OpenCurriculum (OpenCV): serving to personalise courses

In 2017, La Rochelle Université won the “New University Curriculum” (NCU) call for projects. The OpenCurriculum (OpenCV) project accompanies the transformation of undergraduate courses.

• It offers students personalised courses, adapted to their individual profiles and to their different projects, while promoting their professional integration (OpenCurriculum means: open courses!),
• It organises reception, orientation and success mechanisms;
• It allows the creation of learning spaces;
• It supports teachers in their teaching practices
• It offers reflections in sociology and education sciences on the issues of professional development of teachers, factors of success or failure of students.

OpenCV is a co-construction, teams in the field, encouraging collaboration between support services, teachers and students. It concerns the entire university community: each link is a component of its success.

Who is OpenCV for?

• High school students: before their choice of higher education, on arrival at the University.
• Undergraduates: supported until graduation or reorientation.
• Teaching teams: pedagogical diversification, use of digital technology, technical assistance in classrooms.
• The whole community: support on administrative or regulatory issues, facilitate the rapid implementation of systems.

The project is based on 3 major stakes:

This work benefited from a State grant managed by the “Agence Nationale de la Recherche” under the “Investissements d’avenir” programme with the reference ANR-17-NCUN-0004

STAKE 1: PERSONALISED SUPPORT FOR TRAINING AND PROFESSIONALISATION PATHS

• The personalisation of courses aims to complete a monodisciplinary training offer with an offer that can be adapted to the students’ profile and project. The reorganisation of the Bachelor’s degree through a system of majors/minors: trade minors, opening minors and intensive courses.
• Personal support for students: by strengthening relations with high schools; in L1, tests, individual interviews, remediation and tutorials; the EC ARP (aid for project success) offering all undergraduate students work methods to succeed in their studies, a course preparing them for the search for internships, employment, and the pursuit of a master’s degree.

STAKE 2: SUPPORT THE DIVERSIFICATION OF TEACHING METHODS

• Make students more active in their learning, more autonomous and able to work collectively.
• Support and train volunteer teachers (workshops, individual and group support, calls for projects).
• Develop the “competency-based approach“: content that is readable by all, high school students, students and future employers.

STAKE 3: DEVELOP SPACES ADAPTED TO NEW TEACHING PRACTICES

Thanks to funding from OpenCV, the first floor of the university library has now been transformed into a learning center: modular spaces and furniture, open to a wide variety of practices, allowing students to work alone, in groups, side by side, in silence, while exchanging ideas… These developments were based on students’ requests and the observation of their practices.