Curriculum Framework for New Program Development
Curriculum Development Process:
Beliefs and Values
The development of any curricula starts with a clarification of the beliefs and values that underpin and provide the foundation for the program. They may include statements of beliefs and values about the discipline, the roles and activities of the graduates, who they serve (clients, customers), and the teaching and learning process.
Possible questions that guide the development of the beliefs and values:
- Talk about your field or discipline
- What is it?
- What contributions do your field or discipline make to society in general?
- What will it be like 3 years from now?
- Who are the employers? Who are you serving? What are their needs?
- What do employees/workers/practitioners do?
- What determines quality in your field or discipline? How is it regulated or licensed?
2. Talk about your learners (potential learners)
- How old are they? Are they male and/or female? What are their family and/or work responsibilities? What are their cultural backgrounds?
- Why would they be interested in taking this course or program?
- What are their needs/interests and abilities?
- What are their life and educational experiences?
- What must they know and be able to do upon graduation?
3. How do adults learn most effectively?
- What beliefs or guiding principles do you hold about:
- Adult learning
- The purpose of education
- Roles and responsibilities of teachers and students
4. Describe the teaching team
- What are the structures, values and working relationships of the team?
5. Program strengths and contributions
- What would be the strengths of this program?
- What would be critical to the success of this program?
- What would be the contributions that this program could make to learners, the college and the community?
Program Purpose
This is a description that captures the purpose and the justification for the existence of the program. It includes a broad statement of program goals. In addition, the graduates are described in terms of their professional role or function, who they serve, and the setting where they will work. The description needs to link well with the beliefs and values.
Possible questions that guide the development of the program purpose:
- What does the program strive to accomplish?
- What makes the program distinct?
- Who is being served (i.e. clients, customers, stakeholders)?
- What is the role of graduates? What is their level of ability upon entry to practice?
- What is the practice, business or community setting?
Broad Program Content
This is the area of the curriculum development process where the faculty in the program area in consultation with experts in the filed, employers, program graduates, and if appropriate, individuals from accrediting and professional bodies determine the broad skills and abilities required of the program graduate. This helps to begin to define the content that will make up the program. This content could include general and/or specific abilities and skills of the graduate along with the themes, concepts, and issues that need to be part of the program.
Possible questions that could guide the development of the broad program content could include:
- What will graduates know and be able to do at the end of the program?
- What are some of the broad based abilities that the graduate will need to have at the completion of the program?
- What are some of the specific skills and abilities that the graduate will need to have?
- What are some of the discipline/field/professional issues that will impact the graduate?
- What are some common knowledge areas, themes and concepts that are necessary for this graduate to have?
- How will graduates use the knowledge and abilities learned in this course or program?
Program Learning Outcomes
Program learning outcomes are clear statements of what graduates will know and be able to do as a result of the learning experiences in the program. Outcome statements are verifiable and reflective of the beliefs, values, purpose statements, and derived from the broad content areas that have been determined by the program faculty in consultation with the other stakeholders. Program learning outcome statements are written from the viewpoint of the learner/graduate.
Possible questions that guide the development of the program learning outcomes could include:
- What will graduates know and be able to do at the end of the program?
- What are the key ideas, concepts, themes or abilities that “jump” out at you from the broad program content information?
- If someone unfamiliar with your field or discipline were to ask you about what you are trying to accomplish with your learners in this program, what would you say?
- If a prospective learner were to ask you what they would gain from taking the program, what would you say?
- What are the most important questions addressed in your program? What complex learning occurs for the learner as a result?
- What do you expect of graduates in order to be successful?
Final Assessment(s)
Once there is a clear understanding about what the graduate will know and be able to do, the next step is to look at how the program outcomes might be assessed. When designing assessment a number of things need to be kept in mind:
- Assessment is done to increase learning and to demonstrate evidence of learning outcomes.
- Assessment is flexible and can take a variety of forms. Some examples include an assessment of knowledge, isolated task assessment, or a complex work project.
- Criteria for assessment need to be clearly identified.
- Learners, teachers and stakeholders need to know what will be expected in regards to assessment, and each may contribute to both setting the standards and participating in the actual assessment.
- Assessment takes place in a variety of contexts where appropriate
- Assessments should be designed for assessing people’s prior learning in order for them to obtain equivalent credit if requested.
Possible questions that guide the development of final assessments could include:
- How will we know that learners have met the program learning outcomes?
- What can students do to demonstrate the program learning outcomes?
- What kinds of assessment tasks could we design that integrate the skills and understanding they have been expected to learn? How do we design assessment tasks that parallel what students will do in life with what they have learned? (e.g. products developed, projects completed, problems solved, procedures demonstrated, presentations given, work experiences completed, etc.)
- What criteria are used to determine the quality of learner performance on a specific assessment task?
Design
The next step is the design of the program in which broad content areas of programs or disciplines are clustered and organized into courses*. Course development involves selecting, organizing and sequencing content and learning activities. The courses demonstrate how the program learning outcomes will be realized. They are also reflective of program beliefs and values, purpose, and final assessments.
The design of the program could also include themes or concepts that are highlighted in each course. These themes or concepts integrate or tie the program together. They are reflected in all areas of the curriculum and are visible in the program learning outcomes, course learning outcomes and assessments.
In addition, program admission requirements need to be developed. What must the learner know and be able to do before entering the program?
Courses
Course development involves selecting, organizing and sequencing content.
Possible questions that guide the development of courses could include:
- What learning experiences (courses) are necessary to prepare the learner to meet the program learning outcomes?
- How might the themes, concepts and issues best be clustered to help learners progress towards meeting the program learning outcomes?
- What are the types, numbers and sequence of these courses in the program?
- Are there any existing courses that might be appropriate?
- What must the learner know and be able to do before engaging in each course (course pre-requisites)? What courses must the learner take together (course co-requisites)?
Course Descriptions
These are clear brief descriptions of the main concepts and themes of the course.
Possible questions that guide the development of course descriptions could include:
- Why should students take this course?
- How does this course fit or relate to other courses in the program?
- What type of course is this (e.g. theory, lab, practice)?
- In general what will be learned in this course? How will learners learn this content?
* In most programs and disciplines, Camosun College organizes content areas into courses.
Course Learning Outcomes
Course learning outcomes describe the complex performances a learner should be capable of as a result of learning experiences within a course. Course learning outcome statements are verifiable and derived from the program learning outcomes. They are written from the viewpoint of the learner
Possible questions that guide the development of course learning outcomes could include:
- What will learners know and be able to do at the end of the course?
- If someone unfamiliar with your field or discipline were to ask you about what you are trying to accomplish with your learners in this course, what would you say?
- If a prospective learner were to ask you what they would gain from taking this course, what would you say?
- What are the most important questions addressed in your course? What complex learning occurs for the learner as a result?
- What do you expect of learners in order to be successful?
Course Assessments
When designing course assessments, as with the final assessment, a number of things need to be kept in mind:
- Assessment is done to increase learning and to demonstrate evidence of having met course learning outcomes.
- Assessment is flexible and can take a variety of forms. Some examples include an assessment of knowledge, isolated task assessment, or a complex work project.
- Criteria for assessment need to be clearly identified.
- Learners, teachers and stakeholders need to know what will be expected in regards to assessment, and each may contribute to both setting the standards and participating in the actual assessment.
- Assessment takes place in a variety of contexts where appropriate
- Assessments should be designed for assessing people’s prior learning in order for them to have the opportunity of obtaining equivalent credit in the course if requested. Assessments in courses are also done formatively and summatively.
Possible questions that guide the development of course assessments could include:
- How would we know that learners have met the course learning outcomes?
- What can students do to demonstrate the course learning outcomes?
- What kinds of assessment tasks could we design that integrate the abilities, skills and understandings they have been expected to learn? How do we design assessment tasks that parallel what students will do in life with what they have learned? (e.g. products developed, projects completed, problems solved, procedures demonstrated, presentations given, work experiences completed, etc.)
- What criteria are used to determine the quality of learner performance on a specific assessment task?
Learning Activities, Strategies and Approaches
The next step in curriculum development is the design and planning of the learning experiences and the teaching and learning strategies that will be implemented for each course. Learning activities, strategies and approaches should be consistent with the course learning outcomes and the learner’s needs, styles, abilities and interests.
Possible questions that guide the development of learning activities, strategies and approaches include:
- What kinds of learning strategies and approaches fit with the course content and learning outcomes (e.g. seminar, lab, role plays, lecture, case studies, simulations, group discussions, practice drills, lab, practicum/practice formats, distributed learning formats)?
- What kinds of learning resources are required?
- How do these learning activities help to prepare the learner for assessment?
- What kinds of flexible approaches have been considered for learners with varying learning styles?
Course Outlines/Syllabi
Course outlines reflect the course description and learning outcomes. They contain the main content areas (concepts, themes, issues, skills) of the course. These content areas are sequenced, organized logically and coherently, and taught and learned in a progressive manner so that ideas are reinforced and developed. In addition, learning resources, assessment tasks and grading are clearly outlined. See Camosun College Course Outline Guidelines.
Adapted from:
Camosun College : A Handbook for Curriculum Activities, October 1994
Stiehl, Ruth & Lewchuk, Les. The Outcomes Primer: Reconstructing the College Curriculum. The Learning Organization: 2002