The Power of Significant Learning during Course Development | Course Design - Faculty Focus

In the certificate programs I manage, we are engaged in the tumultuous whirlwind of complete curriculum overhaul, argues Vicki Caruana, academic program manager and professor at the School of Professional Studies in the City University of New York. 

Photo: Faculty Focus

At times it does appear as if pieces of the puzzle are swirling in the air above our heads like debris caught up in the funnel of a tornado. Instead of worrying that this is all out of our control, I choose to view the process of putting together a meaningful curriculum for our learners as something a little more elegant.

Employing the process of backward design is one crucial component to this endeavor. The other is significant learning. Significant learning (Fink, 2003) presumes that we first desire that what our learners gain is significant, and not insignificant. As current experts in our fields, we are in a unique position to determine what is considered as significant learning in our disciplines. For our purposes, significant learning is not only determined by the faculty, it is determined as well by our accreditors and other agencies within our discipline to which we are accountable. The professionalization of a field depends on a common agreement of what is significant learning.

Significant learning is more than just deciding what types of learning are significant. We must frame this learning in a taxonomy that offers opportunity to reflect on deeper meaning. Fink (2003) proposed a taxonomy of significant learning that honors Bloom’s taxonomy, yet takes it to a higher level. As an educator in a public institution, I see a clear connection to our mission and vision in this taxonomy (see Figure 1)...

Figure 1

Two types of assessment and feedback enhance the quality of learning:

• Forward-looking assessment: Incorporates exercises, questions, and/or problems that create a real-life context for a given issue, problem, or decision to be addressed
• Self-assessment: Creates opportunities for learners to assess their own performance

Coupled with active learning, learner-centered course development is the vehicle for promoting significant learning that is transformational. If you or your colleagues are engaged in any type of course development, consider the tenets of significant learning on which to build.

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Source: Faculty Focus