange ments will be in place to ensure that newly qualified clinilcians continue to develop their skills in a supervised way1 . In South Africa, such mentoring and supervision is typi cally not available: new graduates carry out a year of com-; munity service in communities which are often rural and remote, where they may be the only SLP -indeed they may be faced with establishing services where previously none, have existed, and educating and advocating for the role of SLP services. Thus it is imperative that graduates are able to practice competently and independently: Not only do we need to produce the 'thinking therapists' already described but we also need to develop agents for change who will be able to bring about broader socio-political changes as they develop and advocate for services for the population of their country.
T he training of SLPs in SA has historically been differ ent to education o f SLPs in other countries such as the USA and UK, in that training leading to a dual registration in both Speech Pathology and Audiology was until recently offered at each of the training institutions. Now many of the training institutions, including our own, offer separate pro grammes in Speech Pathology and Audiology since these T O W A R D S C O N S T R U C T IV E A L IG N M E N T IN THE SLP C U R R IC U L U M are entirely separate professions. These programmes aim to be responsive to the wider population of South Africa, tak ing into account the burden of disease profile of the country: H IV / AIDs and T B are prevalent in Southern Africa and require specific services from both SLPs and Audiologists. These aspects have not always been included in training pro grammes in South Africa and may not receive the same level of emphasis in training programmes elsewhere, which are likely to have their own population-specific issues. Primary Health Care (PHC) is a key philosophical underpinning of health programmes in South Africa, and the training pro grammes for SLP and Audiology thus aim to include not only training that focuses on rehabilitation, but which also gives emphasis to PH C 's continuum of care which includes prevention of communication difficulties, and promotion of communication more generally. Against this backdrop, courses such as 'Human Communication Development' re main common to both Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology programmes which means that the course needs to be designed so that it is appropriate for students study ing in both programmes. Separating Speech-Language Pa thology and Audiology programmes has meant that some unloading o f the overloaded curriculum has occurred but the courses remain very high in terms of credit weightings when compared to other similar 4 year programmes (Brumfitt, 2004).
W hat are the challenges for Higher Education? Many of the challenges described in our specific context are not unique: Biggs and Tang (2007) note that around the world, the range of academic ability in university class es is wider than it has ever been: "The brightest and most committed students still go to university, as they have in the past, but they sit alongside students of rather different academic bent." (p.2). These authors note that around the world about 40% of school leavers now attend university, in contrast to figuresjof approximately 15% ten years ago. In addition to these changing demographics, there is an in creasing pressure for j universities to offer value for money in their curricula: education is a commodity than can be bought and students view themselves as consumers entitled to an appropriate service.
Traditionally those involved in higher education may have regarded teaching as second priority to research, but the increasing pressure onuniversities to provide a relevant, quality and value-for-money learning experience has meant that universities are now striving to create a more learnerfriendly environment. Many universities around the world now place emphasis on funding of teaching/ learning cen tres, as well as recognising that research into teaching of one's content area is as important as research into one's con tent area per se (Gultig et al., 1998;Biggs 8c Tang, 2007).
It has been suggested that the solution to the challenges that learners and educators face in higher education is to immerse students in an environment that makes clear the intended outcomes of the learning process, and follows cur ricula that explicitly encourage this. Constructive alignment has been used to achieve this aim and has been described as an effective yet flexible approach to learning in higher edu cation (Biggs, 1996;Biggs 8cTang, 2007).
W hat is constructive alignment? Constructive alignment is a form of outcomes based ed ucation in which intended learning outcomes (ILOs) are clearly defined and drive the rest of the educational proc ess (Biggs, 1996(Biggs, , 1999. There are two parts to constructive alignment: 1. Constructivism: Students construct meaning from what they do in order to learn. They build on the knowl edge they already bring to the process. Rather than passive participants who have knowledge transmitted to them, they are active participants in the process (Biggs 8cTang, 2007). Constructivism is a theory o f learning that can be seen on a continuum so that there are actually a variety of types of constructivism rather than one unified theory (Doolittle, 1999). These include social constructivism, cognitive con structivism and radical constructivism (see Fosnot, 1996 for further discussion of learning theories). Holmes et al. (2001) have developed a new educational theory -'communal con structivism' based largely in response to the development of technology and its increasing use in education through IC T applications. Communal constructivism purports to move beyond social constructivism and sees individuals construct ing meaning together not just alongside each other but for each other, often through joint development o f Information and Communication Technology (ICT) applications.
2. Alignment: The teacher or lecturer aligns the planned learning activities with the learning outcomes. The basic premise is that the curriculum is designed so that the learning activities and assessment tasks are aligned with the ILOs that are intended in the course. A course is con structively aligned when (a) the ILOs are stated clearly, and explicitly communicated to the students; (b) the teaching and learning activities (TLAs) match the ILOs, and (c) the assessment(s) match the ILOs. Figure 1 illustrates these principles of constructive alignment. Biggs and Tang (2007) describe the process of construc tive alignment which can take place at a range of levels: in dividual courses, programmes and in institutions. This pa per describes the constructive alignment process that took place with one course within our SLP programme, but was carried out as a micro part of a larger and ongoing process of constructive alignment for the entire programme. Biggs and Tang (2007) suggest that when considering a single compo nent of a programme, constructive alignment is achieved by carrying out the following steps: Defining the intended learning outcomes. • Selecting learning and teaching activities likely to enable the students to attain the outcomes.
• Assessing the students' outcomes and grading the students learning.

Defining the Intended Learning Outcomes
There is a large body of literature on the use of learning outcomes in higher education (e.g. D 'Andrea, 1999;Biggs 8c Tang, 2007). Learning outcomes have been described as the middle ground between over generalized statements of learning (e.g. 'aims') and over-specified statements of learn ing (e.g. 'objectives') (Chadwick, 2004). ILO s determine the curriculum content, the teaching and learning approaches or activities carried out and the assessment techniques used to evaluate the end result. I f students are made aware of ILOs then they are likely to take more responsibility for their own learning. Furthermore, when students focus their attention on assessment tasks (as inevitably happens), they should be able to see the explicit links between the ILO s and the as sessment task. The criteria for assessment should only differ from the ILOs by the fact that assessment tasks will neces sitate more detail of performance levels required for specific results or grades. The logic underpinning constructive align ment is very simple. Biggs and Tang (2007) use the analogy o f a parent who wants their child to learn to dress herself. The ILO in this case would be for the child to be able to dress herself independently; the teaching and learning ac tivity would be for the child to practice dressing herself; and the assessment would be how successful the child is in inde pendently dressing herself.
ILOs are specified by use of verbs: W e want students to actively do something, e.g. apply, list, hypothesise etc. In considering the verbs to describe learning outcomes, we can draw on research that has focused on kinds of knowledge and levels of understanding. Biggs (1999) Figure 2.
The distinctions between the different types of knowl edge are important as they relate to what the curriculum should be about. I f we want our students to demonstrate functioning knowledge then we need to ensure that the cur riculum has outcomes which tap into this level. Neverthe- Biggs and Collis, 1982) less it is appropriate to mix the levels of learning required, and a developmental progression should be noted. In a first year course it would be expected to have some lower lev el outcomes that deal with the basic facts, moving towards having higher levels that require the students to deal with new situations.

Figure 2. Relationships between different kinds o f knowledge (adaptedfrom
The SO LO (structure of the observed learning outcome) taxonomy (Biggs 8c Collis, 1982) provides a systematic framework for describing how learners' understanding in creases in complexity as they master academic tasks. It has also been used to (a) develop ILO s: what is the desired level of a student's understanding at the end o f a course?, and (b) evaluate learning outcomes so that we can determine the level at which individual students are actually operating. A visual representation o f the SO LO taxonomy is shown in Table 1.

Selecting learning and teaching activities likely to enable the students to attain the outcomes. '
There is increasing awareness that traditional lectures are no longer appropriate for effectively meeting the needs of diverse student populations (Biggs 8c Tang, 2007;Whit-| worth et al, 2004). Looking beyond the lecture room there1 , are a wide range of teaching and learning methods suitable I for small or larger groups of students. Some o f these have been systematically researched and evaluated for effective ness (see Brown 8c Atkins, 1988 for a review).
Problem-based learning (PBL) is an example o f an alter native approach to teaching and learning which has received considerable attention and been the source of some con troversy. PBL involves confronting students with problems from practice which provide a stimulus for learning (Boud 8c Feletti, 1991). PBL typically occurs in small group,-where students are considered to be active participants I n their own learning. Facilitators typically select authentic assign ments or cases from the discipline. Students are required to locate and evaluate various resources in the field (Savin-Baden 8c Wilkie, 2004;Tan et al., 2005). To date PBL has been widely implemented in medical curricula (Biggs, 2003) but has shown a more limited spread outside medicine. Its Table 1 (Dolmans & Schmidt, 1994). Students who were asked to evaluate PBL in an Occupa tional Therapy curriculum reported benefits in managing information, critical reasoning, communication and team building (Hammel et al, 1999). Despite some of the advantages associated with PBL, it has been found to be a resource-intensive approach which means that many university programmes simply do not have the budget to adopt P B L in its pure form. Critics of PBL suggest that there is no real difference in the outcomes of PBL versus non-PBL curricula (Colliver, 2000). While students seem to enjoy the approach and may show clini cal skills such as problem-solving in advance of their non-PBL peers, the students ultimately lack a solid theoretical foundation and perform more poorly when their theoreti cal knowledge is assessed (Nandi et al, 2000). Furthermore it seems unlikely that P B L alone would give students suf ficient opportunity to develop their clinical skills and at titudes, e.g. the development o f interpersonal skills and therapeutic manner is something which needs to be learnt in real-life clinical settings with clients, under supervision (Grundy, 2004).

. A summary o f the SOLO taxonomy (Biggs & Collins, 1982) with hierarchy o f verbs that can be used toform ILOs
Given the resource issues associated with implementing full-scale PBL, the debate surrounding its efficacy is aca demic for many programmes. Whitworth et al. (2004) de scribe the implementation of case-based problem-solving for SLP students. In' this approach some o f the principles of PBL were drawn on, but small group problem-solving was just one of the teach ing and learning approaches used in com bination with a range of other methods. Brainstorming, role-plays, tutorials and workshops are all teaching and learning activities (TLAs) which have been used to good effect.

Assessing the students' outcomes and grading the students learning.
Constructive alignment suggests that consideration needs to be given to how students' learning is assessed, and how a final grade is arrived at. There are two main approaches to assessment: Normreferenced assessment and criterion-ref erenced assessment. The tradi tional norm referenced assessment model is where students' 'learning' is assessed by their responses to individual questions with marks assigned to their 'correct' respons es. Biggs and Tang (2007) note that this often encourages stu dents to go for a mark 'trawl' in exams, trying to pick-up marks here and there -rather than being motivated to learn because of selfinterest and attempting to under stand what it is they have learnt. Norm-referenced assessment is where students are compared to each other: those who use this system will typically end up with a bell-shaped curve with a small group of students who obtain A grades, a larger group obtaining Bs, and the big gest group obtaining Cs, while students with Ds and E 's and F 's again decrease in number. Biggs and Tang (2007) describe this as 'grading on the curve ' (p.166.) Criterion-referenced assessment is where grades are awarded according to how well students meet the desired learning outcomes. Using this approach, one is required to identify the outcomes that you aim to develop -and to what extent -as part of the unit planning and documentation. This becomes sound evidence for students that they have indeed developed in some way these particular attributes. Table 2 shows an example of a generic criterion-referenced grading system. Nearly all degree programmes will require the criteria grades to be converted to a grade: this is fairly straightfor ward; a good 'A' gets 85%, a bare 'A' gets 75%, and so on. For a more in-depth discussion of assessment, see Biggs (1999, Chapters 8 and 9).
Formative assessment is assessment that affords students the opportunity to gauge how well they are meeting ILOs. They may receive marks but these do not count towards their final grades for the course. Formative assessment is part o f the instructional process. When incorporated into classroom practice, it provides the information needed to adjust teaching and learning while they are happening. In this sense, formative assessment informs both teachers and Table 2.

Example o f a generic criterion-referenced grading system
Grading Criteria students about student understanding at a point when time ly adjustments can be made. Summative assessment also af fords students the opportunity to gauge how well they have met ILOs but these marks are used towards final grades. In a balanced and transparent assessment system, both sum mative and formative assessments are an integral part of in formation gathering.
Constructive alignment was developed in order to pro mote quality learning at university (Biggs, 1996(Biggs, , 1999 and to address some of the challenges associated with higher education outlined in the previous section. Proponents of constructive alignment aim to move students away from surface learning toward deep learning. Rather than having students 'cramming' for examinations but not being able to remember and truly understand what is learnt in the longer term, constructive alignment aims to promote active learn ing where students take responsibility for their own learn ing and leave university as life-long learners equipped with the necessary skills and motivation to continue to develop their learning in the workplace. These are important aims for SLP educators (Whitworth et al., 2004;Penn, 2007). This study aims to describe how principles of constructive alignment were applied to a first year course in our SLP programme (Human Communication Development), a key foundation for both SLP and Audiology programmes.
Method Aim The main aim o f this paper is to describe the curriculum revision process that took place with one SLP course based on the principles of constructive alignment. More specifi cally the study aimed to describe the intended learning out comes (ILOs); teaching and learning activities (TLAs) and assessment that have been devised for this course, and to present a template which can be used for mapping these.
Design and overview This study was carried out following principles of partici patory action research which focused on one specific course within an SLP programme that is treated as a self-contained case. Participatory action research focuses on the effects of researchers' actions within a community with the goal of improving the performance of the community (Reason 8c Bradbury, 2001). A cyclical method of planning, taking ac tion, observing, evaluating and critical reflecting are em ployed. It is a collaborative method to test new ideas and implement action for change, and for these reasons was ap propriate for the ongoing nature o f the curriculum revisions within the SLP programme.
Three phases o f the study are described in this paper. These phases are: Phase 1: Preparatory work and review of existing course Phase 2: Framework and Principles .Phase 3: Documentation Two remaining phases (implementation and evaluation) are part of the participatory action research cycle that have yet to be carried out.
Participants AH academic and clinical staff working in the SLP and Audiology programmes participated in the study (n=13). It was considered that although clinical educators are not direcdy involved in carrying out academic teaching and have no clinical contact with SLP students in first year, they could provide valuable input into the curriculum based on their own experiences as SLP/Audiology students, then as qualified SLP/Audiologists in the workplace and through their clinical teaching experiences with SLP students of lat er years. First year SLP and Audiology students (n=34) con tributed to Phase 1 of the study. Procedure Phase 1: Preparatory work and review of existing course SLP staff met for two hours on a weekly basis over the course of one university term. Initial meetings focused on establishment of a contract for the SLP 'curriculum working group', whereby all staff were invited to participate in the curriculum revision process in a collegial atmosphere and with respect for each others opinions. It was agreed that the curriculum work should reflect the consensus of the group and belonged to the entire staff rather than to one or two individuals. Although course convenors were assigned ul timate responsibility for each course, it was agreed that all would give input and in theory any member of staff should be able to teach the course. A time frame was agreed. Staff carried out readings to develop their knowledge of current practice and research into curriculum design and universi ty teaching / adult education. Discussions of readings took place and staff decided to document their own personal per spectives on this learning process in reflective logs. These reflections were an ongoing part of the research described here, rather than being limited to a specific phase of the study. The course outline for the existing course was dis cussed and reviewed in the light of readings into curricu lum design. The process was documented and placed on the intranet for students of the programme to give input on, as they could not attend the curriculum discussions given their busy schedules.
Anonymous student feedback about the existing course was collected using a written questionnaire. Thirty-four stu dents completed feedback sheets at the end of the course. The questionnaires used a 5 point rating scale to assess as pects o f the course related to (a) learners own knowledge that they brought to the course; (b) clarity and explicitness of IL O 's of the course; (c) content o f the course; (d) the teaching and learning activities used; (e) assessment meth ods, and (f) overall rating of the learning experience and the effect o f the course on the student's interest in the sub ject. In addition space was provided in the written feedback sheet for learners' to add their own comments on any as pects of the course.
Phase 2: Framework and Principles In this phase, the staff agreed on a guiding framework and principles that would ensure the new course curriculum was educationally sound and based on a body of theoretical knowledge. In addition to consideration of these theoreti cal aspects, attention was given to practical aspects such as a template which could be used to capture the discussion of key components of constructive alignment.
Phase 3: Documentation In the final phase, the specific details of the constructive alignment was documented using the template devised in phase 2. Results for Phase 2 and 3 are presented separately, but in keeping with the nature of participatory action re search they were closely linked and in reality overlapped to a great extent, e.g. when the template was actually used it was found to be missing key aspects, and this necessitated revision of the template; at various points we reconsidered theoretical underpinnings and continued to read widely throughout.

Results
Results are presented following the three phases of the study.
Phase 1: Preparatory work and review of existing course The course Human Communication Development (HCD) is a first year, first semester course that all students in the four year SLP and audiology programmes are required to take. The course aims to introduce students to normal processes of human communication and give them an understanding o f how communication develops over the life-span. It is a pre-clinical course that forms the foundation of most other courses in the SLP and Audiology programmes. It consists of 48 contact hours and in 2008 was taken by 34 students, from both Speech pathology and Audiology programmes. The course was previously known as "Normal Speech, Lan guage and Hearing Development" but the title was changed to reflect the diversity of communication development ver sus one 'standard' norm. This thinking fits with the pro gramme's philosophy of inclusiveness of cultural and lin guistic diversity of learners in current classes.
Appendix 1 shows the unrevised version o f the course aims. Immediately striking about the existing course outline was that there are a great many aims and objectives. Biggs and Tang (2007) suggest that IL O 's should not exceed more than about 7 or 8 since greater breadth of coverage typically means that the depth of understanding is compromised. In the existing course outline there were 4 broad aims, and 12 more specific objectives which were grouped into knowl edge, skills and attitudes categories. Many of these will re main appropriate but consideration needs to be given to the core knowledge that is essential for students to acquire rath er than the knowledge, skills and attitudes that are 'nice to have.' In order for constructive alignment to occur ILOs will need to be specifically stated using appropriate verbs which can then be used to guide the TLAs and assessments. The existing aims had been outlined from the educators', rather than the learners' point of view, e.g. 'To provide a compre hensive working knowledge o f normal speech, language and hearing development from birth, through the infant-, tod dler-, pre-school and school-age phases.' The information in Appendix 1 shows the emphasis that previous curriculum revisions have placed on content -rather than on TLAs and assessment. As it stood the course objectives were considered to be broadly appropri ate as ILOs: they used verbs which fit with the frameworks outlined in the previous section. Nevertheless these needed to be prioritised, and reviewed so that they linked up explic itly with the teaching and learning activities used to achieve outcomes (not included previously) and assessment (also not detailed previously). No sense was given in this docu ment of the criteria by which students' performance on this course would be judged.
Students evaluated the existing, unrevised course (in which they participated in the first semester of 2008) by anonymously completing a written questionnaire handed to them in the last session of that course. The results will be compared with the results from the new cohort of first year "Stimulating and easy to cope with." "Unstimulating in terms of content." D: the teaching and learning activities used 4.25 "It would be nice to watch more movies about speech." "The lecturer should use more methods to attain the students' attention better." "A touch boring at times...should be more interactive." "Slides got a bit boring at times." "More visuals and practicals would help us from getting bored." E: Assessment methods and feedback 3.8 "I didn't feel I could adequately judge my progress." "Have more tests so we can judge our progress better." "Have spot tests and more practise throughout the course." "Mark tests more strictly so that we know the "perfect answer." "I loved the project on child development: creative activities are fun and help learning." F: overall rating of the learning experience and the effect of the course on the student's interest in the subject 4.12 "It has given me a broad base to build on." "On the whole has gone well but I find it hard to keep up with reading." THE SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF COMM UNICATION DISORDERS, V O L 55 2008 | students who will experience the revised course in the first semester o f2009. Results from key questions of the student evaluation feedback are presented in Table 3. Table 3 shows that while the overall rating given by stu dents was good; the areas around which most critical feed back was obtained was in the area of teaching and learning activities, and assessment. In terms of TLAs many students noted that they would have preferred more interaction, rather than the lecture-based format which was primarily employed. In terms of assessment it was interesting to note that several students asked for many assessments so that they could develop a greater sense of how their learning was progressing. Some of the qualitative comments provided support for the use of a practical assignment. All in all the course received a positive evaluation, but there is certainly room to improve each of the aspects outlined in Table 3 and most specifically the TLA s and assessments.
At this point in staff participants' learning journey there was a general sense of excitement and of the importance of transforming the curriculum, however uncertainty about the outcome of the process was also high -as illustrated by ex cerpts from staff reflective logs below: Participant 1: "Reading a wide-range of papers on teach ing and learning was fascinating. I never knew that this whole body of literature existed -despite my job as a lec turer and being involved in education in schools [as an SLP]. However, I'm not sure how this knowledge will be applied to our curriculum and what we are actually hoping to achieve?" Participant 2: "I know that there are problems with the course but I'm not sure how we intend to tackle these and whether sessions like this are the best way of using precious time." Participant 3: "The discussion about the most relevant taxonomy felt like it might be theoretically interesting but it felt divorced from the real problems with the curriculum. I felt overwhelmed and unsure about the contributions I could make. I feel like a 'back-row' girl. This really isn't my area of expertise." Participant 4: "W e have decided to document the [cur riculum review] process as a research project. It's immedi ately made me view my teaching colleagues as research col laborators too -and made the team feel stronger. W e started discussing the rationale for what we were doing, aims and methods and it felt exciting to be all pooling our ideas and moving forward, planning future sessions etc. I am still not entirely sure about what the outcome will be -but I feel more accepting of this now because that is what research is all about." Phase 1: Summary At the end of this Phase it was concluded that the course has many strengths as it stands: the content is appropriate for the level of the programme and is broadly aligned with the ILOs of the programme. However, aims and objectives need to be reconsidered so that a smaller and more focused set of ILOs are chosen. These then need to be used to guide the TLAs and assessment. Criterion referenced guidelines for students taking this course need to be developed. Feed back from students suggests that the course is currently working well but that students have specific criticisms re lated mainly to the TLAs used and the assessments.

Phase 2: Framework and Principles
Constructive alignment was the overriding principle used to guide the curriculum review process. It was agreed that for each course the following process should be followed: A. ILOs: List a small set of ILOs. These should capture the core outcomes that are required for students to achieve by the end of each course. Each IL O will require an ap propriate verb since we want the emphasis to be on what the students can do by the end of the course (See Table 1). Each ILO can be broken down further into the type (See Figure 2) and level of knowledge ( Table 1) that is required. Where appropriate, skills and attitudes that will be required to achieve the ILO should be explicitly stated to ensure that a progression of learning takes place.
B. Content: Outline the content of the course by top ic area, including a specification of the depth of each top ic to be covered ranging from minimal depth (*) to mod erate depth (**) to most in-depth (***). Content should be pared down to what is essential to know, rather than what is 'nice to know' following principles of curriculum unloading (Biggs & Tang, 2007).
C. TLAs: Describe TLAs. These should link explicitly with ILOs, thus for example if students are required to ap ply knowledge of normal communication to specific cases (an ILO ), then they should be given opportunity to do so in TLAs, e.g. either through case-based learning or through visits to appropriate clinical / educational sites. Since it is known that lectures are no longer appropriate as the only TLA , a wide range of more innovative and effective TLAs should be considered. D. Assessment: Describe assessment. Both formative and summative assessments should be included for each course. Assessments should be explicitly aligned with ILOs and TLAs. In some cases assessments will be the same as TLAs -and this is when alignment is perfect and should not be regarded as a problem (Biggs & Tang, 2007). Linked to the assessment tasks is the need for each course to contain a criterion referenced guideline where students' perform ances are described in terms of attributes (e.g. see Table 2 for a generic example). These criteria can be used in assess ing students' performance in both formative and summative assessment tasks; as well as helping students to be explicitly aware of where they are currently at in their learning, and what they will need to achieve in order to progress to an other grade level.
E. Philosophical underpinnings. Ensure that the philo sophical underpinnings of the programme are reflected appro priately in each specific course. Alignment can take place at a range of levels. One way in which we aim to ensure that each specific course meets the needs of the context and is relevant to the broader programme and institutional agenda is by explicitly considering key themes or philosophical un derpinnings of the programmes. In our programme these include: f. Equity and affirmation of diversity.
Each o f these aspects should be included where possi ble in relevant sections of the courses under discussion. A checklist at the end of the template reminds participants to consider whether key themes have emerged in the curricu lum outline, and where necessary these can be more explic itly included.
Staff participants showed a mixed range of feelings at this point in the process: some were overwhelmed and ap prehensive about the amount of work that needed to be done and the amount o f time that it would take. Others were excited about the progress that had been made and the innovations that could be implemented. Specific examples include: Participant 7: "Wow! I 've always thought that the first years of training are just about theory, and as a clinical edu cator I didn't think I 'd have much to offer. But now I 'm re alising how we have to think ahead to the clinical practice years, and I think we really can make a difference in filling the gap between classroom and on-site learning." Participant 2: "I'm so excited... almost euphoric at this realisation that as long as we follow guidelines from the the ory we can facilitate learning in whatever innovative ways we choose... " Participant 9: "I have always felt bad, like a bit of a shirk er if I don't lecture classes for the full 2 hours. But through this project I am realising that this is absolutely fine -desir able even -especially as we know ILOs can be met through other more exciting ways." Participant 12: "It's just all come together. I think we are all understanding what it's all about! And actually to take that a step further and understand more about the learning process and the challenges that our students go through... it's been the same for us." Phase 2: Summary, At the end of this phase, staff participants had arrived at a template which could be used to capture all the necessary elements for constructive alignment at the level of individ ual courses. The blank template is included in Appendix 2.
Phase 3: Documentation Revision of the existing course following principles of constructive alignment has meant that the new course has ILOs that are closely aligned with TLA s and assess ment. Table 4 shows the newly-aligned H CD course which Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology students will take in the first semester 2009. The layout o f the table helps to make the alignment visually explicit.
Column A: ILOs The first column of Table 4 delineates the ILO s which were selected for this specific course. This column is un doubtedly the most important of the table: the cornerstone on which the remainder of the table depends. This impor tance was reflected in the large amount of discussion and debate that was generated among staff participants for each ILO . Each of the six ILO s for this specific course is ac companied by an explicit statement about the level and type of knowledge required based on the theoretical frameworks summarised in Table 1 and Figure 2.
Six ILOs were selected to capture the core outcomes of the course. This smaller number was in contrast to the larger number of aims / objectives stated in the previous version of the course (Appendix 1). Through the careful selection of these ILO s, the course has been 'unloaded.' It is our belief that this will encourage deep learning of essential informa tion that students will be able to retain and build on in fu ture courses, rather than surface learning of a large number of facts which most students will forget shortly after the final examination. The focus has shifted from breadth to depth as suggested by Biggs and Tang (2007). The verbs included in our ILO s for this course are limited only to 'list' (e.g. IL 0 4 : "List principles of normal develoment') and 'describe' (e.g. IL 0 3 : 'Describe anatomy and physiology of the auditory system and speech mechanism.') and thus are reflective of declarative knowledge (knowing 'what') at the multistructural level. It was felt that these low level verbs are appropri ate for a first year, first semester course, and in our planning of courses that follow this one the developmental progres sion to higher levels o f knowledge is seen.
IL O l ('Describe the scope of practice of Speech-language pathology and Audiology professions') may seem an unusual choice of outcome for a course in typical develop ment of communication. However, given the overall aims of the programme: to produce competent professionals who meet the exit level criteria of the H PCSA, staff participants considered it important to explicitly and upfront expose first year students to issues surrounding scope of practice. This course is an obvious place to do so. ILO s typically focus on knowledge, which is clearly a key component of our tem plate. However it was felt that skills and attitudes should also be explicitly stated in our template as linked to each outcome. Table 4 shows common threads in both of these areas: staff participants felt strongly that skills possessed by 'thinking therapists' such as the ability to critically self-reflect (see ILOs 1 and 4), work well in groups (see ILO s 2 and 3), and be respectful and accepting towards diversity of all kinds (see ILO s 4, 5, and 6) are skills which should be encouraged from the earliest part of the curriculum, and not only in the clinical practicum of the programme. I L 0 3 'Describe anatomy and physiology o f the auditory system and speech mechanism' has been included as SLP students will no longer take an in depth 12-week course on anatomy and physiology of the ear, hence further unloading.

Column B: Content
Column B focused on content areas that will need to be covered in the course, and is analogous to a course outline in more traditionally formatted student handouts. Since previ ous curriculum work had focused primarily on content, the content o f the course did not differ substantially to that of the original course (as shown in Appendix 1). One of the changes in the area of content links to ILO 1: the overview of the professions. However, one of the advantages of con structive alignment is that once the issue of what students should achieve by the end o f the course has been addressed (i.e. ILO s formulated) the content leads on from here in a fairly straightforward way. The major challenge associated with selection of content is that one cannot include eve rything on a given topic! Authors such as Irving and Potts (2004), and Biggs and Tang (2007) note that dominance of content limits the aims of teaching and reduces develop ment of skills. Ethics and human rights 4.
Biopsychosocial models of health 5.
Developing agents for change 6.
Equity and affirmation of diversity One way in which we tried to manage the volume of content in this course (and others) is by using a system for grading the depth to which a specific topic should be cov ered. Thus for example, I L 0 4 ('List principles of normal development') includes a fairly large number of key topics, but these are content areas that have been graded as mini mal depth (*) and are thus considered important enough to be included, but relatively unimportant in relation to topic areas marked with two (**) or three (***) stars.
Column C: TLA s Having selected ILO s appropriate for the course, TLAs are normally relatively easy to select since they should speak directly to what it is that we want students to be able to do by the end o f the course. It is acknowledged that lectures are no longer sufficient and appropriate for the type o f learning that is needed at university (Biggs 8c Tang, 2007;Brumfitt, 2004;Whitworth et al, 2004). Through this curriculum revision process staff have become creative and more flex ible about the alternatives to traditional lectures. Neverthe less Table 4 shows how for all of the six ILOs some tradi-, tional lectures have been included. For ILOs 1,2,4,5 and 6 \ these will take the form of introductory or 'scene setting' j lectures which may last from a 15 minute talk to 45 min utes. For ILO 3 'Describe anatomy and physiology of the 1 auditory system and speech mechanism' more lectures will take place. The inclusion of lectures as TLAs in this revised course may to some extent reflect the difficulty that lectur ers, used to teaching largely in this way (and most likely having been taught themselves predominantly through this' TLA ), feel when having to abandon this method of teach ing. Indeed the title 'lecturer' says it all! Another reason for maintaining some lectures in the revised curriculum is that many o f the other TLAs carry associated costs which are high in terms of budget and time: experiential learning outside of the university is undoubtedly valuable but needs to be balanced with other more cost-effective and practical means o f teaching / learning.
In addition to traditional lectures, the TLAs for the H CD course are grouped into 4 main categories: (1) self-directed study, (2) peer-based learning, (3) experiential learning, and (4) communal constructivism. Self-directed study activities encourage learners to engage with novel concepts in active ways which make students more likely to use and 'own' the associated language, than if only passively hearing the lan guage in lectures. Our planned self-directed study activities include intranet and internet research, and the development of a glossary of key terms which can be built on through out the 4 years of study. Peer-based learning involves stu dents working together and learning from each other. Spe cific activities involving peer learning in this course include small group discussions on specific topics (e.g. see IL 0 2 ); completion of problem solving exercises (see ILOs 2, 3) and group presentations (see ILOs 5, 6). Experiential learning occurs where students learn 'on the job' and this has typi cally occurred in later years of the SLP programme. How ever, bearing in mind the ultimate outcomes of the pro gramme, and frequent complaints from clinical educators that students do not know what to expect from, for exam ple, a typically developing three-year old, it was considered important for students to have contact with children from as early as possible in the course. Note that the outcomes around the experiential learning activities in the local creche not only include acquisition of knowledge about how typ ically children develop and behave, but also skills aspects such as learning to present oneself in an appropriate profes sional manner. In the H CD course students will spend a total of 6 hours in the local creche and much of the TLAs and assessment centre around this. Students will be given specific time slots, previously used for lectures, to visit the creche. Our final T L A is that of communal constructivism where students are given the opportunity to create materials that can be used in their own future clinical years to prevent communication difficulties and promote normal communi cation development. jThese materials will be housed in the departmental resource library where they can be freely ac cessed by students of|all years, and it is envisaged that future years of students will contribute and develop them further. This is an example of how students are to be tasked not only with constructing their own knowledge but also with cre ating tangible academic materials with and for each other. This assignment is a modified version of the assignment that was carried out in the unrevised version of the course, and which students appeared to find useful and engaging as ex emplified by the student comment in Table 3: "...creative activities are fun and help learning." Column D : Assessment The final column of Table 4 focuses on assess ment of ILOs. These are divided into formative and summative, and is an aspect of the course in which major changes were made. In the unre vised version of the H CD course there were few if any formative assessments carried out, leading students to make the following comments: "Have spot tests course." (from Table 3). and more practise throughout the The revised course now includes several formative assess ments taking a variety of formats which include both in dividual and group work, e.g. IL O l is assessed by asking students to complete and submit a self-reflective worksheet; I L 0 2 is assessed though a short written quiz taken in the first 10 minutes of the sessions; I L 0 5 is assessed through peer presentations in which small groups will share findings with the class. W e envisage giving the presenting students qualitative and quantitative feedback from both the course lecturer and the student audience. Summative assessment centres around the communal constructivism task where students are required to develop materials for prevention / promotion purposes. It will be noted that this assessment is identical to the TLA , something which Biggs and Tang (2007) suggest should not be viewed as a problem but rather an example o f good alignment: recall the example o f the child learning to dress herself where the T L A is dressing herself and the assessment is how well she dresses herself. The materials development is divided into two components: firstly students will receive a group mark for the materials that they develop as a team; secondly they receive an indi vidual mark for their own written essay that explains ration ale and thinking beyond the development of the materials. The final summative assessment is submission of a reflective log outlining the individual experience of the creche visits. In the unrevised version of the course, final assessment in volved a two hour written exam which included a range of multiple choice / true-false and short answer questions cov ering a broad range of information in minimal depth.
In Table 4 it can be seen that there is an overlap be tween assessments and ILOs. Each ILO needs to be as sessed, but it does not mean that each IL O needs to have its own unique assessment. For example, one assessment task may measure the level of attainment of a number of related learning outcomes as shown in Figure 3 below which maps the links between ILOs and summative assessment tasks.
Our assessment criteria for each of the assessment tasks in this course follows a criterion based approach where stu dents are not graded 'against a curve' or assigned marks for each fact that they remember, but rather are assessed in terms of a set of graduate attributes. These are shown in Table 5.

Checklist of key themes
The final component of Table 4 is consideration of the key themes or underlying philosophy of our SLP pro gramme. Here it can be seen that each of the key themes has come through at some point in the revised curriculum for the H CD course. The themes are addressed to varying depths and revisited over the entire curriculum, e.g. Theme 3: Ethics and Human Rights will emerge more clearly, in for example, the Early Intervention course that follows this course in the second semester. The checklist is included to remind us of the key themes; ensure that at least of some of them are covered and enable us to determine at a glance which have been covered and which will need to come through strongly at other points in the curriculum.
Staff participants shared a range of mixed feelings about the curriculum revision process at this point. On the one hand there was a great sense of accomplishment, exempli fied by comments such as: Participant 2: "W e have done so well. What a good team! I am really pleased and impressed at how everyone has con tributed." Participant 8: "I feel really pleased. It was harder than I thought it would be and I feel my brain has had a good workout. It has been great working on this together and it shows how our collective brains are better than one!" At the same time participants were realistic about the great amount of time and work that had been demanded of them, and the fact that there was a great deal more work to follow: Participant 10: "It has been great and I think we all feel a strong sense of accomplishment. I do feel sad and a bit sorry for all my previous student groups... they didn't have the benefit of these new teaching / learning experiences." Participant 11: "It's been amazing. I am proud to have been part of the team and that we worked together so well. It is a lot of hard work.. .and it isn't finished yet." Phase 3 Summary In this phase o f the study staff participants used the tem plate developed in Phase 2 to redesign the ILOs, TLAs and assessment for the H CD course. The course was unloaded in terms of content, and ILOs reduced to six clear state ments linked to theoretical models of learning, and with requisite knowledge, skills and attitudes described. In ad dition it contributed to the unloading of the SLP curricu lum as inclusion o f I L 0 3 'Describe anatomy and physiology of the auditory system and speech mechanism' permitted one 12 weekvcourse to be removed. New TLAs were out lined so that students have the opportunity to engage more closely and hands-on with their studies. A greater variety of assessments were described giving students the oppor tunity to more accurately gauge their own progress through the course through formative assessment, and moving away from examination situations which encourage shallow learn ing. Through the use of a checklist staff participants were able to ensure that this one specific course stills emphasises the key philosophical underpinnings o f the programme as a whole. Discussion Advocates o f constructive alignment are many (e.g. Co hen, 1987;Biggs, 1996;Biggs 8c Tang, 2007;Harden, Crosby 8c Davis, 1999): it is an approach which has strong intuitive appeal. However, there are critics of constructive alignment who argue that its true value has yet to be dem onstrated (e.g. Jervis 8c Jervis, 2005). Indeed it is true that while a literature search for 'constructive alignment' yields a great many papers, few of these can be considered evalua tions of the effectiveness of the approach.
How will the success o f our newly aligned H CD course be evaluated? One way in which we plan to evaluate effec tiveness is through the use o f the student evaluation ques tionnaire that was described in Phase I of this study. Al though the quantitative data from that instrument showed largely positive feedback, the qualitative comments suggest ed a range of difficulties specifically with TLA s and assess ment. The written questionnaire which students completed at the end of the course for evaluation purposes was not designed specifically for the research described here, but is rather a generic student feedback evaluation. More sensitive and specific evaluation materials need to be designed which can take into account aspects of the revised curriculum and constructive alignment, e.g. students might be asked more explicitly for comments about the nature o f ILOs, and whether TLA s are helpful in facilitating these. Quantita tively, student grades might be compared pre-and post cur riculum changes. However such an exercise may fail to cap ture the changes that have been brought to the course: the student cohorts who are being compared will be different; the grades may differ because of the marking criteria used and the nature of the assignments. It will be a challenge to know whether it is the explicit alignment itself that may have brought about changes, or the use of more innovative T L A 's or indeed more wide-ranging assessments which in clude formative tasks. Challenges in evaluating the effec tiveness of curriculum changes are numerous and may be one of the reasons why there are very few studies which have actually demonstrated the value of constructive alignment in learning outcomes when compared to courses which are for example, not explicitly aligned.
Brabrand (2007) describes positive changes that were brought about through the constructive alignment process in his science course, but these changes centre around his own subjective opinions rather than objective measures of these changes. He notes: ".. .it is my experience that.. .constructive alignment pro vides... insights on where and how to optimize the teach ing system for student learning in making sure the students have the necessary incentive and support for learning. It is also my own personal experience that the course and the quality of the projects handed in by the students improved significantly with alignment." (p.13). Braband (2007) did evaluate his students' satisfaction with the course pre-and post alignment, and also, includes some qualitative data from student feedback forms -howev er as has been noted before it is difficult to account for why: change occurred and whether it is due to teaching methods and alignment, or the student group itself.
, : . Another criticism of constructive alignment is that the focus on outcomes is too limiting especially in higher educa-  Grade Excellent performance: In-depth understanding of course content across all ILOs; offers creative information and innovative solutions. Demonstrates that knowledge is supplemented by ongoing and additional reading / observations beyond what is expected in this course. Student has sound knowledge and excellent reasoning to work independently. Shows advanced self-reflection skills and works well in all groups.

75+
Very good performance: Very good understanding of the course content. Comprehensively covers all issues with minimal support from facilitators and takes initiative to provide additional information. Shows awareness of literature and ability to access it independently and use it appropriately. Reasoning skills are developing well and student shows good evidence of self-reflection skills and ability to work in groups.

70-74
Good performance: Student demonstrates good understanding of the course content, although some ILOs are met more completely than others. Needs refinement in clinical reasoning, and development of self-reflection skills. Make some attempt to refer to literature but needs to develop knowledge of links between what is read and what is observed; Works well in groups but needs to develop group working skills further and spend more time engaging with learning to develop depth of knowledge in all areas.

60-69
Pass, fair performance: Meets ILOs at a minimally acceptable level; understands course content but at minimal depth and may have difficulty linking to literature; or may have specific difficulties with achieving particular ILOs. Reasoning skills and self-reflection skills are adequate at a basic level for the year group and show potential to develop; Group work may be a challenge and the student may rely heavily on others in the group.

50-59
Below minimumjcompetence: Student has not met all ILOs and shows limited or shallow learning; no links to literature; poor or lacking in reasoning and reflection skills; attitudinal issues may be problematic; student will not be adequately prepared to function in a clinical setting; student is able to contribute minimally to group work.

45-49
Unsatisfactory: Student has achieved few if any ILOs; learning is shallow and limited; student shows no evidence of reading or awareness of literature beyond course notes; attitudinal issues are noted; student will not be able to function in clinical setting; contributes minimally if at all to group work; self-reflection and reasoning skills are minimal or non-existent 0-45 tion and will result in "the death of originality and serendip ity" (Jervis 8cjervis, 2005, p. 7; and see also Hamilton, 1999) as students may obtain other outcomes through T L A 's that were not planned for by the course designers. This is an issue already mentioned in the context of the key themes o f our programme: we expect all key themes to explicitly emerge in this course. However theme 3: Ethics and Human Rights is likely to emerge in a fairly limited way, but it might be that some particular circumstance gives rise to in-depth discus sion of this topic (e.g. in the experiential learning setting). Should this happen this would be an excellent opportunity; however it is not expected that this will happen. Adopting this perspective seems to us likely to ensure that serendip ity is not lost in the learning experience; but at the same A final criticism of constructive alignment is that it is in fact something that academics have been doing for years and that curriculum alignment or curriculum congruence are philosophically more accurate terms since true construc tivism is not typically demonstrated in aligned approaches (McCune 8c Hounsell, 2005). In response to the first as pect -that constructive alignment is something that aca demics are already doing without being aware of the fact -our own experiences have clearly shown that this is not the case. Through our curriculum revisions staff participants frequently became sidetracked with aspects of content that

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we felt should be included; TLAs that we felt were suitable or assessments that we were comfortable with. However, focusing on our ILO s was a constant reminder to ask our selves: what is it we want the students to be able to achieve by the end of this course? And then, in turn, how do con tent, TLA s and assessment all fit with this? Constructive alignment has given us a theoretical framework for under standing why this particular course -and ultimately the pro gramme as a whole -occurs the way it does. McCune and Hounsell (2005) have gone on to suggest that constructive alignment is a misnomer since constructivism is not neces sarily demonstrated in aligned approaches. This may be the case: it is not difficult to imagine how one might end up with an aligned curriculum that is devoid o f constructivism. However, our approach has been to explicitly incorporate both 'constructivism' and 'alignment' in our curriculum re vision. The explicit inclusion of communal constructivism is one way in which we have assured that constructivism is a part of the curriculum and throughout the curriculum revi sions we have strived to have students actively engaging and building their knowledge, e.g. consider the glossary build ing activities of ILOs 1 and 3.
While some have described constructive alignment as something which academics typically do already (McCune & Hounsell, 2005) other authors have acknowledged that constructive alignment is extremely difficult to achieve: Houghton (2004) notes that it is virtually impossible to get it right first time. For this reason reflective practitioners are required, i.e. teachers who constantly adapt course design and delivery, continually moving their course or programme towards (unattainable) perfect constructive alignment. This approach of constantly revising and reworking courses fits with the methodology described here: The revised H CD course will take place in 2009 and it remains to be seen whether the newly aligned course will result in more effec tive learning for students.
The reflective logs of staff offer some insights into our own perceptions of constructive alignment. Here we share three key themes which emerged from staff logs and high light the parallels between 'teachers' and 'learners', as the staff participating in this project become learners them selves, grappling with a large body of unfamiliar literature.

M ind the gap: The divide between theory and practice
Much has been written about the difficulties that SLP students and others of related disciplines face when having to make links between the theory that is typically taught in lectures, and 'doing the job' in a clinical setting (Brumfitt, 2004;Grundy, 2004). It should come as no surprise when one considers the different outcomes expected of students in both settings; and given the fact that there are many practis ing clinicians who battle to bridge this divide -as exempli fied in Claire Penn's editorial response entitled: "Don't give me the theory, just tell me what to do in therapy..." (Penn, 2007). This theory / practice gap was also closely felt by all staff participants as we grappled with the unfamiliar litera ture of educational theory. All staff were able to grasp the key concepts of the educational literature required for our project, but having achieved this through a set of readings did not mean that we could effortlessly apply the knowl edge to revise the curriculum (or indeed in its implementa tion). Many of the staff participants felt out of their depth and inadequately prepared to do so -despite having done our homework and 'learnt' the theory. Feeling 'inadequate about how to do this'; 'like a back-row girl'; 'completely out of my depth' are all feelings that staff described at the start of the process. These are surely some of the same com ments that we will have heard our students make in their clinics. Reflecting on our feelings of uncertainty and how these gradually gave way to a more confident feeling can only serve as a helpful reminder of the challenges that our students face.
One of the key motivators for the curriculum work de scribed in this paper has been to bridge the divide between theory and practice so that the two are able to link more seamlessly with each other. Rather than the sorry state o f af fairs Penn (2007) described we strive for graduates who will say: "I'll do it... and I can give you the theory that underpins what I do!" One way of moving towards this scenario is to keep our focus on the ultimate outcomes of the programme (Who are those thinking therapists, those agents for change that we want to produce?) and ensure that courses from the very start of the programme work towards that goal. In the revised H CD curriculum described in this paper we have included a range of aspects that work towards this goal.
Having clinical educators as well as academic staff involved in the project is another way in which we have attempted to bridge the divide. This was something which almost all staff seemed to express in their comments on the process. The bridging of the gap between theory and practice works both ways: not only should we be introducing practical as pects and clinically-linked skills earlier in the programme, but theoretical aspects should be incorporated explicitly in clinical work in the later years. Students should be able to make reference to appropriate literature and the rapidly ex panding evidence base in SLP, when called upon to do so -and for their own peace o f mind and professionalism as a matter of course.

Building together: Communal constructivism
Communal constructivism aims to move beyond social constructivism and sees individuals constructing meaning together not just alongside each other but for each other, working together to create something. In the H CD course we have included some TLAs and assessment tasks which closely follow this principle: students are required to work in small groups with a key aim of the activity being to build materials that can be shared with all present and future stu dents in the division. Intuitively this approach appeals to staff and students alike: the value of resources that are ac tually needed, used by many and freely available to all who may need them is easy to see. It is more than just doing assignments for a mark, but about contributing in a mean ingful and socially responsive way. Our aim is that students from a diverse range of backgrounds will relate to this-and find meaning in the assessment activities.
Our own curriculum work resonated with the principles of communal constructivism: the curriculum does not be long to any of us individually, it belongs to all and is some thing that will be used and modified and for the benefit of current and future students in our programme. Our difficul ties in grappling with the theory were given meaning and TO W A R D S C O N S T R U C T IV E A L IG N M E N T IN THE SLP C U R R IC U L U M purpose when we consider what it is we have jointly con structed. As one staff participant noted: "I f I had taken a test or exam on educational theories and curriculum development after I had just read the chapters and papers on the subject, I would have failed or maybe just scraped a pass... if I reflect back on when I really learnt, it was when we had to produce something [the revised course] and we all started putting the pieces of the puzzle togethn er.
This comment illustrates both components of commu nal constructivism -the communal reflected in "we all... together" and constructivism in "producing something" or "putting the pieces..." Comments from staff participants also reflected the rewards and challenges associated with working in groups, and many of these comments reflected those of our students, some of whom -just like us-face the prospect of working in groups with dread! In the re vised H CD course, the emphasis on group working is clear ly shown -it is included as an explicit outcome (e.g. see I L 0 3 which includes the attitudinal component: 'Develop an appreciation for benefits of working in a group' and care fully aligned TLA s involve opportunity to develop this skill. Working in a group does bring with it unique challenges: it is our belief that the benefits outweigh the challenges and that students (and staff) should be encouraged to develop in this area, especially since part of an SLP's role may well involve facilitating individuals working in groups. Research findings suggest that while students can gain factual knowl edge equally effectively by studying individually or by par ticipating in collaborative learning, critical thinking is sig nificantly improved in the latter (Gokhale, 1995). Students perform at higher intellectual levels in cooperative learning situations (Vygotsky, 1978), because problem solving strat egies are improved when presented with different interpre tations. Further, peer support allows students to convert knowledge and critical thinking skills into tools for intel lectual functioning (Bruner, 1985).
A spiral oflearning i An interesting paradox which emerged from some of the staff participants' logs is that while the focus of the curric ulum work has been bn specifying clearly delineated out comes, the entire process of curriculum revision does not have a clearly delineated outcome. It will involve ongoing revisions and refinements that mean progress, although it will be necessary to constantly revisit and reflect on what is we are achieving or not achieving. For some this is 'frus trating,' 'daunting' and 'a bit depressing. ' Houghton (2004) notes that constructive alignment cannot be achieved or maintained in an institutional system that does not allow frequent modification of module descriptions. For others it reminds us about the lifelong nature of learning: learning can never be finished. This is an important message that we wish to convey to our students: they need to become life long learners who are empowered to access information and continually construct their knowledge throughout their life time. W e cannot teach them everything that they need to know about SLP in four years of study: the best we can do is ensure they meet exit level criteria, and are equipped with an awareness of how to continue developing their knowledge.
The way forward First year students will experience the revised H CD course in the first semester of 2009. The course will be evaluated and modified in light of the feedback received, continuing the spiral of participatory action research. Staff participants continue to work together as a team to modify all courses o f the SLP programme using the principles of constructive alignment outlined in this paper. The ultimate aim is for all the courses comprising the SLP programme to be aligned at a micro level, and all courses within the programme to be aligned with each other at a macro level. The curriculum process is not only about alignment; con structive alignment is brought in through an awareness of how best we can ensure students engage with their learn ing and build their knowledge in an ongoing -and often communal -manner. The example of TLA s and assessment given in this paper show some of the ways in which we aim to achieve this goal.
It is clear that changes to the H CD course will need to be made based on students and educator feedback, as well as the changing needs of the student body and the profes sion of SLP. W e are certain that we will not have achieved perfect constructive alignment right away, but consider that the first attempt described here may be useful to others con sidering or working through the process themselves.