Tech Review Kickoff

1. Tech Review Kickoff Kris Leppien-Christensen, Ph.D. Curriculum Chair Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012) http://www.ivywise.com/newsletter_february12_juniors_kick_off.html

2. Overview • The Curriculum Process • COR – A Contract • Components of a COR • Loose Ends Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

3. The Curriculum Process Faculty Originator Articulation Officer Departmental Review Departmental Staff Technical Review Curriculum Committee Academic Senate Board of Trustees Chancellor’s Office (State) Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

4. COR – A Contract • Serves as a contract between the college and the: • Faculty • CCCCO • Community • Employers • Transfer Institutions • Students Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

5. COR – A Contract • Document approved by the CCCCO • Grants us the authority to offer the course • Establishes standardized content of the course • All instructors are legally required to teach all of the material indicated in the COR • Should form the basis of all syllabi Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

6. COR – A Contract • A public record that is easily accessible Chancellor’s Office approved proposals are public record pursuant to the California Public Records Act (Government Code § 6250 et seq.). Therefore, the Chancellor’s Office provides access to a college’s approved proposal (including the accompanying curriculum) to colleges, individuals, or organizations upon request. (PCAH, 4th ed., 2012, p. 16) Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

7. Course Numbers • Course Number • All courses should be numbered beginning with 6XX • Final course numbers are assigned by the Curriculum Office • 1-99 (UC Transferable) • 100-199 (CSU Transferable) • 200-299 (AA/AS Degree Applicable, nontransferable) • 300-399 (Remedial, nontransferable) • 400-499 (Vocational, nontransferable) Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

8. Course Titles • Should effectively represent the intent and nature of the course • Might be dictated by transfer institutions • Should be in ALL CAPS • Limited to 60 characters • Short Titles • Limited to 30 characters • Appears on the student’s transcript Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

9. Course Catalog Description • Provides a brief summary/description of the course • Should differentiate it from other courses offered at the college • Does not begin with “This course . . .” • May consist of short phrases rather than complete sentences • Should be consistent with the goals, objectives, and content of the course • If grading options have changed, the catalog description should be updated to include such a change Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

10. Course Catalog Description • The catalog description often begins with a short paragraph (course description) that provides a well-developed overview of topics covered. • Identification of the target audience depending on whether the course is required for the major, degree or certificate, transfer, etc., will assist students in their educational planning. • Prerequisites, corequisites, advisories and/or limitations on enrollments must be listed. • Designation of course repeatability must be listed. • Lecture/lab/activity/studio hours and units are included. • Field trip potential or other requirements that may impose a logistical or fiscal burden upon the students should be included along with an option for alternatives. (ASCCC, Spring 2008, p. 10) Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

11. Class Schedule Description • Limited to 360 characters • Often an abbreviated version of the catalog description • Should include all of the essential information from the catalog description • Should be appealing and easy to understand • If grading options have changed, the schedule description should be updated to include such a change Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

12. Start Date • Course are proposed and reviewed for the following academic year • Course going through Tech Review in Fall 2012 have a Fall 2013 start date • Exception – Special Topics courses Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

13. Justification • Required for all new courses and courses with substantial changes • Should specify: • Appropriateness to CCC mission • The need for the course • That adequate resources are available • Must meet: • Curriculum standards • Compliance requirements Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

14. Class Hours/Units • Used to indicate the number of hours per week that a student will spend in lecture, lab, etc. • A minimum of two hours of outside work must be completed by the student for every one hour spent in lecture • Labs are presumed to have little or no homework; thus, 3 hours equal one unit of credit. Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

15. Class Hours/Units 1 unit lab course = 48 contact hours 1 unit lecture course = 16 contact hours 3 unit lecture course = 48 contact hours 4 unit lecture course = 64 contact hours 5 unit lecture course = 80 contact hours Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

16. Class Hours/Units • One credit hour or unit should encompass no fewer than 48 hours of coursework (course time in or out of class). • The course outline of record should justify or validate these hours relative to the units being listed. • Articulation agreements and other external factors may need to be considered. • While examples often rely upon using the traditional 3 hours per week to determine a unit, the credit hour or unit is more appropriately defined by hours per course, which more easily allows for alternative term lengths. (ASCCC, Spring 2008, p. 16) Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

17. Grading Method • Used to establish whether the course can be taken as Pass/No Pass, Credit/No Credit, etc. • “NC” should be selected for non-credit courses • If the grading method is being changed, the catalog and schedule descriptions should be updated to reflect the change Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

18. Repeatability • Most courses that were once considered repeatable because they were “activity” courses are no longer repeatable • With very few exceptions, courses should no longer be marked as repeatable • Contact the Curriculum Office for guidance • Even courses that have exceptions (e.g., vocational) are still considered non-repeatable • They are “repeatable” only through the petition process Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

19. Degree/Transfer Applicability • If it is believed that a new or revised course will be transferable, the Articulation Officer must be contacted before Tech Review • For UC transferable courses, this may require planning as early as the semester prior to Tech Review • Comparable transfer courses must be identified • Information must include the university, the title of the course, and its ID Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

20. Requisites • Three types: • Prerequisites • Required before enrolling in the course • Corequisites • Required to be taken simultaneously with another course • Recommended Preparation • Advised to meet before or in conjunction with enrollment in a course • Students are not required to complete the recommended preparation as a condition of enrollment. Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

21. Requisites • Established to indicate the “required preparation for success in the course . . . as determined by the curriculum committee in compliance with title 5, section 55003.” (PCAH, 4th ed., 2012, p. 42) • Established through statistical validation and/or content review • When content review is utilized, the required learning objectives from the requisite course must be linked to the learning objectives of the course with the requisite • Demonstrated on the “validation” page in CurricUNET • If the requisite is outside of the discipline, the department in which the requisite course resides must be contacted prior to Tech Review • Must be established and/or reaffirmed during Tech Review Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

22. Requisites • Any course requiring another course as a requisite must demonstrate the need through one of several methods. • Validation, when required, at a minimum must include a content review described below. • For pre- and corequisites, the course outline must document entry skills without which student success is highly unlikely. • For advisories, the course outline must document entry skills which are either necessary but are likely to be obtained by other means or, while not necessary, would broaden or enhance student learning but are not fundamental to student success. • Requisites may have implications for articulated courses. • Limitations on enrollment should be fair and reasonable and should produce consistent evaluation results. (ASCCC, Spring 2008, p. 18) Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

23. Lecture Content & Lab/Learning Center Content • Taken together, the content of the course, the methods of instruction, the assignments, and the methods of evaluation must be described in the COR in a manner that is integrated and leads to the achievement of the course objectives (PCAH, 4th ed., 2012, p. 12) • Specify the content in order to “provide distinct instructional content and specific instructional objectives”. (PCAH, 4th ed., 2012, p. 18) • Specific enough to justify the unit value of the course • Written in outline form to indicate how the various topics relate to one another • Ensures that all students who take the course are exposed to the same content • Faculty are required to teach all of the content specified in the COR Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

24. Lecture Content & Lab/Learning Center Content • Content needs to differ from other related courses • Lab content needs to be differentiated from lecture content • The content element contains a complete list of all topics to be taught in the course. • The list should be arranged by topic with sub-headings. • Content items should be subject based. (ASCCC, Spring 2008, p. 28) Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

25. Learning Objectives • Establishes the skills and/or knowledge that a student should have upon completion of the course • Written using Bloom’s Taxonomy • At least one learning objective should include an element of critical thinking • e.g., analysis, synthesis, or evaluation Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

26. Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

27. Learning Objectives • Objectives should be stated in terms of what students will be able to do. • Objectives should clearly connect to achievement of the course goals. • Objectives should be concise but complete: ten objectives might be too many; one is not enough. • Objectives should use verbs showing active learning. • Theory, principles, and concepts must be adequately covered. Skills and applications are used to reinforce and develop concepts. • Each objective should be broad in scope, not too detailed, narrow, or specific. (ASCCC, Spring 2008, p. 24) Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

28. Assignments • A minimum of three types of assignments must be indicated: • Typical reading assignments • Must include reading assignments from a college-level text • Assignments specific to the required reading should be given in the form of an example • Typical writing assignments • e.g., “preparation of a 4 to 5 page research project in which major analytical questions are discussed” • Typical oral assignments • Used to further establish that the course requires critical thinking Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

29. Assignments • Should provide enough detail to establish that a minimum of two hours of independent work is required for every hour spent in lecture • “For each hour of lecture, it is assumed that students will be required to spend an additional two hours of study outside of class.” (PCAH, 4th ed., 2012, p. 46) • The more specific the better for articulation purposes Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

30. Assignments • Assignment examples, if provided, should reflect coverage of all objectives and content. • Assignment examples can include supplemental reading materials beyond the required text(s). • Optional and alternate assignment examples can and in some cases should be included. (e.g. an alternate assignment allowed in lieu of a required field trip or a cost-bearing assignment such as theatre tickets). • In addition to listing graded assignments, the developer of the course outline should give the basis for grading, and relate assignments to skills and abilities in objectives. For example, say written assignments that show development of self-criticism.” Attach examples if needed. • Out-of-class assignments must be sufficient to show independent work. • The difficulty standard for degree-applicable credit courses requires that assignments must reflect college-level effort, particularly in terms of critical thinking (ASCCC, Spring 2008, p. 37) Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

31. Methods of Evaluation(MOEs) • Stipulate how students will be assessed to guarantee that the course objectives have been met • Should indicate how the student will be assessed/evaluated • Placed under the appropriate headings in CurricUNET • Writing assignments • Problem solving demonstrations • Skills demonstrations • Exams • Other Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

32. Methods of Evaluation(MOEs) • Content must be included in all text boxes • Simply checking the boxes (e.g., multiple-choice) is not sufficient • It is never appropriate for all assessment items to appear in the “other” box • Should be linked to the learning objectives • e.g., “Evaluation of the student’s ability to apply appropriate major theoretical models to social psychological phenomena” Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

33. Methods of Evaluation(MOEs) • In addition to listing graded assignments, the course outline should describe the basis for grading or other evaluations, and relate the methods of evaluation to skills and abilities in objectives. • Be sure that knowledge of required material constitutes a significant portion of the grade as reflected in assignments and methods of evaluation. • The difficulty standards for degree-applicable credit, nondegree-applicable credit and noncredit courses vary quite a bit, particularly in terms of critical thinking, and this should be reflected in the methods of evaluation. (ASCCC, Spring 2008, p. 34) Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

34. Required Text • At least one college-level text is required for all college-level courses • Textbook choice may be a determining factor for articulation • Provide all information: • Author • Title • Edition • Year of Publication • Publisher • ISBN • Provided a justification for choice of text • e.g., standard for discipline, most current, etc. Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

35. Library • New course proposals are reviewed by the library to ensure that resources are available • In most cases, the following boxes should be checked in CurricUNET: • “Materials in the Library support this class” • “Library electronic resources support this class” • If specific resources are needed, select the “I recommend that we add” box and write in the resources that will be needed Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

36. Loose Ends • Ensure that the “credit” or “non-credit” box is checked • Only enter text into CurricUNET text boxes • Do not use tables • If composing in another program, cut and paste the text into Notepad first to remove any formatting and correct it there before cutting and pasting into CurricUNET Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)

37. Loose Ends • Use a web browser that has spell checking • e.g., Firefox, Chrome, etc. • Bring printouts of certificates and/or degrees to Tech Review • Faculty should review them before Tech Review and make necessary changes Tech Review Kickoff (Fall Flex 2012)