This chapter demonstrates how Decoding work can be used productively within a curriculum change process to help make design decisions based on a more nuanced understanding of student learning and the relationship of a professional program to the field.

This chapter describes a curriculum review framework that fosters continuous assessment through collaboration with multiple stakeholders, alignment with program level learning outcomes, evaluation based on multiple sources of evidence, and facilitated development of action plans to improve student learning.

The term "assessment" sends shivers down academic spines. For faculty, it signals marching orders from external parties who may or may not appreciate the subtle and not always quantifiable value of faculty efforts. For administrators, it means the dual challenge of recalibrating internal measures to meet external mandates but also…

When the University of North Dakota began working to improve general education, two concerns were recognized. The first issue, which faculty and administrators across campus found immediately engaging, was how to change general education so that it would be a better program, more likely to yield clear student learning benefits. A second concern,…

At North Carolina State University, inquiry-guided learning offered a compelling framework for integrating the undergraduate curriculum across general education and the major. Rather than adopting a definition of inquiry-guided learning as a prescribed set of approaches, participating faculty and staff members agreed on four overarching intended…

As a philosopher and an art historian, the authors decided to record their experience after discovering they shared similar journeys changing their courses. They had both been dissatisfied with their students' learning outcomes and their own tired patterns of teaching. After learning about Dee Fink's (2003) integrated course design (ICD) and his…

While numerous professors and administrators can agree upon the benefits of infusing the curriculum with experiential learning, a commonly stated obstacle to widespread curricular reform is funding. Specifically, given that external institutional support can be difficult to procure, especially in uncertain economic times, institutions might…

By tracing the historical roots of general education, we can make many of our current issues and problems in general education more understandable. This chapter is an overview of historical trends that have taken general education from the concept of a unified curriculum with no distinction between "specialized" and "general" education to the…

One of the most important elements in achieving significant curricular and pedagogical innovation is creating a climate that promotes and acknowledges the contributions of those who engage in these efforts. It is critical that this climate be systemic, existing at the department, college, and university levels. In the past few years, the view that…

Just as the popular television show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" targets the demolition and reconstruction of a home so that it better meets the needs of its owners, Fink's approach to integrated course design (ICD; 2003) provides higher education faculty with the tools to deconstruct and do a major remodel of their college courses. Teaching…

The higher education literature abounds with reports and studies calling for reform in undergraduate education. An alphabet soup of higher education associations creates or advocates desired learning outcomes for postsecondary education and endorses approaches for student learning. This article shows connections between some of the major…

The investments of federal agencies in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education are aimed at a single core question: How can educators ensure that the United States will have a well-prepared and innovative science and technology workforce in an era of increasing global competition? As the exploration of what this entails…

This article presents an interdisciplinary approach to course redesign that enhanced student learning across all six categories in Dee Fink's taxonomy. A meta-analysis of the results provides evidence that integrated course design produces significant learning. In this article, the authors tell four connected stories: (1) how Fink's book,…

Introducing cultural diversity into the core curriculum need not be political. Traditional departmental structures could be reconfigured to incorporate third world studies at the introductory level and within the scope of traditional core courses. Interweaving non-Western studies with existing curricula is preferable to putting them in courses by…

A discussion of the increasing conservatism on college campuses looks at education's heritage of cultural geneticism and at the role of the humanities in higher education. It is concluded that cultural diversity must be included, not superficially but in every aspect of the college curriculum. (Author/MSE)