ERIC Number: EJ1337934
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1812-9129
EISSN: N/A
Empowering Faculty to Build Meaningful Curricula to Enhance Student Success
Cho, Kit W.; Visbal, Adriana P.; Moosally, Michelle; Jackson, Jeffrey; Logan, Lucas
International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, v33 n1 p79-88 2021
The increasing costs of college have led higher education institutions to place greater emphasis on the implementation of curricula changes that facilitate timely degree completion. Institutional barriers to timely degree completion may be found in course registration processes and course availability, program design, and university-wide resources and initiatives. Although students typically rely on faculty for such information, not all faculty are aware of these issues and university initiatives. Curricula changes and university initiatives can also fail from lack of involvement and buy-in from faculty. The purpose of this article is to describe our approach to engaging faculty in reflective and collaborative processes to raise awareness of these issues to impact curriculum design and coherence within and among the undergraduate degrees by creating a faculty learning community. The strategies used to empower faculty to discuss and initiate curricular changes include: (a) clear ownership and leadership of the process by faculty; (b) opportunities for open and minimally structured discussion about student success and university processes; (c) identification and distribution of student success data; (d) targeted cross-disciplinary review of degree plans; and (e) integration of student and advising staff perspectives to maintain focus on understanding the student experience with the programs and system. Preliminary results of our work demonstrate success in generating faculty participation and interest in the conversations, the data, and ways to refine their curricula to improve student success.
Descriptors: Curriculum Implementation, Time to Degree, Barriers, Curriculum Design, College Faculty, Teacher Empowerment, Educational Change, Success, Undergraduate Study, Communities of Practice, Student Attitudes, Teacher Attitudes
International Society for Exploring Teaching and Learning. Web site: https://www.isetl.org/ijtlhe
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Texas (Houston)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A