Michele Roberts

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 :)