Purpose

Curriculum improvement should be a continuous process and is key to providing an excellent educational experience for USC students.   To accomplish curriculum improvement in a strategic manner, faculty in an academic unit must work together with a good understanding of what evidence-based best practices are for their majors.  Applications for this award will clearly articulate what an excellent undergraduate curriculum entails and allow faculty and staff in academic units to work together to accomplish improvement in their undergraduate curriculum.

Recognizing that different academic programs currently have different strengths and areas for improvement, the award will be based on multiple criteria with the knowledge that academic programs will need to focus on their areas of greatest weakness.  An analysis of strengths and weaknesses of the targeted academic program, based on evidence-based best practices, and a clear rationale of the curriculum improvement method used will be part of the proposal.  There should be a plan to assess the impact of the curriculum modifications with evidence of its implementation.

 

Applications for the Curriculum Improvement Award

Applications from academic units are not currently being requested for the Provost Curriculum Improvement Award. The intent is for this award to be an annual award with academic units eligible to apply every three years.

Possible ideas for curriculum improvement might include (but are not limited to) one or more of the following areas:

Expand allClear pathways to degree

Including:

1. A reduction of curriculum complexity based on curriculum analytics;
2. An accurate Degree Works degree audit;
3. A clear pathway to a 4-year degree for all students including transfer students;
4. Outreach programs to students to complete their degree.

Incorporating experiential learning into the curriculum

1. Intentional incorporation of student engagement early in the curriculum leading to continued engagement in experiential learning;
2. Ensuring the experiential learning opportunities meet the criteria for high impact including reflection and time on task;
3. Ensuring that all students have access to and are required to engage in experiential learning.

Incorporating career readiness as defined by NACE and AACU into the curriculum

1. Courses and/or learning outcomes reflect career readiness elements;
2. Mentoring programs linked to curriculum from faculty, senior peers, professional staff, alumni, etc.

Faculty development

1. Professional- and Tenure-track faculty participate at high rates in professional development related to pedagogy and curriculum development;
2. Temporary faculty, adjunct faculty, and/or graduate student instructors of record are mentored and trained in best practices for teaching.

Courses meet criteria for research-based best practices

1. Online courses meet USC’s Quality Standards for Online Courses;
2. Face-to-face classes are modified to meet the principles of good practice in undergraduate education and/or other evidence-based best practices;
3. Courses, especially high DFW courses, are taught using best practices to facilitate students’ success;
4. Syllabi for courses are modified to reflect best practices, available resources, and opportunities for student success;
5. Assessment of the quality of courses that goes beyond student evaluations and/or peer evaluations linked to positive student outcomes.

Culture change

1. Sustainable plans to have ongoing and intentional efforts geared toward curriculum and course excellence over years;
2. The academic unit incorporates new reward structures to support curriculum and courses excellence.

 

Where to get help at USC?

Resources for academic units interested in improving their curriculum and overall quality of teaching:

• University Advising Center (Claire Robinson, Director, and Assistant Dean, clairer1@mailbox.sc.edu)
• Center for Integrative and Experiential Learning (Charlie Pierce, Director, piercec@cec.sc.edu)
• Center for Teaching Excellence (Nate Carnes, Director, ncarnes@mailbox.sc.edu)
• Student Success Center (Dana Talbert, Director, jablonskK@email.sc.edu)
• Career Center (Helen Powers, Director, hefields@mailbox.sc.edu)

 

Links to Readings about Curriculum Improvement

• Is your Degree Program Too Complicated? Poor design and needless bloat are derailing students.
• Does Curricular Complexity imply program quality? Curricular complexity is inversely related to program quality and student success.
  • “The simplest curriculum (in terms of complexity) that allows students to attain a program’s learning outcomes yields the best student success outcomes and therefore the highest quality program.”
• UERU Curricular Analytics Project
  • Defining curricular analytics:  Curriculum Analytics assesses the structural complexity of an academic program/major/degree (not instructional complexity).
  • Identifies courses in a curriculum that may delay a student due to preventing them from moving on in a sequence of courses that leads to graduation.
• Boyer 2030 Report on Undergraduate Education at Research Universities
  • Facilitating Clear Degree Pathways (pp. 40-43)
• Supporting student success in the classroom