The "Cocurricular Curriculum" - An Assessment Application
The cocurricular curriculum? Isn't that redundant? Well, yes...but I may need to be redundant to drive home the concept. Let me explain.
There are few things that researchers in higher education agree upon as much as the importance of student involvement and its connection to student learning and success. However, sit down and talk with the most involved students at most institutions and they will tell you that students on their campuses are not involved, especially when it comes to the cocurriculum. I believe that part of the reason for this is the a la carte style menu of involvement choices that most student affairs departments provide for students. By analogy, I wonder how many valuable classes students would fail to take if they were not somehow integrated into a larger academic major or minor? Why should we assume that involvement in the cocurriculum is that much different?
Cocurricular Certificate Programs
I believe that student affairs professionals need to assume leadership in organizing learning opportunities, both in and out of the classroom, into a formal curriculum or certificate program. Broadly speaking, this effort would consist of six steps:
- Identity a certificate program theme or topic such as leadership, health and wellness, or social justice.
- Working with students, faculty, and student affairs professionals, develop a set of learning objectives for the certificate program.
- Map current classroom and cocurricular learning opportunities to the learning objectives.
- Refine the mapped learning opportunities into a formal curriculum - a series of required and elective learning experiences.
- Develop a cohesive assessment plan by which students can document their learning.
- Implement, evaluate, and revise the certificate program.
An Example - The Leadership Certificate
Let me state up front that what I present here is a somewhat utopian picture of the development process. For example, I simply assume support from institutional leaders, that a committed team is in place, and that others across campus will gladly volunteer their time to help with the planning. Further, what I describe as the work of a single meeting below might require multiple meetings. This said, I believe this description provides a solid overview of the six steps of the process.
Certificate Program Theme In this case, the program theme is leadership, an area that is somewhat intuitive for student affairs professionals. I list a number of other example programs below.
Learning Objectives
In the first planning meeting, a core team of interested students, faculty, and student affairs professionals will develop learning objectives for the program. As a structure for the objectives, the team might elect to use a popular theory such as Helen Astin's leadership for social change model or Peter Senge's designer, teacher, steward model. For this example, assume that the team decided to develop its own set of objectives using the know and do exercise. After completing the exercise, the team settled on learning objectives addressing the following:
- Leadership and management theory
- Oral and written communication
- Teamwork
- Political savvy
- Ethics
After developing the learning objectives, this core team will identify additional individuals on campus who may be willing to participate in a one-time planning committee meeting - these should be people who have interest or expertise related to this set of learning objectives. Mapping Learning Opportunities
In the second meeting, the larger planning committee will break into five groups, one for each objective. Each groups will work through four tasks, which they summarize on newsprint:
- Review the school catalog to map classes that might fit with the learning objective - these classes should represent a broad set of academic disciplines;
- Review the campus cocurricular calendar to map activities to their learning objective;
- Brainstorm additional learning opportunities available to students - community service, internships, leadership roles on campus, etc.;
- Brainstorm a list of new cocurricular activities that the institution may need to develop for this certificate program.
Toward the end of the this meeting, each group will present its four summaries to the rest of the group and solicit feedback. After the meeting, the core team will assign homework, breaking down the larger task of gathering information about the suggested classes, cocurricular activities, etc. into manageable chunks. Develop the Curriculum
In the third meeting, the core team will first divide the multiple learning opportunities from the last meeting into three groups: those that should be required, those that should be offered as electives, and those that should not be a part of the certificate program. This process is easier said than done, and it will obviously require some careful negotiations, but the final product should include the following:
- A set of required courses and cocurricullar activities that all certificate program students must complete; and
- A set of elective courses and cocurricular activities (e.g. students must complete 2 of the following courses, attend 6 of the following 12 workshops or events, and participate in one of the following leadership roles).
The core team might also develop a process by which students can petition to add a learning activity not listed in the curriculum - the student would need to demonstrate how the learning outcomes for this activity fit with the learning objectives of the certificate program. The Assessment Plan
As I've described this program, I might recommend a two-prong assessment strategy. For the first prong, the core team would work with the faculty and staff involved to ensure that every class and cocurricular activity in the program has clearly stated learning outcomes coupled with appropriate group-level assessment strategies. For classes, the learning outcomes will mostly like come from the course syllabi and the assessments will likely come in the form of course assignments. For the cocurricular activities, core team members will work with students affairs practitioners to develop learning outcomes and match them with appropriate assessment tools (see year two of the design and implementation model). Ideally, each student affairs professionals will write a cocurricular lesson plan for each program in the certificate program.
The second prong of the assessment strategy will enable students to document their own learning with the use of a portfolio. At a small institution, students might present or defend their portfolio during their senior year in front of a panel of faculty and student affairs professionals. At a larger institution, this final defense might come in the form of a poster presentation. To expand on this idea briefly, the process might entail the following:
- An orientation workshop for students in the certificate program. As a result of participating in this workshop, students will be able to list the five broad learning objectives of the certificate program and identify multiple examples of evidence that they could collect to demonstrate their own learning (course projects, photos documenting workshop attendance, a copy of a budget for a program they developed, etc.).
- An advising system through which students can connect with student affairs professionals or faculty involved with the program for guidance and mentoring.
- A preparation workshop for seniors that helps them to organize their evidence of learning into a poster (or a PowerPoint presentation, website, three-ring portfolio, etc.).
- A poster session in which seniors present their poster or portfolio to peers and a panel of faculty and staff. This poster session should include special recognition for all participants, and it might include an awards ceremony to recognize exemplary portfolios.
Implementation, Evaluation, and Revision
Once designed, the core team would need to work with faculty, advisors, admissions counselors, etc. to recruit participants. As this program is a significant endeavor, the core team should plan a broad evaluation process that addresses student learning, student satisfaction, participation, program costs, etc. This evaluation process should result in important revisions and improvements for the program, changes that will help future teams to develop new certificate programs such as the following:
- Marketing and Communications - This certificate might include classes in communication, marketing, graphic design, etc. as well as involvement with the student newspaper, the yearbook, or a campus radio station; it might also involve doing publicity work for student clubs, campus choirs, athletic teams, etc.
- Social Justice - Students completing this certificate might engage in community service, promoting ethnic organizations on campus, or organizing ethnic heritage months; courses might include introductory classes in ethnic studies, women's studies, GLBT studies, or in multicultural education.
- Fine Arts - This certificate would include a broad set of classes and cocurricular activities in music and drama; these students might also help to organize concerts, dances, guest speakers, etc.
- Health and Wellness - Students completing this certificate might be active in intramural athletics and in providing health and wellness programs for students in the residence halls; these students might complete courses in exercise and sport science, kinesiology, or first aid.
- Student Support and Advocacy - Students completing this certificate might serve as student advisors, orientation leaders, or resident assistants, and they could also participate in advocacy programs for gays and lesbian students or for victims of sexual violence. They might complete introductory courses in counseling, public policy, and sociology.
Collaboration With Faculty
Student affairs professionals often fail in their efforts to build academic partnerships because they ask faculty to participate in student affairs style roles. While there are a number of faculty members who enjoy rolling up their sleeves and engaging with students in lively learning activities, most faculty members are not at their best in these situations. One of the strengths of the cocurricular certificate program approach is that it engages faculty in collaborative efforts where they can do what they do best. Note the following opportunities for collaboration with faculty:
- Developing Learning Objectives - Faculty draw upon their expertise in a discipline in this process, especially when it comes to certificate programs that align well with specific disciplines (e.g. communication, fine arts, health and wellness, etc.).
- Mapping Learning Opportunities to Learning Objectives - Faculty will generally bring a strong knowledge of the learning outcomes for various courses in their discipline, thus mapping courses to the learning objectives draws upon faculty expertise. It does not hurt that faculty have an opportunity to observe student affairs professionals doing the same thing with the cocurriculum in the mapping process.
- Developing the Curriculum - Cocurricular certificate programs may increase enrollment in some classes. For example, many of the students who complete a fine arts certificate will likely be fine arts majors and minors who would already have to complete these courses. That said, there might also be some business or education majors who have an interest in the certificate program, and thus the required classes.
- Promoting Student Involvement - Faculty are not often willing to encourage students to participate in cocurricular activities. However, faculty might be much more willing to encourage students to participate in cocurricular certificate programs that compliment the learning objectives of majors or minors in their discipline.
- Student Capstones - Faculty members are often uncomfortable when asked to serve as a judge or on a review panel for a fashion show or a lip sinc contest, but serving as a judge or on a review panel for seniors presenting posters or portfolios would naturally draw upon their areas of expertise.
In addition to drawing upon faculty expertise when asking for their participation, there is a great opportunity in this process for student affairs professionals to demonstrate their role as educators to the faculty. Two examples stand out:
- Participating student affairs professionals will develop clear and measurable learning outcomes for each of the programs that is a part of the overall certificate. Ideally, this is an opportunity for student affairs professionals to develop cocurricular lesson plans that they can share with faculty.
- When developing new cocurricular activities, students affairs professionals will be able to begin with learning objectives, and even with classroom learning activities. Thus, student affairs professionals will be able to connect cocurricular activities directly to classroom learning, thus increasing the likelihood that faculty will recognize the educational value of these programs.
A Comment on Distance Education
I believe that the diversity of institutions and institutional missions is a key strength of American higher education. New distance education and for-profit education models fit nicely into this institutional diversity and, in many cases, this form of education extends access to students who would not otherwise be able to pursue a college degree. Thus, I believe there is an important role for distance education programs in the future of American higher education.
At the same time, I believe that there are a number of students who are electing to commute or utilize distance education for the sake of convenience. These students miss out on important learning opportunities in the cocurriculum. Part of the reason that students have so easily moved off campus is the fact that student affairs professionals have not historically done enough to promote the value of the cocurriculum as a part of the overall learning experience in higher education. Though no panacea, cocurricular certificate programs could be one means of encouraging more students to live on campus.
Student affairs professionals must also do more to consider the needs of non-traditional students - those who commute out of necessity, who balance study with work and family demands, or who must complete a distance education program because of work and family constraints. What are the needs of these students, and how can student affairs professionals move beyond a la carte services to thoughtful, cohesive cocurricular support and involvement opportunities for non-traditional students?
|
|
Contents
|