Design Patterns Crossing Borders

Joy Nguyen and Carmen Vallis at the University of Sydney Business School (Source: Joy Nguyen)

How do educational design patterns cross borders? A collaboration between educational researchers from the University of Sydney, Australia and Hanoi University of Science and Technology in Vietnam set out to answer this question.

This international collaboration began as an approach to co-design for connected learning at scale  (Huber et al., 2023). The cross-cultural aspect of design patterns, and how patterns could translate to a Vietnamese context, was an interesting research question to explore.

Higher Education in Vietnam

Higher education in Vietnam has undergone substantial reforms to promote student-centred, active learning and stronger links to industry. In 2021, the Vietnamese Prime announced a National Strategy for the Fourth Industrial Revolution to further reform curricula and pedagogy, to meet evolving societal and global needs. Innovative practice in teaching and learning and leadership at scale, in the form of design patterns, might aid such initiatives.

Hanoi University of Science and Technology (Source: Joy Nguyen)

Educational Design Patterns

Educational design patterns offer practical, shareable solutions to common educational problems based on pedagogical principles, research and expert knowledge. This knowledge may otherwise be too abstract and complicated to communicate and implement without designer expertise (Lotz et al., 2014). Design patterns are in essence abstracted, meaning that a pattern designed for one discipline could be understood and used in another Laurillard, 2012). In the same way, design patterns developed in Australia could be understood and used in Vietnam. However, work in the area of design patterns tends to focus on how to capture and represent them, rather on how they are applied. In our investigation, we wanted to know what practical adaptations were needed – if any – to make existing patterns developed at an Australian university work in a Vietnamese university.

Thirteen Educational Design Patterns

The educational design patterns that we investigate are documented in the Connected Learning at Scale (CLaS) project, a strategic educational initiative at the University of Sydney Business School that aims to transform the student experience. From the nine groups of design patterns documented on the CLaS Design Patterns website, we selected Quality Active Learning (10 patterns) and Leading and Managing a Large Teaching Team (3 patterns).

Two groups were selected because of their relevance to the higher education reforms in Vietnam.  QAL is focused on student engagement, collaboration and critical thinking skills, and LTT because effective leadership and management is key to the uptake of novel teaching approaches.

Next, we examined the patterns through relevant literature in cross-cultural adaptation and our own lived experiences as educators in Vietnam and Australia. This was a discursive and creative process. Hidden assumptions within the designs only became apparent through reframing the patterns in a new cultural context. Out of the ten QAL patterns we looked at, only 4. Meaningful engagement with course readings didn’t need any changes. We agreed that as reading is a self-directed and private activity that presents similar challenges to Vietnamese and Australian students. None of the three LTT patterns could translate to Vietnam without adaptation.

Joy’s class photo (Source: Joy Nguyen)

Adapting Design Patterns to “save face”

One interesting cultural difference that guided our adaptations was the Confucian notion of “saving face”. Avoiding embarrassment or shame for oneself and group members is an important Confucian value. We also needed to take into account Confucian respect for authority and the wisdom gained from elders and ancestors. This respect extends to the classroom, where students may be hesitant to question or challenge their teachers openly (Truong & Hallinger, 2017) or to participate in peer group-discussion without teacher supervision (Pham & Renshaw, 2015b). So appreciating these cultural values were key to understanding how to adapt the original patterns. For example, in 5 Peer feedback on group work, we proposed adaptations to minimise the fear of criticism and judgement, such as private feedback sessions and reassuring students that mistakes are opportunities for learning (Pham & Renshaw, 2015a).

More in common than we first thought

At the beginning, we used the cultural and material differences between the two countries as a lens to adapt the patterns to a new context. But as our discussions deepened, we realised we might have more in common than we first thought. The CLaS project is driven by the same desire to transform higher education as the top-down reforms in Vietnam.  We discovered too, that even though Australian educators may have more access to resources than their Vietnamese counterparts, shifting from traditional to active approaches is a challenge, no matter where you are. Through our international collaboration on this paper, we discovered that thoughtful and nuanced cultural modifications matter. Educational design patterns may assist in the universal drive to move to more effective teaching approaches in higher education.

For a full analysis of the 13 patterns, read the full paper (Vallis et al., 2024) at https://doi.org/10.1108/JWAM-10-2023-0106.