[2C4] Differential learning pathways: Adapting to diverse student needs

Students in large first year cohorts typically exhibit significant diversity in academic preparation, motivation, and learning approaches. These courses are typically inflexible and linear, designed as if all students should (and are required to) progress at the same pace. This approach often fails to challenge advanced students and limits the ability of struggling students to catch up, resulting in scenarios where students spend considerable time grappling with advanced concepts without having mastered the more critical foundational concepts. This can lead to negative feedback, high disengagement and failure rates. The Differential Learning Pathways framework enables 1) a clearly defined hierarchy of learning outcomes, distinguishing crucial foundational knowledge from more advanced but non-essential concepts and 2) students to progress at their own pace (with appropriate supports). This talk covers the Differential Learning Pathways framework with examples from 3 large first year units (INFO1111, INFO1110, ELEC1601) at various stages of adopting this model.