Hi all,
I am so happy that we now have the ability to offer this member forum on our site. I think this option will allow us to be able to communicate more frequently, given the asynchronous nature of discussion boards.
I'll start the conversation with a question that has been nagging at me since taking on the role of Essentials champion at my school.
How have you all have approached curriculum mapping from the standpoint of evolving course assignments and learning activities that allow opportunities for students to demonstrate Essentials competencies?
When we mapped our curriculum, we had some great learning activities or assignments that met sub-competencies across various domains, so these competencies were not considered "gaps".
I'm wondering, however, what happens should a new instructor inherit a course. I can see where maybe a semester or two later they might decide not to use the particular learning activity or assignment that validated opportunities for students to meet select competencies. And, does this mean that the whole mapping process needs to be done on a semester by semester, or yearly basis?
What I a driving at, I guess, is how to best preserve academic freedom for faculty when using a competency-based learning framework.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and take on this :)
Great question Michele, and one we are dealing with at our university. We highly value academic freedom. We are using a key learning experience (KLEs) model. We are identifying KLEs that are heavy hitters in our courses- lots of learning going on, meets lots of competencies, etc. or we are creating them. The expectation is that every course has 1-2 of these. These are the only things we are mapping. Faculty all agree that these KLEs wont change (unless approved by curriculum committee) and every section will use the same rubric, lesson, etc. This way each faculty can have freedom to change many things across their course. Just not one or tow items. It does make our mapping more tight- but it also provides greater control over what we are truly focusing on. All the faculty came together and reviewed the KLEs across the curriculum and gave feedback, etc. So far it is working. :)