¶ … curriculum committee proceed with the work yet to be done?
The curriculum committee should solicit information from all stakeholders, including part-time faculty, current students, and also the five acute care hospitals which are a part of the university network. It should create a map for future curriculum development, complete with specific deadlines for a timeline of activities. Unless goals are specifically set with a deadline-driven focus, it is far too easy for the curriculum committee to merely remain at the abstract and theoretical level of debate or to become stymied by political in-fighting (a particular danger in educational politics). Educational changes must be time-sensitive, particularly because when they are instituted there will inevitably be some change resistance from various stakeholders. Unless the process has a sense of urgency, people will not buy into the change.
Q2.What should the curriculum committee consider next?
The curriculum committee should consider specifically how curriculum changes and the new curriculum approach can be rendered into action-based statements, preferably articulated as verbs rather than as generalized concepts. At present, the theoretical orientation of the committee has been determined and agreed upon. However, translating an ideology such as feminism into actual best practices in the classroom is still in its nascent stages. Theory cannot be translated into a meaningful, real curriculum without clear goals and objectives. "Goals and objectives generally characterize three types of learning: knowledge, skills, and attitudes" (CRLT, 2014, UMI).
The specific goals and objectives must also be meaningful in terms of the way teachers must teach and how students must learn at a school of nursing which is vocationally as well as theoretically oriented. "Goals are statements about general aims or purposes of education that are broad, long-range intended outcomes and concepts; e.g., 'clear communication', 'problem-solving skills', etc. Objectives are brief, clear statements that describe the desired learning outcomes of instruction; i.e., the specific skills, values, and attitudes students should exhibit that reflect the broader goals" (CRLT, 2014, UMI). Graduates must have certain technical competencies as well as be inculcated in the principles of nursing. Goals and objectives...
It can also engage in endeavors such as curriculum mapping. In a curriculum map: "learning outcomes and competencies describe specific measureable skills, knowledge or attitudes that learners will have achieved through the education program. The term 'outcome' is usually used to describe the level of proficiency that a graduate should be expected to demonstrate, while 'competencies' is typically used to describe a level of proficiency needed by a beginning professional in the field" (CRLT, 2014, UMI). Another technique is a curriculum matrix used to "describe the sequence of courses/content and more easily conceptualize how different pieces of the curriculum work together as a whole. They can also identify gaps from a curriculum or a need to re-think course sequencing" (CRLT, 2014, UMI).
Q4.What should be included in the curriculum design?
Both outcomes and competencies and also specific skills and techniques should be outlined in the curriculum design. Use of specific resources (such as technology) should also be delineated. There should be a clear trajectory over the course of the students' career within the school as he or she gains skills and experience.
Q5.How will the curriculum nucleus influence the curriculum design?
The curriculum nucleus is defined as consisting of core curriculum concepts; key professional abilities; principal teaching-learning approaches; and philosophical approaches (Iwasis, Goldenberg, & Andrusyszyn 2007). It synthesizes existing knowledge and much as the cell's nucleus determines the cell's differentiation and trajectory of development, so does the curriculum nucleus. The nucleus forms the core of the curriculum design
Q6.How could nursing and non-nursing courses be determined?
Given that the current program under review is a nursing curriculum, non-nursing courses much support the goals, aims, and objectives of the nursing major. Nursing courses must support the…
