Process for Mapping and Analysing a Major

Process for Mapping and Analysing a Major

Introduction

This stage of the mapping process is focused on the characteristics of the current major and how individual courses contribute to this. There are two tasks in the process. The first requires the individual course reviews to be collatedin an Excel spread sheet. Initially, this was undertaken under the Curriculum Renewal Project, but subsequent mapping or revisions to existing mapping will need to be organised through the school or faculty. The second task involves discussion of the major among discipline staff using, among other sources of information, the collated documentation.

Because the configuration of majors varies from highly structured (eg languages) to very open across the Faculty,in the first tasktwo different sets of proformas have been developed to facilitate the collation processes and these should be adapted as required for specific majors.

Mapping the major is the second step in reviewing the curriculum in a broad process of curriculum renewal that involves the following stages:

• Reviewing the current curriculum

course coordinators map and analyse each constituent course in the major

discipline academics map the major by collating the individual course reviews and collectively analysing the results

• Agreeing on the preferred curriculum

discipline academics collectively determine the preferred characteristics of the major (content, weightings of the DSLOs, progression of skills, etc). It may be useful to consider how other universities or international higher education systems construct similar majors.

• Renewing the curriculum

course coordinators reshape the curriculum of their courses (learning outcomes, assessment, and teaching and learning arrangements) to fit the expectations of the major

• Documenting the changes

course coordinators complete necessary documentation and submit through the appropriate channels.

The next stage of the process Agreeing on the preferred curriculum, is closely related to this stage, and it may be helpful to undertake them together, in quick succession, or to capture ideas as they emerge from the discussion of the review of the major.

Documents

Task 1 is the collation of all course reviews in the major using the relevant Excel proforma (for either high or low levels of structure or multi-stranded awards).Completed course review documents need to be provided to the person undertaking the collation process. Basic knowledge of Excel would be an advantage.

Once the course reviews have been collated these documents need be provided to the Heads of Discipline and made available to other Discipline staff of the major for Task 2.

Task 2 uses the completed proformas, among other resources, as the basis of detailed discussion and analysis by Discipline staff of the major.To support the group discussion you may find the following documents useful:

• your Discipline-Specific Learning Outcomes(access restricted to HUMSS staff)
• review documentationfor all courses in the major prepared through the previous process, and in particular the tables and analysis
• Research Skills Development Framework
• Assessing graduate attributes
• Teaching and learning activities and graduate attributes
• Academic literacies and e-learning skills

Purpose of Mappinga Major

Mapping the major has two purposes.

First, it provides an opportunity to see the likely learning outcomes of studying thecurrentmajor. Although majors are taught by staff as individual courses, students experience them within the context of a major and, more broadly, an award.To collectively comprise a ‘coherent body of study’ as stipulated by the University, a major needs to be more than a collection of individual courses. Where majors are very open structurally this can be challenging.

Second, mapping provides the opportunity to identify how individual courses contribute to the overall outcomes of the major. That is,it displays how students experienceincreasing academic demands throughout their studies: greater complexity in the discipline specific discourse, introduction to new academic skills and literacies, varieties of assessment, and exposure to context-specific applications and practices.

Background

The course mapping process is intended to get some sense of the emphases and intentions of the courses and how this impacts on the major. This is of course a highly subjective and individual activity. The course reviews do have value at the course level but the main focus of this stage of the process is the major. In that context the collated course reviews enable a perspective across the constituent courses and inform decisions in relation to the major. The quantification is simply a way of aggregating thecourse data to get this higher level perspective.

The review process produces very rough data. The data varies a lot across courses and this depends to a significant extent on how the learning outcomes are written and the nature of the assessment. If the learning outcomes are focused statements and there arejust a few points of assessment, the review process is less complicated.

The key point here is that the course review data in both its individual and aggregated forms is an estimate of the emphases of the major. The approach is to use the numerical values in a broad way to identify major gaps or over-emphasis. Its value is in facilitating a dialogue around shared insights and interests rather than as a process driven by the data.

In addition to mapping the emphases of the major, information is also gathered on the development of research skills, academic literacies and e-learning to be used in the documentation in program reviews. The summary of issues table on the final page of this document makes provision for comment for this purpose. The original process for mapping research skills was problematic for a number of reasons and so the consideration of research is best undertaken as part of general discussion. The Research Skills Development Framework may be a useful tool in this respect. Some disciplines may find it useful to use other frameworks.

The review of the major focuses on the following overlapping themes:

• current emphases of the curriculum
• alignment between the learning outcomes and the assessment
• nature of the assessment
• structureand pre-requisites
• development of academic literacies and expectations
• development of research skills
• support for assessment through teaching and learning arrangements

The current emphases of the major are the result of choices that have been made about theinclusion (and also exclusion) of particular knowledge, skills and application. Because not everything in the field of study can be taught in the major, it raises questions about what is chosen to be taught, how those choices are made and what justification there is for that choice.A key question is whether the currentapproach isan appropriateexpression of the field or feasible in the current circumstances.

In developing the Discipline-Specific Learning Outcomes, your discipline has identified in broad terms the characteristics of the major. Reviewing the current major against the DSLOs will display the extent to which the current emphases are a manifestation of the statedcharacteristics.It may be that some of the DSLOs are not present at all in the course learning outcomes or assessment, or some aspects might dominate over others.

Furthermore, by comparing the aggregated scores for the major’s course learning outcomes with the aggregated scores for assessment,a rough estimate of the extent of alignmentacross the major can be seen. That is, it demonstrates in general terms whether the intentions of the major (as expressed in the course learning outcomes)are consistent with the assessment; having similar scores means good alignment. The proformas also aggregate the data at the level of the Graduate Attributes, providing a higher-level perspective of the data. In the design of a curriculum, alignment is an important issue because it is concerned with the validity of the assessment.

The nature of the assessmentacross the major isacentral issue. The types of assessment tasks (eg essay, presentation, report, poster) need to be appropriate in making judgments about the achievement of certain kinds of learning outcomes. For example, it is not appropriate to assess information literacy through an exam, or oral communication skills only through the text of a speech. In addition, the variation in the types of assessment provides students with the opportunity to develop a range of communication and other skills that enhance their learning experiences and often their career prospects as well.

A large part of how students experience individual courses is related to the structure of the major and the way this supports the developmental aspects of learning within the discipline. If the majoris highly structuredthe progression of skills and understandings will be apparent through the pre-requisites and co-requisites and other formal mechanisms.

In majors where there is minimal structure, the benefits of student choice and curriculum flexibility need to be balanced with ensuring students have the necessary knowledge and skills to successfully undertake advanced level courses without completing relevantcourses at lower levels. Where there is minimal formal structure and few pre-requisites or co-requisites,students may gain informal advice through the local student networks or from advice by staff. In majors where this is the case, it might be useful to make these implied or preferred (but not required) pathways more accessible by openly advocating sequences,recommending complementary courses, or identifying patterns that might lead to particular employment outcomes. To some extent, courses with large enrolments can be seen as a proxy structure and so it may be useful to load these courses with particular outcomes of the major in order to maximise the number of students achieving these outcomes.

Compulsory courses at Level 1 such as the BA core course or discipline-based foundation courses provide the opportunity for all students to gain some entry level knowledge and skills.Where this kind of structure does not occur, it is important that provision is made for the systematic introduction of knowledge and skills to prepare students for the greater demands of higher level courses. Although it reduces flexibility, there may be some advantage in introducing some structure elements, particularly in preparation for capstones.

Related to structure is the development of academicliteracies and expectations. This includes progressively increasing word counts in essays, requiring higher order thinking skills, introducing a variety of assessment types so that students gain a range of communication and other skills, ensuring there is consistency in expectations, and providing adequate levels of support for particular activities at varies stages of the student life cycle.

Where majors are highly structured the transitions between courses or year levels are predictable and can be managed in direct ways. Where majors have minimal structure, the approach needs to identify the learning outcomes and then to create various pathways that will achieve those outcomes. This will involve providing multiple opportunities to learn particular skills in order tomaximise students’exposure. It also involves ensuring easy access to support often through an agreed set of resources. For example, a number of courses may include the assessment requirement to use a particular database, orto engage students invarious kinds of group work (projects, student-managed groups, presentations), or to use the online assessment facilities on MyUni. Such a systematic and intentional approach encourages the development of skills over time and in different contexts, and is conducive to learning for students with a range of learning styles and life experiences.

One of the defining characteristics of the University of Adelaide is its focus on research for all students and so the systematicdevelopment of research skillsis a central feature of all undergraduate degrees. As part of their induction into a discipline, it is expected that students will experience the discipline-specific approach to research, and engage in research-based processes and activities in an intentional and measured way appropriate to their level of study. Because the approach to research differs across disciplines, the various majors will undertake this developmental process in different ways. The Research Skills Development Framework (Level 3 and above) may be a useful tool in undertaking this and a spreadsheet using this structure is provided in the templates for this purpose.

Finally, the ways in which assessment is supported through teaching and learning arrangements, including access to resources, is central to the design of a curriculum. This is predicated on the idea that students need to be explicitly supported in achieving the assessment; and this includes more than just the mastery of content. Academic literaciesincluding writing, thinking, accessing resources and evaluating their relevance, and working in groups are developmental learning processes that need to be intentionally, systematically and actively taught in the context of courses and in association with assessment.

TASK 1Collation of the Course Mapping

Three templates have been developed for the collation of the courses mapping:

• Template 1 - Minimal Structure Major/Program
• Template 2 - High Structure Major/Program
• Template 3 - Multi-Stranded Major/Program (including foreign languages)

Using the appropriate Excel template, arrange for the data from all courses in the majorto be collated. This includes all Level 1 and Advanced Level Courses, but not Cross Listed Courses.

In all templates Tables 1, 3 and 7 are locked to protect the formulae that sit behind the cells. For this reason they cannot be altered(including adding and deleting rows or columns) without using the password HUMSS. The other templates can be amended to facilitate organisation of the data.

The templates are dynamic; they will automatically total scores in Tables 1 and 3, and carry across these totals into Table 7. Although the templates have been made as simple as possible, some basic knowledge of Excel would an advantage, particularly if you want to delete surplus rows in protected sheets.

Excel Spreadsheet / Comment
Table 1 Learning Outcomes for Courses in Major using the DSLOs
Enter learning outcome scores from coursemaps. The total scores will automatically appear in the coloured line at the bottom of the table and in the yellow column on the right. The numbers in the yellow column on the left should total 10 for a 3 unit course and 20 for a 6 unit course. If this is not the case there is an error in the courses data. / This sheet is locked to protect the formula that sits behind the cells. To make changes to the spreadsheet such as adding or deleting rows first ‘unprotect’ the sheet using the password HUMSS.
Table 2 Learning Outcomes for Courses in Major using the RSDF
In the discipline meeting (Task 2) map the learning outcomes statements that make reference to research skills. Use the Research Skills Development Framework (proforma provided) or analternative approach appropriate to your discipline.
Table 3 Assessment for Courses in Major using the DSLOs
Enter assessment scores from the course maps. The total scores will automatically appear in the coloured cells at the bottom of the table and in the yellow column on the right. The numbers in the yellow column on the left should total 10 for a 3 unit course and 20 for a 6 unit course. If this is not the case there is an error in the courses data. / This sheet is locked to protect the formula that sits behind the cells. To make changes to the spreadsheet such as adding or deleting rows first ‘unprotect’ the sheet using the password HUMSS.
Table 4 Assessment for Courses in Major using the RSDF
In the discipline meeting (Task 2) map the assessment that requires students to demonstrate research skills. Use the Research Skills Development Framework (proforma provided) or an alternative approach appropriate to your discipline.
Table 5 Types of Assessment in Courses in the Major
Collate the types of assessment identified in the course reviews. Add and delete rows and columns as required. / Typically, different terms are used to describe similar kinds of assessment. The list may need to be modified to take account of these variations.
Table 6 Learning and Teaching Arrangements
Collate the teaching and learning arrangements identified in the course reviews. Add and delete rows and columns as required. / Typically, different terms are used to describe similar kinds of arrangements. The list may need to be modified to take account of these variations.
Table 7 Alignment of CLOs and Assessment
The totals from Table 1 (Learning Outcomes) and Table 3 (Assessment) will automatically update into Table 7.1 and 7.3 respectively. The scores for the Graduate Attributeswill automatically appear in the purple section for each. / This sheet is locked to protect the formula that sits behind the cells. All cells are populated automatically and so this sheet should not need to be unprotected.
Table 8 Summary of Analysis
As a record of the curriculum renewal exercise complete the left hand side of the table. Identify the changes that have been agreed in the right hand side. / A word version of this table is also included at the end of this document.

TASK 2 Analyse and Discuss the Major within the Discipline