Learning Activities for Teachers for Planning and Engaging in Curriculum Re-design

Patricia Benner, copyright 2015

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1.     Review Dr. Afaf Meleis’ advice for orchestrating curriculum change from the Dean’s perspective.

a.     What are the key recommendations for managing and resources and supporting the work of the faculty in redesigning the curriculum?

b.     What strategies did faculty use for ensuring that all faculty contributed to the curriculum, and stayed active in all three phases of curriculum change: 1) Design; 2) Operationalization; 3) Implementation.

c.     Implementation, as defined at University of Pennsylvania, also contained elements of redesign.  Generate strategies of information gathering and coordination to engage in process evaluation during the Implementation phase of curriculum re-design.

 

2.     One of the major goals of Curriculum Transformation is to ensure that the students aren’t overloaded with assignments, and curriculum content proliferation.

a.     How did Oregon Consortium’s of Nursing Education approach of using enduring ideas and foci of care, prepare nurses for the future and create deep learning rather than overloading student with assignments andinformation.

b.     Generate strategies for designing a curriculum for deep learningrather than superficial knowing about a lot of topics. How would you go about selecting fewer topics with deep learning goals?

 

The following activities are accomplished in each of the three phases of curriculum redesign.  This approach designed by Dr. Afaf Meleis, allows for spreading the task forces and committees around, and for managing the work-load and complexity of curriculum change.

1.     Curriculum Design:  External requirements for the curriculum are reviewed. Learning outcomes for the students are identified.  During this creative phase the faculty focus on designing the best teaching and learning experiences, and curriculum plan for achieving the aims of the curriculum.

2.     Operationalization: Courses and clinical experiences with credit allocations are decided. Each Faculty of Record assigned to a course designs the course syllabus according to the curriculum outline for the course, the organizing principles of the curriculum, and the selected pedagogical strategies to achieve the curriculum aims.

3.     Implementation:  A Curriculum Implementation Coordinator, in concert with the Curriculum Committee, studies how the curriculum is functioning in the implementation phase.  How are the courses inter-related? Are they working according to plan?Are all the learning outcomes addressed?   Redesign and adjustments needed for the curriculumare made at this time. Process evaluation of clinical experiences, and courses are made in light of the desired learning outcomes. The implementation phase provides an opportunity for a strategic, logistical and process oriented evaluation and re-design of the new curriculum.

 

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