The Intellectual Competencies and Exemplary Educational Objectives were systematically embedded in the core through the work of many faculty and academic administrators. In 1999-2000, the Core Evaluation Committee proposed the grid format, borrowed from Austin Community College, that DCCCD faculty used to identify the Intellectual Competencies and Exemplary Educational Objectives addressed in each course of the core curriculum. The committee recommended that district discipline committees review courses and course content and determine which courses addressed which Objectives and which Competencies. Such a review insured that faculty led the initiative to infuse the Competencies and Objectives throughout the core and that curriculum decisions were made upon broad-based involvement and input from faculty in the disciplines.
Discipline committees for DCCCD core courses are made up of at least one full-time faculty member in the discipline from each of the seven colleges of the DCCCD. These committees are responsible for the content of the courses in the discipline. Committee members discuss proposed changes to course content, revisions to wording of course descriptions, addition or deletion of courses, and related charges. Each discipline committee member is responsible for sharing information and soliciting input from discipline faculty colleagues at the college.
In Fall 2000, the Vice Presidents Council, in accordance with the recommendations of the Core Evaluation Committee, charged district discipline committee with the following actions:
- Review course objectives and outcomes to insure consistency on campus and across the district;
- Review course objectives to insure incorporation of the THECB Exemplary Educational Objectives;
- Determine ways in which their respective courses give students opportunities to develop Intellectual Competencies; and
- Determine how their courses help students achieve the Perspectives defined by the THECB; and
- Determine an array of methods, instruments, or techniques by which they plan to evaluate the effectiveness of their respective courses in meeting the Objectives of the core.
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Using the discipline committee structure and processes, district faculty agreed upon the Exemplary Educational and Intellectual Competencies which must be addressed in each Core course. Faculty developed the Exemplary Educational Objectives grid (pdf 62kb) which lists the courses in the core curriculum by core component area and identifies the Objectives which must be addressed in each course. The Intellectual Competencies grid (pdf 53kb) lists the Competencies which must be addressed and reinforced in specified courses. The Perspectives, the Core Component Areas, and the Intellectual Competencies are reinforced throughout the curriculum resulting in an integrated curriculum represented by a Venn Diagram (pdf 80kb).
The Vice Presidents Council mandated that, effective Fall 2002, syllabi for each core course included the Exemplary Educational Objectives and Intellectual Competencies addressed in the course. College chief academic officers and their designates reviewed syllabi for compliance. Faculty assessment efforts were underway in the classroom as course activities were linked to Exemplary Educational Objectives and Intellectual Competencies.
During 2003-2004, as colleges developed plans to assess student learning outcomes for 2004-2009, discipline committees further refined the Exemplary Educational Objectives and Intellectual Competencies, after discussing assignments, opportunities for assessment, and course goals. The discipline committees also continued to struggle with assessment issues and methods for measuring student learning outcomes.