Curriculum Workshops: Support for Developing and Enhancing Degree Programs

by Miriam Kahrs and Franziska Richter — Image: Tim Gouw/Unsplash

Whether you are designing a new degree program or reimagining an existing curriculum, curriculum workshops provide Universität Bremen programs with structured, pedagogical guidance to develop or refine their offerings.

Curriculum development is increasingly central to strategic educational planning at universities. This shift is particularly evident in the shared goals of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), which encourage universities to promote student-centered learning, strengthen collaboration among faculty, and help students develop social and civic competencies alongside subject-specific expertise (see EUA 2020).

Key Questions in Degree Program Development:

• What competencies and qualifications should graduates acquire?
• Are the qualification objectives coherent, relevant, and future-proof?
• How can we achieve pedagogical diversity and effectiveness?
• How can we ensure the program is accessible to all students?
• How can we integrate student voices and experiences into the development process?
• How can we meaningfully integrate external perspectives and transformative topics, such as AI, digitalization, sustainability, or evolving learning environments?

To help program teams address these questions, the Office of Teaching and Student Affairs at Universität Bremen offers the Curriculum Workshop program. These workshops are tailored to meet the specific needs of each program.

What is a Curriculum Workshop?

A Curriculum Workshop is a consultative, workshop-based format that supports program teams as they design or evolve their degree programs. This well-established concept has been successfully implemented at numerous universities, adapted each time to the specific cultural and organizational context of the institution.

At Universität Bremen, teams select their areas of focus based on their specific goals. Common priorities include:

1. Goal Orientation and Profile Development

A curriculum workshop helps program teams develop or refine a degree program’s profile and define the program’s objectives more clearly. This process may include:

• Developing or revising the graduate profile,
• Formulating future-oriented qualification goals,
• Refining profile characteristics, such as a focus on research or practice, interdisciplinarity, or internationalization, as well as
• Balancing subject-specific and cross-disciplinary competencies.

2. Accessibility and Pedagogical Diversity

This pillar examines how modules, learning pathways, workload, and exams interact to meet qualification objectives and accommodate diverse learning needs. Frequently addressed topics include:

• Developing and refining module structures, sequences, and learning pathways,
• Exploring pedagogical concepts and creating a coherent assessment framework (including formats, workload, and distribution),
• Creating or revising module description, and
• Determining an appropriate student workload.

3. Future-Readiness and Cross-Cutting Issues

Curricula should anticipate and incorporate current societal, technological, and academic developments. To create future-proof curricula, it is often beneficial to integrate external perspectives and insights. Examples of relevant topics include:

• The thoughtful integration of digital and AI competencies,
• Strengthening intercultural competencies and expanding diverse, inclusive teaching and learning concepts, as well as
• Integrating sustainability, social responsibility, and ethical reflection to equip students to address future societal and academic challenges.

How do the Workshops Work?

Interested faculty and staff can contact the Curriculum Workshop team in the Office of Teaching and Student Affairs for an initial consultation to determine if the program aligns with their goals.

The team first works with the program to clarify its needs, goals, background, and scope. Based on this, the team designs, plans, and facilitates up to three working workshops. If necessary, additional consultation sessions or facilitated working meetings can also be arranged.

The program team is assembled by the degree program’s responsible stakeholders. In addition to faculty, the team may include staff from academic advisory offices, students, or external subject-matter experts, either as permanent members or on an ad hoc basis. The selection depends on which perspectives are needed to address the chosen focus areas.

We recommend beginning this process well in advance of upcoming accreditations, reaccreditations, or changes to examination regulations (Prüfungsordnungen) so that the results can be fully integrated into those official procedures.

Note:
If you wish to develop or refine individual modules or courses rather than the entire program, a module workshop is available as an alternative.

Ultimately, these workshops support program development at the content, structural, and pedagogical levels. They provide a needs-based space for exchange, reflective discussion, and the targeted development or refinement of a degree program. Ideally, the process results in a coherent, attractive degree program concept that is then translated into the program’s structure and official regulations.

References

European University Association. 2020. Learning & Teaching Paper #8: Curriculum Design, Thematic Peer Group Report. Accessed August 25, 2026. https://www.eua.eu/publications/reports/curriculum-design.html.