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Session 1845

Transforming Curriculum Development: Putting an entire institution on line for the benefit of students, faculty, the professions and industry.

Shirley A. Holloway The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology

Abstract

In response to current trends in post-secondary education, the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) in Edmonton, Alberta has embarked on an institute-wide initiative dubbed “LOGging Our Curriculum.” The goal of the project is to create outcomes-based, modularized, digital curriculum housed in a database accessible to NAIT instructors via the Internet. The project is designed to assist NAIT to become more responsive to the fast changing requirements of industry; to provide instructors with shared curriculum development tools and resources; and to provide students with more learner-centered learning materials that adhere to a systematic instructional design model. The database created is the intellectual capital of the institution.

The segmentation of curriculum into modules (rather than courses) allows for effective and efficient redesign of curriculum and the customization of training. It also provides the foundation for Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR), articulation between programs at NAIT and at other institutions, validation of curriculum with industry and facilitation of the accreditation process.

Rather than produce content-rich modules, the decision was made at the outset to produce Learning Outcome Guides (known as LOGs). A LOG is a module that does not (necessarily) embed lecture content, but instead includes pointers to content and activities. A LOG incorporates outcome-based language and instructional design based on Kolb's Experiential Learning Model. Faculty who decide to embed or link to lecture content, notes, audio or video in their LOGs may do so if they wish.

To assist program staff to "log" their curriculum by preparing Learning Outcome Guides, NAIT has developed a web-based curriculum development application called MERLIN. This guides instructors by providing online instructional design information to assist in writing learning outcomes and objectives, preparing the LOGs, creating courses, printing student materials and ultimately moving those materials to WebCT. MERLIN allows program areas to search for existing curriculum materials within the LOGging Database and use those materials as needed.

A companion project “VALIDATOR” is a web-enabled instrument for convenient validation of outcomes and is used for accreditation documentation and for professional and industrial validation.

Collecting curriculum into the LOGging database allows NAIT to respond to many challenges in a timely and effective manner.

Proceedings of the 2001 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright @2001, American Society for Engineering Education

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Holloway, S. (2001, June), Transforming Curriculum Development: Putting An Entire Institution On Line For The Benefit Of Students, Faculty, The Professions And Industry. Paper presented at 2001 Annual Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 10.18260/1-2--9917