LEARNING FROM EXPERIENCE

DESIGNING AND ASSESSING COURSE AND CURRICULACHAPTER 24

Robert M. Diamond

MAMPUONO

Mampuono

More diverse students Inadequatelly prepared (academic, emotion,

social) background Demands on time for better quality but in

lower cost They required a wide range of additional

competencies beyond the traditional ones taught in the classroom

Mampuono

Mampuono

A faculty reward system on research and publication than on teaching

A national ranking system fame, wealth, and exclusivity than it does on how well an institution educates its students (Carey, 2006)

Boards of Trustees and alumni who often are more interested in and willing to support athletics than they are in devoting their energies to improving the quality of academic programs

A growing reliance on part - time or untenured faculty who are given little encouragement or time to take an active role in advising students, in course and curriculum design, in instructional improvement, and in serving in the broad spectrum of institutional roles normally assigned to faculty

A continuing shift in budgeting away from academic programs to security, to addressing legal issues, to meeting unfunded governmental mandates, and to addressing the many demands generated by an expanding technological infrastructure

Mampuono

For years, those faculty who spent their energies on teaching -related activities were viewed by some as incapable of doing research, as individuals who cared little about promotion, merit pay, or

recognition, and thus were often seen as second - class citizens.

On many campuses the message was clear: if you spend your energies on teaching, you do so at your own risk.

Fortunately — for our students, for our institutions, and for many of us — the situation is changing.

As the direct result of changes in accreditation requirements and increased demands from state and national governments and business and industry leaders, teaching and the type of course and curriculum

activities described in this book are not only becoming respectable but

are being encouraged. Each year more internal monies are being set aside to fund course and

curriculum activities, and the promotion and tenure systems are being modified to include these endeavors under the rubric of scholarly work.

Mampuono

These changes do not imply that research is no longer important. Rather, faculty reward systems are expanding their definitions of scholarship to recognize a far wider range of activities as they become more sensitive to the differences among disciplines and among individuals.

A successful effort in course and curriculum design

requires a comprehensive approach. The elements of your course or curriculum must be carefully

orchestrated to interrelate and connect. The most talented teacher on your campus will not be

successful if what he or she teaches is out of date or if essential goals or elements are missing.

Mampuono

Throughout this book, we have stressed the crucial interrelationship between curriculum and a comprehensive educational experience for your students.

This relationship between the curriculum and the courses within it is quite often the weakest link in the total educational experience of students.

Tightening up this relationship is not easy. It requires everyone involved — faculty, administrators, and staff —to work together and to be willing to put the needs of the students and the institution above their own personal interests.

In Exhibit 24.1 , Lion F. Gardiner, from his work with the National Academy of Academic Leadership, provides an excellent overview of this key relationship.

Mampuono

The curriculum is the heart of a student’s college

experience. It is a primary means of helping students develop in

directions valued by its faculty. Curricula should be reviewed and, if necessary,

revised on a regular basis, better to serve the changing

needs of both students and society.

Lion F. Gardiner

Exibit 24.1:

Mampuono

A coherent philosophy. Clear purpose and goals. A theoretically sound process. A rational sequence. Continuous assessment and improvement

of quality. High - quality academic advising.

Mampuono

Provide the solid foundation of clearly specifi ed intended outcomes. Provide specific direction for the continuous monitoring — assessment and evaluation —

of the actual outcomes the curriculum produces. Reduce the potential for untoward teaching to the test — corruption of the curriculum by

instruction directed toward chosen assessment indicators. Instead, both the instruction and the indicators are aligned with the outcomes previously defi ned by the faculty.

Obviate the dumbing down of curricula in response to increased student diversity and under - preparedness by providing firm, clearly identifi ed, high outcome standards and by requiring the educational process to change in response to altered student needs.

Guard against grade inflation and the consequent reduction in student, and perhaps faculty, quality of eff ort and the devaluation of degrees.

Help an institution resist academic drift, where a college or program with one mission or curricular purpose gradually and unconsciously drifts away toward some other purpose or purposes.

Enable a faculty to deal more straightforwardly and rationally with confl ict over curricular content, such as disputes related to departmental turf.

Help everyone involved — faculty members, students, administrators, trustees, parents, legislators — understand the institution or program and the results it claims to produce.

Increase the perception of institutional openness, candor, and integrity among all of the institution ’ s customers and stakeholders.

Mampuono

The following principles apply to all aspects of academic innovation; from designing a lesson or a course to totally restructuring an entire academic curriculum.

Mampuono

Have a plan and follow it. Do not do it alone. Establish a sense of urgency. Create ownership and keep key individuals

informed. Strive for the ideal. Collect information before you begin. Be sensitive to human problems. Expect some student and faculty resistance. Do not reinvent the wheel.

Mampuono

Pay attention to support systems and logistics. Keep technology in perspective. Build in assessment. Ensure that the data collection approaches you

use are designed to give you the information you need.

Sometimes, when more than one faculty member is involved, agree to disagree and move on.

Expect the unexpected. Keep your chair and dean informed. Expect the effort to be an educational experience

for you, as well as for your students.

Mampuono

Obviously, lists like this are never complete. Many of the suggestions, once one thinks about them, are obvious.

Unfortunately, we often find that we faculty and administrators have created many of our own problems by rushing, by not worrying about details, by not listening, or by not being as sensitive to the feelings of others as we should be.

However, as diffi cult as the process of course and curriculum design can be, it is also challenging, exciting, and most rewarding.

Mampuono

“ The academy needs a new, more encompassing vision of excellence —a vision that takes account of opposing views of higher education ’ s purpose and underscores the importance, interdependence, and useful tensions among the goals of academic excellence and those of service and operational excellence.

It should identify the academy as a place that not only advances knowledge but also one that applies, tests, and uses that knowledge — one that practices what we teach and that genuinely aspires to excellence in all that we do ” (Ruben, 2003).

Few things we do in our careers will have more signifi cant impact on the lives of more students or will make us feel as good.

Enjoy the experience.

Mampuono

Mampuono