Mini workshop - Aligning content, assessment, and pedagogy in the design of engineering courses

The purpose of this workshop is to introduce participants to the integration and alignment of content (or curriculum), assessment, and pedagogy (or instruction) for learning module, course, and program design and provide some essential methods for designing courses and curricula in this way. Rather than treat each of these areas separately, this workshop strives to help participants consider all three elements together in a systematic way. The workshop framing is an engineering design approach, that is to say, it begins with requirements or specifications, emphasizes metrics, and then evolves into preparation of prototypes that meet the requirements. Participants interested in developing rationale, and learning and practicing a model of how to align course content with assessment and pedagogy that they can use to inform the design or re-design of engineering courses are encouraged to attend. Index Terms – Assessment, Curriculum alignment, Instruction, Pedagogy. MINI-WORKSHOP OVERVIEW Utilizing concepts described in Pellegrino’s “Rethinking and redesigning curriculum, instruction and assessment: What contemporary research and theory suggests” (2006), and embracing engineering professor Jim Duderstadt’s argument that “faculty members of the twenty-first century college or university will find it necessary to set aside their roles as teachers and instead become designers of learning experiences, processes, and environments.” (2008), this workshop will engage participants by introducing the integration and alignment of content, assessment and pedagogy for learning module, course, or program design. MINI-WORKSHOP OUTCOMES The desired outcomes for this workshop revolve around four primary objectives. The first objective is for workshop participants to develop and articulate an integrated design approach for content, assessment and pedagogy. Secondly, participants will be able to critically describe the researchbased features of each of the design elements – content, assessment, and pedagogy. Third, participants will have an opportunity to apply the principles and theories to the design of a course, module, lesson plan, or other instructional setting. Finally, the workshop will use reflection and dialogue as a tool of self-discovery for shaping and refining personal philosophies for the design of instruction. MINI-WORKSHOP ACTIVITIES AND ORGANIZATION To accomplish the desired outcomes, workshop activities will involve the following:  Exploration of content, assessment and pedagogy – via presentation, handouts and print resources – and through reflection, writing and dialogue.  Reflection on and discussion of the integration of content, assessment and pedagogy.  Initiation of a preliminary curriculum design project for a class session, learning module, laboratory session, etc. The workshop is organized into three sections: 1. Overview and Framing: The “big picture” of the workshop based on Pellegrino (2006), Wiggins and McTighe (1998), Pellegrino, Chudowsky, and Glaser (2001), and Svinicki (2004). 2. Synthesis: Demonstration of a curriculum project – designing an entrepreneurship course for engineers. Application: Participants begin to apply the model to their own curriculum design projects.