PRINCIPLES
Five principles guide Curriculum Development at United States University: 1) Faculty and Program Ownership, 2) Authenticity, 3) Rigor, 4) Student Learning and Success, and 5) Centrality of Assessment.
1.
Faculty and Program Ownership: USU supplies the infrastructure of cross-programmatic principles, processes, and support. The program faculty create and direct their curricula based upon their academic and professional preparation and experience and mutually agreed to in their particular curriculum committees. As such, program faculty "own" their courses, writing, recording, selecting content, deciding on assignments, as well as their expectations and parameters, and participating in the evaluation of the course and program data and the decisions that result therefrom. Program Directors are responsible for maintaining the program's vision, goals, and standards.
2.
Authenticity: In accordance with the USU mission to provide "professional and personal educational opportunities" that are "relevant and accessible," programs are expected to be authentic to their disciplines, especially regarding the daily working practices that graduates will encounter.
3.
Rigor: Each program is constructed based on Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs), written by the program director in concert with their Dean and academic leadership for guidance in an appropriate degree level utilizing Bloom's Taxonomy, authenticity to the discipline and the student population, and measurability. Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) and assignments are written in alignment with the PLOs, to prepare students to achieve the appropriate learning outcomes for the degree level and discipline by graduation. Some programs may also use disciplinary standards or expectations to structure their curricula to the appropriate level. In addition, programs must demonstrate that their courses are designed for appropriate seat-time per credit hour awarded.
4.
Student-Learning and Success: Faculty are expected to use their curriculum maps to plan and document course-by-course scaffolding at the program level. At its heart, the map represents where students are introduced to, develop, and master the skills defined by the PLOs. However, programs are encouraged to use their curriculum map to scaffold non-PLO skills or activities across the program (clinical preparation, a significant research project or portfolio, technology skills, etc.).
Faculty are expected to design their courses with the online experience (student and faculty), online environment, and online pedagogical best practices in mind at the course level. Following the content, engagement should be a leading focus. Expectations include clear and intelligible instructions, activities integrated into content, multiple opportunities for engagement between faculty-student, student-student, student-content, and learner-centered technologies that support either disciplinary/ professional expectations or the learning process itself.
5.
Centrality of Assessment: As a WSCUC institution, our programs and courses are also designed with assessment in mind. The PLO assessment results form the basis of further curriculum revision and redevelopment as part of a continuous improvement process. PLOs are to be concise and measurable, and CLOs are expected to be aligned to the PLOs as mapped across the program to demonstrate and support the scaffolding of skills. All assignments in a course should be aligned to at least one CLO, with specific assignments in each course identified as particularly suitable for direct assessment of the student's achievement of the aligned PLO's. All of this preparatory design work supports our continuous improvement efforts involving clarity of learning expectations, quality of the learning experience in support of those expectations, and inquiry into whether these efforts are successful, as demonstrated by student work.