I'm excited to release the new fourth edition of my eBook on residential curriculum and curricular approaches, sponsored by Roompact. The content is expanded from the third edition and now includes more visuals and worksheets. It is also now designed in an 8.5 x 11 format. This should make it easier to print, if you... Continue Reading →
Whether you're just starting your journey towards a curricular approach or whether you're looking to improve your current practice, connecting with peer institutions for idea generation, collaboration, and benchmarking can be incredible useful and there are a number of different avenues available to you. One of the easiest places to begin connecting is by attending... Continue Reading →
One of the key features of ACPA’s Institute on the Curricular Approach (formerly the Residential Curriculum Institute) is the “Showcase” sessions. Showcases are presentations from individual schools that have adopted the curricular approach. Functioning similar to case studies, these showcases dive into one institution’s work with the model and the challenges and successes they’ve had along... Continue Reading →
Residential curricula are focused on student learning. Ultimately, curricular approaches primarily concern themselves with what we hope students will know and be able to do once their time with us comes to an end. Community building falls outside the learning-focus of the curriculum but it is critically important for its effectiveness. A switch to a... Continue Reading →
Yes. A curricular approach to student affairs work utilizes the processes and methods of teachers in the classroom and adapts it to the out-of-class setting. Setting learning objectives and planning strategies and engagements with students works regardless of whether they live on campus or not. You may need to think about your curriculum differently, however.... Continue Reading →
Facilitation guides function as the “lesson plans” for delivering educational strategies in a residential curriculum or curricular approach. Facilitation guides are detailed plans that provide all of the information necessary so that anyone with the appropriate level of training and skills could execute the planned strategy. A department or division that has a fully realized a curriculum... Continue Reading →
Developing a residential curriculum or a divisional curricular approach is hard work. It takes time. It can take years to develop a curriculum that you feel is on solid footing and functioning well. The move to a curricular model is not just about identifying objectives, writing facilitation guides, and completing tasks. There is a lot... Continue Reading →
Student affairs divisional curricula often evolve either from "division-to-department" or "department-to-division." In the "division-to-department" approach, a division takes the lead in developing a collective educational priority and set of learning objectives that guide curriculum development at the departmental level. In a "department-to-division" approach, it is often one constituent department that may take the lead and... Continue Reading →
As one of the essential elements of a curricular approach, assessment should occur at all levels of your curriculum. This includes on-the-ground assessment of individual learning activities, but also broader based assessment of overall curriculum effectiveness. One way of achieving this broader-based assessment is to utilize data collection instruments you may already be using and... Continue Reading →
Because a curricular approach is revolutionary as opposed to evolutionary, it is necessary that you think about organizational culture and organizational change processes before undertaking this journey. For many, this shift in approach requires the development of a learning-centric organization. An organization that moves beyond “exposure” through program attendance, and towards “learning” (Kerr & Tweedy,... Continue Reading →
Although each residential curriculum or curricular approach to student life should be contextualized to an institution, there are a number of non-profits and standards bodies within higher education and student affairs that can be useful in the development of learning goals and outcomes. Many of these associations provide sample statements, rubrics and other materials that... Continue Reading →
Moving to a curricular approach calls upon us to become better at assessing student learning. Although it may be common on a campus to have students respond to short surveys providing feedback about a program or service, it is often less common to assess student acquisition of knowledge and skills as a result of an... Continue Reading →
Educational and curricular efforts exist in context. Furthermore, residence life and education departments do not exist on an island. When developing a campus or residential curriculum, it is important to identify partners and stakeholders early on and include them in the curriculum design process. This inclusion can include stages from planning to implementation, and throughout... Continue Reading →
Because developing a residential curriculum entails refocusing your departmental efforts towards student learning, it necessarily follows that you must develop a culture of assessment. A culture of assessment is one in which decisions are data-driven and tested through the design, implementation, and review of assessment measures. As Lakos and Phipps (2004) describe it, a culture of... Continue Reading →
When getting started in developing a curricular approach to student learning outside the classroom, there are a number of different terms and concepts that are used with which one should become familiar. Many of the terms used have been systematized over time, particularly by the faculty of ACPA’s Institute on the Curricular Approach. However, some of... Continue Reading →
When encountering the curricular approach for the first time, many staff may wonder why the approach has gained such currency within student affairs and residence life and what research and data backs up and supports its use. When asking these questions, it is important to understand that the curricular approach is a model of how... Continue Reading →
An important element of developing residential curriculum involves scaffolding and sequencing learning. Rubrics, or tools developed for the purposes of scoring and rating development along a scale, can be useful in this scaffolding and sequencing process. As discussed earlier, residential curriculum rubrics break down learning outcomes into successive stages of development and mastery. Although coming... Continue Reading →
Once you have decided on your educational priority, learning goals, narratives, and learning outcomes, and developed rubrics, it is time to begin putting these educational objectives into action through strategies. Strategies are the vehicles for educational delivery. They can include activities such as programs and events, newsletters, and guided community or individual conversations. Facilitation guides... Continue Reading →
At the most recent Convention of ACPA - College Student Educators International, I had the opportunity to present a PechaKucha-stylepresentation on residential curriculum and curricular approaches to student affairs work. In this video I discuss why we need a curricular approach, how the movement started, what curricular approaches entail, and how we can move this... Continue Reading →
My vantage point at a technology company gives me unique insights into the industry. Given the large number of schools we work with and interact with, we're often able to begin to see trends before others in the field. One thing we have discussed is the increasing use of curricular models by departments of residence... Continue Reading →
In order to be successful, a curriculum must be supported by a robust plan for assessment. This includes assessment at all levels of the curriculum--from educational priority to learning goals and outcomes. When beginning a curriculum, institutions may have a number of broad assessment measures already in place. These could include summative assessments, accomplished through national... Continue Reading →
Because curricula are educational plans, they should be subject to the same peer-review processes as their course-credit-bearing equivalents. The idea of peer-review is borrowed from scholarly circles, whereby communities of scholars engage in self governance and ensure quality and standards are adhered to. The same holds true of a residential curriculum review process. With a... Continue Reading →
Part of developing a curriculum is the realization that educational opportunities need not originate within a residence life program in order to be valuable for residents. If there are experts in a given area on campus, and they already provide educational opportunities and services, why not figure out a way to package, market, and provide... Continue Reading →
Learning does not take place in a vacuum. It takes place in time and space. A well-designed curriculum recognizes that learning is most often a cumulative process. Individuals learn and grow over time. Sometimes they regress and sometimes they make large leaps forward, but the broad arc of learning is progressive over time. To this... Continue Reading →
In residence life and education, student staff members are some of our most important partners in the educational process. They are our front-line on-the-ground staff and are integral to promoting student learning. As peers, student staff members are often best positioned to help their fellow students in ways that professional staff members can't. There are also some roles,... Continue Reading →
We're all familiar with the premise that food is a necessary component of any educational endeavor in the residence halls. Attract residents with pizza and then ambush them with educational content. Although there is nothing wrong with incentivizing participation in an educational activity, the premises behind this mindset are problematic. This approach assumes that the problem with an educational program... Continue Reading →
A well known approach to education in the residence halls is the programming model. Typically, a programming model will involve a menu of different categories that structure and guide programmatic efforts. These categories may be based on a wellness wheel, or they may include broader categories such as "social," "multicultural," or "educational" programming. To fulfill a programming model's requirements, a student staff member... Continue Reading →
Student affairs professionals are educators. College student educators. Although we may not always believe we are, or maybe we are not always perceived to be, we are educators. Education and development is at the core of what we do and what we are trained in. To this end, curriculums should be based in the latest... Continue Reading →
One of the important first steps in developing a curriculum is setting and defining an overall educational priority. An educational priority is the basis upon which all other goals and outcomes are derived. Based in the mission, context, and values of your institution, a priority should provide a broad statement about what learning will be occurring within... Continue Reading →
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