Creative Practice, Collaboration And Industry Engagement: The Launch Of The Digital Marketing Subject Discipline and the development of the‘Inverted T Curriculum’

This case study evaluates the 10-year evolution of the Digital Marketing subject discipline within Robert Gordon University (RGU), reflecting on how collaborative and creative practice was embedded throughout the subject area and beyond; the impact of industry collaboration on student engagement and participation; and the circular nature of the interactions between industry and academia ensuring subject matter remained current and industry-relevant. The paper outlines the creation of the ‘Inverted T Curriculum’ which brings together the principles of T-Shaped professional with the progression of learning described by Bloom’s Taxonomy. In 2014 RGU launched Scotland’s first MSc in Digital Marketing, with a pedagogy focused on collaborative and creative professional practice, with experiential learning, live client projects and industry mentorship being embedded at the heart of the curriculum. The course design was based around an Agency structure, with students working on a range of live client projects, developing campaign concepts, strategies and creative outputs with the support of both academic and industry mentors. Many of these practices were embedded subsequently across the school and university. This approach has informed the ethos, use of ‘Inverted T’ curriculum design and pedagogy of not only the subsequent course developments and the approaches of other subject areas within the school, but the growth of the entire Digital Marketing subject discipline. Ten years on and Digital Marketing provision within RGU has developed beyond a single master’s course to an entire subject area encompassing an MSc, an undergraduate suite, a highly successful short course, accreditation agreements with three professional bodies, several research projects and Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs), and modules at both undergraduate and postgraduate level embedded across the school and wider institution. Throughout these developments, a focus on industry engagement, collaboration, creative practice, and the application of the ‘Inverted T Curriculum’ has remained the team’s guiding ethos.