Abstract:

Constructive alignment has become a key principle in curriculum design in advanced higher education systems, ensuring consistency between program objectives, course implementation, learning activities, and assessment practices. In Spain, the approval of Royal Decree 822/2021 reinforced this approach by redefining traditional competencies as Fundamental Outcomes of degree programs, strengthening the need for explicit alignment across curricula. Within this context, Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) launched an institutional educational innovation and improvement project (PIME) aimed at implementing curriculum alignment in the Bachelor’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering.

The project focuses on connecting program-level Fundamental Outcomes with course-level Learning Outcomes, identifying evidence of student achievement, and supporting the alignment of teaching-learning and assessment activities. During the first phase of the project, a historical analysis of competency assignments across courses was conducted, building on the existing curriculum mapping of program-level Fundamental Outcomes within the degree. This analysis enabled a refinement of the relationships between program-level outcomes and their implementation across courses, and informed the definition of course-level Learning Outcomes classified as knowledge-based or skill-based according to the structure used in the UPV academic management system. In parallel, assessment practices used during the 2022–2023 and 2023–2024 academic years were analyzed to identify the types of evidence currently produced by students.

The course Flight Mechanics, taught in the fourth year of the Aerospace Engineering degree, was selected as a case study illustrating how curriculum alignment can be implemented at course level. Within the project framework, the course team defined a structured set of Learning Outcomes addressing key aspects of aircraft performance, stability, and dynamic response. Each learning outcome was explicitly linked to the relevant program-level Fundamental Outcomes and associated with specific evidence of student achievement.

The case study illustrates how program-level educational objectives can be translated into coherent course design linking learning outcomes, teaching strategies, and assessment practices. The results highlight the importance of systematic curriculum mapping and evidence-based instructional design in engineering education, and shape a transferable approach for strengthening curriculum alignment in complex STEM programs while supporting institutional quality assurance and accreditation processes.

Keywords:

Curriculum Alignment, Constructive Alignment, Learning Outcomes, Engineering Education, Aerospace Engineering Education, Curriculum Design.