Abstract:

In the latest UK Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) Subject Benchmark Statement for Computing, ‘Equality, diversity and inclusion’ and ‘Sustainability’ have been emphasised in their importance for computing courses. British Computer Society (BCS), The Chartered Institute for IT, promotes wider social and economic progress through the advancement of information technology science and practice. The most recent revised BCS Academic Accreditation Guidelines also updated the accreditation criteria in relation to these two key aspects in the assessment of graduate abilities. In alignment with Ulster University’s commitment to providing equality of opportunity for our staff and students and creating an environment which places diversity and inclusion at the heart of our culture, and Ulster University’s Sustainability Strategy, the School of Computing has taken the opportunity to design and revise the MSc and Postgraduate Certificate programmes by embedding EDI and Sustainability in the curriculum design and final configuration of the programmes of study. The design approach has been proposed, developed, implemented, and revised throughout the revalidation process.

Embedding EDI into curriculum design:
Since the first MSc programme introduced in 2018 in the School, there has been significant change in the demographic of the postgraduate students, in terms of gender, mode of study, home or international proportions and the students’ background and experience. For example, International MSc students increased from 22.22% in AY 18/19 to 70% in AY 22/23. Additionally, some modules are shared among the courses and, with the Sept and Jan cohorts, students are at different stages of study and familiarity with level 7 UK education systems, especially the International students.

This has presented great challenges for the course teams to adapt their practice in curriculum design, delivery, and assessment to accommodate the varying needs and characteristics of our learners. Embedding EDI into the curriculum design is at the centre of this revalidation, incorporating good practices, underpinning pedagogies, and the experience gained over past deliveries to the changing characteristics of the students. Guided by the Computing QAA Subject Benchmark Statement, and Advance Higher Education (HE) guidance on EDI in the curriculum, the Advance HE self-evaluation framework has been used for module design in aspects of module content, delivery, as well as assessment.

Embedding Sustainability into curriculum design:
Driven by Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Guidance from QAA and Advance HE, as well as the Sustainability in Computing from Computing QAA Subject Benchmark Statement, all programmes adopted the process of developing approaches to Education for Sustainable Development in the curricula. All modules have identified the sustainable development content by highlighting key economic, social, and environmental issues and identifying the relevant UN Sustainable Development Goal(s) to which the module aims to make a contribution and by creating content to support sustainable development. The teaching team members are all research active and returned in the REF21 submission. Alignment of the SDG goals are underpinned by our research-teaching nexus in modules and the school contributes to 15 of the 17 UN SDGs.

Keywords:

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Sustainability, Curriculum Design.