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

Why consider Curriculum Reform?

• Focus

• Resource Management

• Coherence and Distinction

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

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

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

Summer “4-Explore”Summer “4-Explore”

Faculty Exploration of how majors might be redesigned

under a 4x4 curriculum

Faculty Exploration of how majors might be redesigned

under a 4x4 curriculum

4-Explore Teams

• 17 teams

• 48 faculty

• 23 majors

Majors/Programs Examined

• 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

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

Results

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)

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

Enhancement:

Technology-Based Learning

• Virtual Field Trips

• Field-related media analysis projects

• Web-based or televised study/exam modules

• E-portfolios

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

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

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

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?

Survey Q1:

Benefits

A. Curriculum Enhancement

B. Student Learning

C. Faculty Efficiency

D. Institutional Stewardship

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

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

Survey Q1:

Benefit C: Faculty Efficiency

• Allows for integrating lab work

• Reduced/more efficient course load

• Creates time for mentoring

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

Survey Q2:

Drawbacks

A. Decreased courses/variety

B. Increased work

C. Coordination challenges

D. Other

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

Survey Q2:

B: Increased Effort

• Work of transitioning students to new system

• The faculty already teaching odd credits may experience reform as load increase

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

Survey Q2:

D: Other

• Loss if reform leads to reduced use of valued adjuncts

• Certain issues defy consensus

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.”

Strongly Agree

Somewhat Agree

No Opinion

Somewhat Disagree

Strongly Disagree

17 6 3 1 2

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

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?

Survey Q4:

B: Impact on Majors, Depts?

• Common method for handling “allied” courses?

• Forced 14 course limit?

• Or, unwieldy expansion of some majors?

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?

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?

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?)

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?

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?

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?

Four Models

Art/Art History

Recreation and Leisure Studies

Mathematics

Education