Implementing curriculum evaluation: case study of a generic undergraduate degree in health sciences

This case study presents a longitudinal, evidence‐based approach to health science curriculum reform and evaluation. Curriculum in higher education must meet the needs of diverse stakeholders and must respond to dynamic local, national and international contexts, and this creates challenges for evaluation. The long lead time prior to the introduction of new or revised university curriculum (at least two years), the length of degree programmes (three to five years) and the lag time in the availability of objective indicators of degree outcomes (at least one year post‐graduation) mean that findings may be obsolete before an evaluation can be completed. Few would argue that evaluation is important and methods and approaches for conducting curriculum evaluation are proposed in the literature, although few published reports of the outcomes of comprehensive evaluations are evident. This paper discusses potential for evaluation to establish responsive communication between students, teaching staff and programme administrators, ensuring a match between the intended, implemented and attained curriculum.     

The New Role of the JUAA in Japanese University Evaluation

The aim of this paper is to explore the role of the JUAA in Japanese university evaluation, based upon its first progress evaluation. The underlying concept of university evaluation in Japan is a combination of self-monitoring and external valuation. It aims to move Japanese higher education systems from quantitative to qualitative development. There are many domains in university governance such as research, education, management, staff development, curriculum, admission policies, etc. This paper intends to examine how evaluation by the JUAA can provide incentive to improve them.     

《公路运输组织》课程建设的实践与体会

加强课程建设是高校人才培养模式改革的基础,本文通过三年来《公路运输组织》课程教学内容、讲义教材、教学方法和手段、学生学习效果评价手段等多方面的课程建设,提出只有明确目标,依靠集体和团队,持之以恒,才能高质量的完成课程建设.     

Using Community-Based Research to Improve BSW Students’ Learning in Community Practice: Bringing the Macro into Focus for Traditional and Distance Learners

This article describes community–university partnership building, course development/management, and evaluation outcomes related to an intensive community-based research project that was integrated in two sections of an undergraduate course on community practice. Pre- and posttest data were collected from 60 BSW students who were enrolled in community practice and who participated in a community-based research project with their state’s fair housing office. The evaluation outcomes focus on changes in professional interest in macro practice, students’ self-efficacy, and differences in students’ learning experiences, based on traditional bricks-and-mortar or distance learning contexts. Results show that students experience increases in self-efficacy related to community assessment and intervention. Qualitative results show that students experienced shifts in their professional goals related to macro practice, increased competence and understanding, and personal transformation. A number of differences emerged between traditional and distance learners. Results are discussed in the context of curriculum development and next steps for institutionalizing CBR in community practice courses.     

现代大学课程评价理论研究综述

随着我国现代大学课程改革的深入开展,如何科学地实施课程评价已经成为课程研究中重要的领域。具有代表性的课程评价模式主要有目标评价模式、CIPP评价模式、目标游离评价模式、外观评价模式、回应性评价模式等几种。当前,大学课程评价还存在着对课程概念的理解不够全面、课程评价不考虑社会的需求、量化评价为主的课程评价方法、课程评价管理不健全这样一些误区和不足之处。因此,现代大学课程评价要注重评价主体的、课程评价对象、课程评价标准和课程评价方式方法的多元化,体现＂以学生为本＂的理念。     

100 years of primary curriculum development and implementation in Ireland: a tale of a swinging pendulum

There are ongoing initiatives in curriculum development and implementation in Ireland and internationally in order to enhance the educational experiences and outcomes of learners. This article is the first historical longitudinal analysis of primary school curriculum development and implementation in Ireland from the 1890s to the 1990s. The purpose of the paper is to distil key lessons from the history of curriculum development and implementation to inform contemporary policy and practice. The paper begins by situating current curriculum discourse and developments in both a national and international context. It then delineates the three main curriculum reforms undertaken in Ireland in the period under review. The section relating to each period includes an overview of the societal context in which the curriculum was developed, the process of development, the content of each curriculum and its implementation. Three key themes emerge from the analysis – the impact of wider societal factors on curriculum, the impact of the radical nature of curriculum change attempted and a lack of focus on planning for implementation.     

A Case Study of Cross‐curricular Practice through Partnership

This paper is concerned with a curriculum development project, framed around the cross‐curricular themes as suggested by the NCC guidelines (1991‐a‐f). It is structured as a teacher partnership experience involving close collaboration between university tutors, student teachers and practising teachers in a local school. From the university's perspective, the curriculum development project grew out of the review and evaluation of the education courses which forms 50% of the four year BA/BSc Hons (Education) degree offered for students preparing to be secondary school teachers. From the school's perspective it offered an opportunity to develop a more formal incorporation of cross‐ curriculum themes into the subject curriculum. The paper discusses the project from three perspectives: the university tutors’, the school teachers’ and the students’, describing professional tutoring partnership in practice.     

服务学习课程的设计：基于设计思维的实践框架

通过梳理服务学习课程设计理论和实践的相关文献，分析了我国高校服务学习课程设计的现状。根据现有文献和作者在高校服务学习课程设计中的实践经验，提出了基于设计思维的服务学习课程设计实践框架。从多元主体团队、课程目标、课程设计的过程与步骤、课程设计的技术与工具、课程的价值与产出五个维度论述其在实践中的应用，并在此框架下介绍了一门服务学习课程设计的实践案例。此外，还讨论了服务学习课程设计存在的一些挑战，尤其在评价标准、时间管理、情境限制、伦理风险等方面，须通过整合教学实践和学术研究进一步优化。     

Transforming university curriculum policies in a global knowledge era: mapping a “global case study” research agenda

Radical curriculum policy transformations are emerging as a key strategy of universities across different countries as they move to strengthen their competitive position in a global knowledge era. This paper puts forward a “global case study” research agenda in the under-researched area of university curriculum policy. The particular curriculum policies to be investigated point to potentially new forms of liberal education, and they resonate in varying degrees with contemporary patterns in Europe as well as longer standing patterns in the United States. This research agenda stands to make a unique contribution with its “whole curriculum” approach to: the examination of the relationship between curriculum content, pedagogy and assessment; the tracking of curriculum policy borrowing across different jurisdictions extending between global and local levels; and the investigation of historical antecedents of contemporary curriculum policy patterns. In particular, the proposed agenda features a rare combination of spatial and temporal dimensions of university curriculum policy flows. This research agenda will provide a strong empirical evidence base for extending theory building about university curriculum policy development, as well as policy “learning” for policy makers, practitioners and scholars – globally.     

美国大学课程成绩评定方法及其技术支撑

采用实例分析的方法,讨论美国大学课程成绩评定方式,并着重研究支持其实施的技术手段。以期以国际化的教育视野、课程质量标准和教学技术,推动中国大学课程成绩评定方式的变革,进而推动整个人才培养体系的改革。     

International education: the transformative potential of experiential learning

Academic outcomes of post-16 education can be understood in terms of their value for gaining access to university and, at a time when global educational mobility is growing, internationally recognised university entrance qualifications may be considered a form of personal capital. However, narrowly measured outcomes may not reflect the breadth of the school experience nor the extent to which this breadth contributes to the development of the young person. One curriculum which aims to prepare students in ways that extend beyond the academic is the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, which incorporates an experiential element at its core. Creativity, Activity, Service attaches a transformative purpose to education, where students’ experiences in each of the three strands can support personal learning that is not confined to subject areas of an academic curriculum. This paper describes the evolution of CAS in the academically rigorous Diploma Programme and presents the findings from a review of literature which contribute towards developing an understanding of the transformative potential of this component.     

Storytelling

This paper outlines the early history of whole school literacy policies in secondary schools. It examines the implications of their failure in the aftermath of the Bullock Report. It draws on School Improvement theory to make a case for an experientially based approach to policy making. It describes a case study school, where a large group of subject teachers are receiving training to become writing coaches. This practical training complements INSET on language across the curriculum and the writing of a new policy. The authors conclude with some positive, initial outcomes from the planned evaluation, and ask that any readers engaged in similar research contact them.     

高职院校项目课程实施过程管理

目前项目课程已经形成了完善的课程开发技术且理论体系也相对比较完善,更为重要的是课程实施问题提上了研究的日程,本研究拟以课程实施模式和课程实施资源为载体来研究项目课程实施过程管理,为后续深入的课程实施问题研究做些初步探索。     

The I3E model for embedding education for sustainability within higher education institutions

This paper presents an evidence-based model (the I3E model) for embedding education for sustainability (EfS) within a higher education institution. This model emerged from a doctoral research that examined organisational learning and change processes at the University of Southampton to build EfS into the university curriculum. The researcher aimed to learn from real practice through acting as a facilitator for curriculum development in EfS within an interdisciplinary group of academic staff members. A critical friend position was also acquired within a community of practice to implement a programme which attempted to embed sustainability within the student experience. The I3E model identifies four overarching components that can support universities in their aim to embed EfS within the undergraduate curriculum. These integrated components are: Inform the university community about sustainability; Engage the different university stakeholders in the change process towards sustainability; Empower individuals and groups to make change happen within their sphere of influence and action; and Embed sustainability within existing university structures.     

Quality and Links with Industry: the agribusiness education experience

The University of Queensland Gatton College, in developing its Agribusiness degree in the late 1980s, responded to the findings of extensive surveys of agribusiness employers, and to the Australian government's policy of increased international competitiveness, based on value‐added exports. This response took the form of a curriculum which integrated core business disciplines with a suite of linked case study‐based subjects so as to strengthen students’ views of management as a holistic process. The centrepiece of the curriculum is an overseas market evaluation project undertaken by final‐year students in small groups contracted to commercial firms. The firms pay most of the research costs, with assistance from the Australian government, the students and the university. This unique capstone experience requires students to apply their agribusiness training under strictly commercial circumstances in a foreign cultural environment. Each firm's significant financial involvement is the catalyst for ensuring quality outcomes, because students must meet the expectations of their commercial clients as well as those of their university.     

面向终身教育的继续教育课程体系评价研究

继续教育是提高员工岗位胜任力的主要手段,课程体系建设是开展继续教育的关键,课程体系评价是优化改进课程体系的有效方式,对实现继续教育目标具有重要作用。文章以中国气象局气象干部培训学院天气预报员培训课程体系评价为例,从课程结构的合理性、课程内容的衔接性等方面开展课程体系评价,探索建立继续教育课程体系评价指标体系,促进建立与学历教育、岗位需求及组织需求相衔接的继续教育课程体系,有效提高员工的岗位胜任力。     

ePortfolios beyond pre-service teacher education: a new dawn?

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the efficacy of using ePortfolios to enhance career skills for newly qualified teachers (NQTs). The context is the final phase of a longitudinal action research project investigating whether an ePortfolio, created as a pre-service teacher to evidence a digital story of developing professional identity, could transition into employability, i.e. the first year as an NQT. Thus, this paper focuses on a new area of ePortfolio-related research in teacher education; the transition from university into employment. The research findings indicate a changing purpose of the ePortfolio from training to the workplace, an increasing strength of ownership as part of the transition, and empowerment in becoming a teacher. Secondary findings demonstrate an increasing acceptance amongst head teachers regarding the usefulness of the ePortfolio in pre-service teacher education and in the continuing professional development of qualified teachers. Key outcomes are discussed and arguments are presented for an ePortfolio to support professional development from university to employment.     

Transformative Curriculum: “I Felt like an Artist”

Contemporary early childhood teacher education is situated in a knowledge and policy environment where on the one hand preservice educators have the opportunity to connect with unlimited knowledge sources and, on the other, are expected to conform to standardized outcomes. This situation is compounded by increasingly inequitable learning outcomes for children in many countries. In this paper, we argue that this context demands different ways of teaching and learning in early childhood teacher education and that in order to address increasing inequity, preservice educators must experience a transformative university curriculum. This paper uses the example of an arts topic, with a particular focus on music, to examine ways of positioning preservice educators that open up, rather than restrict opportunities to reconceptualize early childhood curriculum. The authors examine data from curriculum documents and student reflections in order to discuss the intended (planned), enacted (implemented) and experienced university curriculum.     

Discourses of inclusion in initial teacher education: Unravelling a New Zealand ‘number eight wire’ knot

Institutional politics and diversity of ideological positions create challenges for teaching staff with polarised beliefs about inclusive education. This paper provides a methodological justification for a longitudinal study of the experience of developing an integrated ‘inclusive education’ curriculum in one initial teacher education programme. The research focus is on the day-to-day practicalities of how teacher education programme reform is attempted, rather than abstract theories about how it should take place. First, the paper considers why an ‘inclusive education’ approach is problematic. Second, the case narrative approach is explained. Finally, examples from two years of programme development are discussed.     

信息化背景下应用型本科高校教师教学质量评价的探索

教师教学质量评价是高校保障人才培养质量的重要环节,是促进教师自我反思、改进教学效果的有力抓手。文章分析了当前我国高校教师教学评价中存在的问题,在W高校构建了"以学习为中心"的教师教学评价体系,以期引导教师投入更多的精力建设金课,满足课程教学高阶性、创新性和挑战度的要求。