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Curriculum Reform

Curriculum Reform. Faculty Forum on Summer 2008 Design of 4x4 Majors September 12, 2008. What is a 4x4 Curriculum?. Students take four 4-credit-equivalent classes each semester, most meeting 3 hours/week in the classroom and enhanced with outside projects; faculty carry a 3-3 teaching load.

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Curriculum Reform

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  1. Curriculum Reform Faculty Forum on Summer 2008 Design of 4x4 Majors September 12, 2008

  2. What is a 4x4 Curriculum? Students take four 4-credit-equivalent classes each semester, most meeting 3 hours/week in the classroom and enhanced with outside projects; faculty carry a 3-3 teaching load

  3. Why consider Curriculum Reform? • Focus • Resource Management • Coherence and Distinction

  4. Why consider Curriculum Reform?Focus: * For students, fewer courses to increase focus and depth in each course; fewer hours in classroom to increase ratio of prep to seat time • For faculty, fewer courses to enable more efficient preparation; fewer hours in the classroom to enable attention to mentoring and oversight of enhancements

  5. Why Consider Curriculum Reform?Resource management: • Under current model, too few faculty and too many courses to achieve the claimed 4:3 teaching load • Excessive overloads • Excessive use of adjuncts • Too many under-enrolled classes • Tight classroom utilization

  6. Why Consider Curriculum Reform?Coherence & Distinction: • Via collectively imagined and coherently implemented “enhancements,” opportunity to bring a more distinctive identity to VWC education • Students get more value for tuition; Admissions can market that value

  7. Summer “4-Explore” Faculty Exploration of how majors might be redesigned under a 4x4 curriculum

  8. 4-Explore Teams • 17 teams • 48 faculty • 23 majors

  9. Art/Art History Communications Education English Foreign Languages Health & Human S. History/Social Studies LAMP Math Music Philosophy Political Science Recreation & Leisure S. Religious Studies Sciences: Biology, Chem, EES Sociology/CJ Theatre Majors/Programs Examined

  10. Guidelines For Reform • Use 3 classroom hours for 4 credits • Enhance with student work that emphasizes active and experiential learning, mentored independent research, and connection of academics to community and career • Achieve program objectives with fewer courses • Reduce dependence on overloads, adjuncts, and under-enrolled courses • Anticipate support of GS, Educ, FYE, ASP

  11. Results

  12. Course & Program Enhancements • Research/writing/independent synthesis • Technology-supported learning • Local and international field experience/application • Collaborative or integrative projects • Increased faculty-student contact (Class/studio/lab/mentoring)

  13. Enhancement:Research, Writing, Synthesis • Compiling of lexicon of terms & concepts • Creation of archive of photographic images • More intentional research instruction • Research drawing on regional resources and community organizations • Expanded writing instruction • Creation/enhancement of senior capstones • Journaling • Prep work for professional certification • Increased Reading

  14. Enhancement:Technology-Based Learning • Virtual Field Trips • Field-related media analysis projects • Web-based or televised study/exam modules • E-portfolios

  15. Enhancement:Field Experience/Application • Community volunteering/service learning • Internships • Consulting projects/local orgs as labs • Reporting on local political or organizational proceedings • Field trips and use of local environment • Study Abroad

  16. Enhancement:Collaborative or Integrative Projects • Learning community linkages • Cross-class peer critiques • Combined Jr/Sr seminar with distinctive but mutually informative Jr & Sr projects • Case study developed across multiple, non-simultaneous courses • Student organized film or lecture series • Role-playing exercises (Model UN, mock trials) • Group research projects • Portfolio development

  17. Enhancement:Increased Faculty-Student Contact • Rehearsal, performance, production • Additional class/studio time • Integrated science labs in non-lab courses • Individualized Foreign Lang. development • Writing conferences • Individualized or group tutoring

  18. Survey of Participants(29/48) 1. Benefits? 2. Challenges/drawbacks? 3. Agreement with this statement?: “I support the forming of a representative committee to develop a more refined and comprehensive 4x4 enhanced curriculum plan for Faculty Assembly consideration” 4. Questions to answer?

  19. Survey Q1:Benefits • Curriculum Enhancement B. Student Learning C. Faculty Efficiency D. Institutional Stewardship

  20. Survey Q1:Benefit A: Enhancement • Creates valuable out-of-class enrichment activities • “4th hour” creates structure for developing projects that link classes and enable collaboration • Inspires discussion and transformation that won’t happen w/o major initiative

  21. Survey Q1:Benefit B: Student Learning • Enables better student focus • Supports more independent learning • More seat/lab/rehearsal time • Greater depth per course • (for some) Better enables developmental sequencing

  22. Survey Q1:Benefit C: Faculty Efficiency • Allows for integrating lab work • Reduced/more efficient course load • Creates time for mentoring

  23. Survey Q1:Benefit: Institutional Stewardship • Better aligns VWC structure and challenge of courses with strong liberal arts colleges • Done right, could strengthen clarity and distinctiveness, for recruitment/retention • Likely fiscal benefits

  24. Survey Q2:Drawbacks • Decreased courses/variety • Increased work • Coordination challenges • Other

  25. Survey Q2:A: Decreased courses/variety • Loss of valued courses/concentrations • Less flexibility in offerings or delivery • Loss of breadth in programs more defined by breadth than depth • Fewer courses to support GS etc • Fewer elective offerings • Course rotation; share fewer 300-400

  26. Survey Q2:B: Increased Effort • Work of transitioning students to new system • The faculty already teaching odd credits may experience reform as load increase

  27. Survey Q2:C: Coordination Challenges • If large majors expand but total course requirements decrease, depts with few majors could see drop in elective enrollments • A cut in one program can impact interdisciplinary/other programs • Danger if enhancements treated as 4th-hour add-ons: e.g. 4 x service learning projects

  28. Survey Q2:D: Other • Loss if reform leads to reduced use of valued adjuncts • Certain issues defy consensus

  29. Survey Q3:“I support the forming of a representative faculty committee to develop a more refined and comprehensive 4x4 enhanced curriculum plan for Faculty Assembly consideration.”

  30. Survey Q4:Questions raised by participants A. Logistics B. Impact on major programs/depts C. Impact on broader curriculum D. Impact on students E. Impact on faculty F. Fiscal Impact G. Procedural concerns

  31. Survey Q4:A: Logistics? • Transitioning current students? • Handling transfer credits? • Class schedule accommodating mix of 3-hr/4-hr classes? 4-hr blocks? • Accommodating odd-hour demands for technology classrooms?

  32. Survey Q4:B: Impact on Majors, Depts? • Common method for handling “allied” courses? • Forced 14 course limit? • Or, unwieldy expansion of some majors?

  33. Survey Q4:B2: Impact on Majors, Depts • Will dept budgets support new demands? (adjuncts, travel for service learning, equipment and support for enhancements proportionate to student need?) • Will overloads be supported where needed? • Could depts opt out?

  34. Survey Q4:C: Impact on broader curriculum? • How will GS (need to) change? • How will graduation standards change? (FLL, writing, oral competency, computer literacy) • Oversight for ensuring that every course is “enhanced -- and stays enhanced? • Consistency among multiple sections of a single course? Problem if not? • Can we adequately support Education?

  35. Survey Q4:D: Impact on students? • How will students feel about trading breadth for depth (32 courses for 40)? • How will student demand for electives be met without overloads? • Would 4x4 system encourage good students to take 5x5 and graduate early? Good? Bad? • Will students really do more work on behalf of each class? (More time to learn less?)

  36. Survey Q4:E: Impact on Faculty? • Will faculty accept streamlining of course offerings, with more basics and less variety? • Will there be increased pressure to publish despite no real gain in time?

  37. Survey Q4:F: Fiscal Impact? • What will be the financial impact if we make this change? • What will be the financial impact if we don’t make this change?

  38. Survey Q5:G: Procedural Concerns • Would new committee reflect balance in its representation of professional and liberal arts programs? • Would a vote on curriculum change necessarily involve one vote per faculty member, regardless of size of program or impact of change on program?

  39. Four Models Art/Art History Recreation and Leisure Studies Mathematics Education

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