DEVELOPING LEARNING GOALS AND BUILDING A RESPONSIVE CURRICULUM FROM VALUES, SKILLS AND EXPERIENCES

The process of developing departmental program and curricular goals is an opportunity to uncover and articulate the shared assumptions of departmental faculty and staff. It is particularly helpful to identify the values, skills, experiences and learning outcomes for students, as well as the content areas of the curriculum. The institutional, disciplinary and national educational contexts help define these items. A systematic process, based on department discussion, can also uncover where in the curriculum students are acquiring the skills and having the experiences, for instance. A focus on values, skills, experiences, and outcomes thus helps departments build intentional, responsive curricula.