Process Examples

X is a large department, with around 30 full-time faculty and a popular undergraduate major. The major has not been revised in many years and the department feels it is time to do so, to take full advantage of the expertise of newer faculty and increase equity and inclusion in the major. The department expects to revise the pathways and requirements for the major and also expects that new classes may be developed and existing classes may be revised.

The nature of the discipline is not highly structured/scaffolded; because the classes don’t depend heavily on one another, faculty are used to high levels of autonomy over what they teach and how they teach it. Department faculty work together well, but they have different visions for the major, and the department has little experience collaborating and compromising on a project of this scale.

The department’s curriculum development team meets every other week, usually with members of the CTE team. The process is deliberate and inclusive; all members of the department have opportunities to contribute throughout and no one feels like revisions have been rushed through without their input. The curriculum development team also takes time to hear from students about their experience in the major.

Plan Project

• January-February: application process with CTE

• March-April: work on team orientation, data collection

Articulate Learning Outcomes

• May: full department retreat focusing on goals for student learning in the major

• June-July: no curricular work

• August: curriculum design team uses material from the retreat to draft program-level learning outcomes

• September: full department provides feedback on draft learning outcomes

• October: design team revises learning outcomes based on feedback, sends back to full department for more feedback

• December: design team further revises learning outcomes, prepares for mapping

Program-Level Design

• January: curriculum mapping with full department

• February-March: design team analyzes data from curriculum mapping, other data from student surveys and focus groups

• May: full department retreat focusing on curricular pathways and requirements that allow students to meet the new learning objectives

•  August: design team uses material from retreat to propose draft curricular structure

• September: full department provides feedback on curricular structure

• October: design team revises curricular structure based on feedback, sends back to full department for final round of feedback

• November: design team makes further revisions to curricular structure, circulates to full department ahead of vote

• December: department votes to approve new curricular structure

Course-Level Design

• March-April: design team develops assessment plan, determines who will design and teach new classes, identifies existing courses to prioritize for revision

• May-June: department faculty who are designing new or revising existing courses participate in Course Design Institute or c3Design 

Implement, Assess, and Revise

• February: new curricular structure is approved by school curriculum committee

• August: begin implementation of revised curriculum

Funding: $15,000, which supports stipends for curriculum development team faculty, department retreats, incentives for students participating in surveys and focus groups, and supplements professional development activities.

Y is a smaller department with fewer than 15 full-time faculty. The department is responsible for a specialized, professional master’s program that is externally accredited. While the entire department has an interest in this program, five faculty members teach the majority of the classes in the degree. These five faculty members comprise the curriculum design team and will make most of the decisions, with some input from their colleagues who teach in the department’s other programs. 

The main impetus for revision is a new set of criteria from the accrediting body. The department has also received feedback from students in recent years that they are experiencing gaps and redundancies in the curriculum. The department expects to focus revisions on what’s happening within individual courses, while remaining open to revising the program structure and course requirements if necessary. Because only five faculty have key roles in the revision and they are used to working together to align their courses for accreditation, they’re hoping they can move quickly with the redesign. They meet every other week with the CTE and often as a group in the off weeks, and they commit to summer work.

Plan Project

• April: application process with CTE

• May-June: team orientation, data collection

 Articulate Learning Outcomes

• August: retreat with design team/faculty teaching in the degree focusing on goals for student learning, followed by asynchronous work on program learning outcomes

• September: feedback from full department on draft learning outcomes; student focus groups

• October: revision of learning outcomes

 Program-Level Design

• November: curriculum mapping

• December: retreat with design team focusing on curricular pathways and identifying targets for course revision

• January: feedback from full department on small changes to curricular pathways/course requirements

Course-Level Design

• February-March: CTE facilitates customizes course design process for faculty revising targeted courses

Implement and Assess

• April: revisions to course requirements approved by school curriculum committee

• April-May: design team develops plan to assess revised curriculum, in alignment with accreditation requirements

• August: begin implementation of revised curriculum

Funding: $8,000, which supports summer salary for design team faculty, retreats, and incentives for students participating in focus groups.

Department Z teaches a three-course introductory sequence required for its own major, as well as for majors in several other departments. Each course has multiple sections, taught by a combination of full-time general faculty and graduate students. A senior general faculty member is the sequence coordinator. As long as the courses provide students with an appropriate foundation for more advanced study, the rest of the department is happy for the coordinator to run the courses however they see fit.

The coordinator has long observed variations across sections: some instructors fail students at much higher rates than others, and students arrive in the second and third courses in the sequence with different levels of preparation, depending on which prior sections they took. Recently, the coordinator has become particularly concerned about data showing differences in grades and persistence between minoritized and majoritized groups of students. The course coordinator wants to think about revisions to the courses themselves, as well as to alignment across sections, to better support equity and success for all students.

The coordinator recognizes that creating long-term and sustainable change will take time and iteration, and they are interested in developing their own capacity to lead this work in an ongoing way. They form a curriculum development team that meets with the CTE once or twice each semester, and the coordinator also meets once or twice a month with the CTE on their own.

Plan Project

• September-October: application process with CTE

• October-December: extensive time spent collecting, understanding, and communicating about data related to equity and student success in the course sequence

• January-February: identification of evidence-based strategy for increasing equity in this and similar disciplines

 Articulating Learning Outcomes

• March: retreat with all instructors in the course sequence, focusing on articulating learning goals related to equity

• April-May: iterative process of drafting and refining learning outcomes

Program-Level Design

• June-August: mapping key outcomes, assessments, and learning activities across the three courses; developing assessment plan for the revised course sequence

Course-Level Design

• September-December: cohorts of instructors teaching the first and second courses in the sequence participate in CTE-facilitated course revision experience, collaboratively revising and aligning their courses and sections and developing their facility with inclusive and equitable pedagogy

Implement and Assess

• January-May: revised courses are taught for the first time; instructor cohorts meet twice during the semester to check in and coordinate small adjustments

• June-August: analysis of assessment data from the spring semester’s revised courses

Course-Level Design

• September-December: cohort of instructors teaching the third course in the sequence participates in course revision experience

Implement and Assess

• January-May: revised third course in the sequence is taught for the first time; instructor cohort meets twice during the semester to check in and coordinate small adjustments

• Ongoing: CTE works with course coordinator to set up regular check-in, assessment, and alignment schedule with instructors in the sequence. Although the project concludes once this ongoing implementation plan is set up, the course coordinator continues to check in with the CTE for consultations once a semester or so for the subsequent couple of years to support sustainability and assessment of the revised courses.

Funding: $10,000, which supports summer salary for course coordinator, support for part-time and graduate student instructors’ participation in redesign activities, retreats, and incentives for students participating in surveys and focus groups.