Constructive alignment

Constructive alignment is a principle in devising teaching and learning activities such as lectures, tutorial classes and assessment so that both teachers and learners focus on the outcomes of the context (Biggs, 1996). It represents a marriage between a constructivist understanding of the nature of learning, and an aligned design for instruction.

Constructive alignment is the underpinning concept behind the current requirements for programme specification, declarations of Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) and assessment criteria, and the use of criterion based assessment. There are two basic concepts behind constructive alignment:

• Learners construct meaning from what they do to learn. This concept derives from cognitive psychology and constructivist theory, and recognizes the importance of linking new material to concepts and experiences in the learner's memory, and extrapolation to possible future scenarios via the abstraction of basic principles through reflection.
• The teacher makes a deliberate alignment between the planned learning activities and the learning outcomes. This is a conscious effort to provide the learner with a clearly specified goal, a well designed learning activity or activities that are appropriate for the task, and well designed assessment criteria for giving feedback to the learner.