A framework for first year curriculum design and pedagogy: Intersecting the threshold learning outcomes, disciplinary knowledge and the first year pedagogy principles

The intersections between disciplinary knowledge, Threshold Learning Outcomes (TLOs) and first year pedagogy principles remain largely unexplored in the Australian context. This paper reviews how these perspectives developed, their implications for quality assurance and the ways they can be integrated to facilitate students’ learning. The paper introduces a project funded by the Australian Government Office of Learning and Teaching (OLT): Renewing first year curriculum for social sciences and humanities. The project investigated what students need to learn in their disciplines in first year so that, upon graduation, they are able to demonstrate their discipline TLOs. The framework developed by the project positions and visualises the connections between the three perspectives and how they can be linked to assist academics to design curricula that not only enable first year students to engage with the changed ways of thinking and studying at university but also with their discipline knowledge and requirements.