The rapid uptake of “block teaching” shows that universities are not the sluggish “monoliths” they are disparaged as, according to one of the model’s key advocates.
Victoria University (VU) academic John Weldon says the block model, where subjects are studied sequentially in intensive blocks of several weeks, has proven immune to the inertia that plagues universities.
As head of curriculum for its first-year college, Dr Weldon played a critical role in VU’s snap adoption of block teaching, which was introduced for first-year undergraduates in 2018 and expanded to all qualification levels over three years.
But an International Block and Intensive Learning and Teaching Association conference heard that this was slow by international standards.
