Enhancing Student Learning, Engagement, and Employment Through Inclusive Curriculum Design

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted the relocation of classes to online platforms in the 2019–20 academic year (Singhal et al., 2020). Therefore, it required educators to revise the previous curriculum to make it more flexible for both in-person and online education, which is necessary to keep students engaged (Naeem et al., 2022). If we want to help learners from all over the world participate in multicultural development, we need to revamp the teaching and learning model to make it work better with both online and in-person delivery of course materials to meet the needs of the current education system (Gill et al., 2022). However, redesigning the curriculum cannot be completed without first addressing examination, feedback, and evaluation methods. So, there is a need to redesign the curriculum to increase the participation of students and promote job prospects in diverse educational settings, which will further enhance equity and multicultural integration in academic institutions around the globe.

Within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, a comparable effect was observed at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), a UK Russell Group University with a diverse and growing student body. Within the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science programmes are also seeing continued growth in the number of students enrolling and an increase in the diversity of students. To understand this, we have considered a case study of a redesigned curriculum and assessment that showcases how we revised the cloud computing module to enhance student engagement, employability, and intercultural learning.

The cloud computing module is offered as part of the Master of Science (MSc) in Computer Science and Big Data programmes within the school. In the years 2020–21, which coincide with the experiences of educators all throughout the sector during the COVID-19 pandemic, promoting student engagement has proven to be a challenging task for this particular module (Gill et al., 2022). Early findings from module evaluation showed that students were disconnected, reluctant, and not interested in attending in-person courses. In 2020, research showed that just 30% of participants completed and submitted their assignments on time while delivering this module in-person (Gill et al., 2023a). According to the students' feedback, completing the assignment individually is challenging and time-consuming. In addition, the assignment necessitated a high level of technological expertise, which not all students—including continuing students, software engineers, and professional cloud experts—possessed. Several alumni of our cloud computing course have spoken about how important it is to collaborate or work as a team to develop cutting-edge abilities that will serve them well in their future endeavours (Singhal et al., 2020). In order to help students succeed in their careers, it is necessary to improve their active engagement, participation, teamwork, and management abilities (Adam et al., 2011). Informal observations of practice and discussions with colleagues teaching comparable modules at other universities (such as Imperial College London, University of Birmingham, University of Glasgow, and the University of Melbourne) have determined this. In order to assess and enhance current practice within the QMUL module, empirical evidence must take into account a number of crucial factors, as illustrated in Figure 1. These include outcomes of evaluations, reflection logs, informal discussions with learners, focus groups, peer observations, and input from learners. The successful implementation of the proposed plan will contribute to the establishment of an inclusive framework for cloud computing education.

Figure 1.

Important factors are considered for module redesign