In a continually shifting climate of higher education, academic drift is a common and often potentially insidious challenge. Without program faculty (or university administration) even noticing, the focus of activities, assessments, and even courses applied to an academic degree program can gradually shift away from the intended outcomes. As federal agencies, regional accrediting bodies, and state funding agencies increase scrutiny and demand for documentation of increased progression and graduation rates, as well as better demonstration of program outcomes achievement and work-force readiness, universities must take the time to scrutinize their internal practices related to course and program alignment. Similar to the need for universities to assess whether graduates are ready and able to enter the workforce in their selected fields, universities need to determine whether courses and assessments are aligned with program outcomes. One way to ensure that alignment between courses (and their components: materials, activities, assessments, etc.) and programs is to utilize a robust and rigorous curriculum mapping process. In this presentation, which was designed using an active learning model, we will describe the backward design process implemented at our university, as well as explain how the Quality Matters Standards has been and can be used to assist in the process to ensure alignment at the course and, eventually, the program level.
An active learning session where participants explore their institution’s curriculum mapping process and alignment of course to program learning outcomes while examining a master’s plus universities implementation, including QM integration.
