Designing a “Hidden Curriculum Studio” for Graduate Students

I kept thinking about how networked learning design could support graduate students, especially those still learning how higher education works. Graduate school has many forms of hidden knowledge. Students are expected to know how to email faculty, apply for funding, prepare for conferences, find mentors, read academic norms, manage writing, and build a professional identity. However, these skills are not always taught directly. Many students learn them through informal networks, observation, trial and error, or advice from peers.

So I started imagining a learning activity called a “Hidden Curriculum Studio.” It would be a closed or semi-private online space where graduate students collaboratively build a guide to the unwritten rules of graduate education. The goal would not be simply to collect information. The goal would be to help students participate in networked knowledge activities by asking questions, sharing resources, revising ideas, and learning from each other’s experiences.

The activity could have several sections. One section could be called “Things I Wish Someone Told Me,” where students contribute short reflections about academic norms, funding, conferences, or advisor communication. Another section could be “Ask Anonymously,” where students submit questions they are nervous to ask in public. A third section could be “Resource Remix,” where students share useful links, templates, or examples and explain how they might be used. Over time, the class could revise and organize these contributions into a living guide for future students.

This design connects to the idea of produsage because students would not only consume advice from the instructor. They would also produce, revise, and extend shared knowledge for the group. According to Dennen’s study, instructional design for social media lessons requires attention to the learning goal, the activity, the tool, and the expected type of interaction . In this case, the goal would be to make hidden knowledge visible and to help students build confidence as members of an academic community.

For this activity, the choice of tools also needs to take into account whether students are willing to be exposed online or if they prefer to remain "lurkers." This matters because the hidden curriculum can involve sensitive questions about belonging, uncertainty, power, advising, and identity. Pischetola et al. (2022) remind us that networked learning spaces are designed and materialized through relationships, tools, and practices. For this kind of activity, the learning space needs to feel safe enough for students to ask honest questions.

In conclusion, designing networked learning activities is also a way of designing access. When instructors carefully choose tools, structure interactions, and facilitate participation, they can help students not only learn content but also fully enter a community.

Reference

Dennen, V. P. (excerpt of manuscript in progress). Instructional design and development for social media lessons.

Pischetola, M., Wichmand, M., Hall, R., & Dirckinck-Holmfeld, L. (2022). Designing for the materialization of networked learning spacesLinks to an external site.. In Proceedings for the Thirteenth International Conference on Networked Learning 2022.