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Final Reflection on Curriculum in Higher Education


Samantha M. Ng
Loyola University Chicago

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As a second-year graduate student in Loyola University Chicagos (LUC) M.Ed. Higher
Education program, I had already heard many different opinions about the Curriculum in Higher
Education course from past students. I was told that it was the most challenging course they had
ever taken as part of the program, in terms of work and content. They also said that the workload
was extremely frontloaded and that I will have many sleepless nights. So, why did I choose to
enroll in this course during my last and busiest semester of the program, on top of 45 hours of
part-time jobs and internships, and various other commitments? Because I knew that this course
would change my perspective about learning and education. As an individual who hopes to work
with students in the higher education system, helping them develop personally and academically,
I knew that this course would provide me with the foundational knowledge needed to provide
successful learning environments for my students. While it is true this course was challenging in
many ways, I believe the knowledge I gained as a result of this course will be utilized in any
setting my career takes me. Most of all, this course has only affirmed my belief that I am an
educator.
My Philosophy of Curriculum Development
Prior to entering this course, I was unaware of what it meant to design a curriculum. My
only knowledge of curriculum based was on my experiences as a student in college and as an
advisor for the study abroad office at LUC. However, I learned that curriculum design is
intricate and extremely intentional. I have come to understand that curriculum development is a
long and laborious task that needs to be taken seriously in order to create significant learning
experiences for students.
One of the first ideas that resonated with me about curriculum development is the
argument that learning needs to be outcomes-centered, rather than content-based. This is

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something I had to really reinforce in my mind because our school systems are so used to being
content-based. Too often in my public education and introduction college courses was my
learning based off of textbooks or lectures, and then regurgitating the information. However,
according to Nilson (2010), outcomes-centered course design guarantees a high level of student
engagement because the process steers you toward student-active teaching strategies (p. 18).
Furthermore, Fink (2003) argued that significant learning, makes a difference in how people
liveand the kind of life they are capable of livingwe want it to increase their capability for
living life fully and meaningfully (p. 7). In my curriculum design philosophy, I have come to
believe that learning must be intentional and outcomes based. Additionally, in the concept of
outcomes-based learning, I also realized that learning is more important than teaching. The
students and their experiences are more important than what activities and assessments I want to
accomplish in a course.
Connections throughout the Course
Through all of our assignments and learning activities from this course, I have learned the
importance of significant learning experiences. But most of all, I have learned that learning does
not only happen in the classroom or just on our campuses. Case Study #2, in which we
examined different service-learning programs, exemplified this concept for me. Prior to taking
this course, I thought of curriculum only in the classroom setting. However, I have come to
realize that learning happens through service-learning, internships, study abroad, research, and
more. This has also become evident to me in the Marquette Module project. It was important
that although the sessions we created for our Marquette partners were intended to provide
professional development for student workers, we also needed to created significant learning

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experiences for them. In the future, I know that while I do not plan on teaching in a classroom, it
is still important that I create the significant learning experiences in all of my work with students.
Situational factors have also played an important factor throughout our courses.
According to Fink (2003), it is important that when we are designing our courses, we consider
the environment we are teaching in and who are our students. This was evident in our course
syllabus assignment. It was important to consider what levels my students would be, what kind
of intuition I was teaching at, and how often my class would meet every week. In our Marquette
module, we also had to take into account that student workers ranged from first years to seniors,
came from the suburbs, and only had 50 minutes per session. All of these different situational
factors definitely play a role in the design of a course and should really provide the facilitator
with knowledge basis of how to approach the students.
Connections to outside the Course
One of the reasons I chose to enroll in Curriculum in Higher Education was because I
wanted to provide impactful programs for students in my future work. Prior to learning about
Fink (2003) and integrated course design, I would typically plan a program based on what I
knew would work logistically and what I thought the students wanted. However, as a result of
this course, I have been more intentional in considering what I want the students to learn the
most from my program. For example, I started the Global Mentorship Program at my graduate
assistantship in Loyolas Office for International Programs in the fall 2015. This program would
group international students with domestic students in order to create cross-cultural relationships.
I knew exactly how I wanted to the program to look like and what components were needed for it
to run smoothly. However, I failed to look at what I wanted the students to gain from
participating in this program. If I had learned about Fink (2003) and learning outcomes prior to

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developing this program, I would have been more intentional in backward designby thinking
about what I want the students to learn and creating objectives first.
Learning about curriculum development also has made me become more of a critical
learner in my classes. I have taken a few courses throughout my time as an undergraduate
student and at LUC that I found were very much audit-ive (Fink, 2003, p. 91). In these
courses, a lot of the learning was based on sitting in the classroom and listening to lectures.
Then, for assessments, we had to memorize the information and spit it back out for an exam.
However, for the most part most of my courses have been significant learning experiences at
LUC. When reflecting back on my past courses, I can see where the instructors were intentional
on creating different learning activities, assessments, and feedback opportunities. For example,
with all of my courses with Dr. Bridget Kelly, which included the Social Justice for Higher
Education, Student Development Theory, and Internship, she has the class submit mid-semester
assessment forms. Prior to this course, I did not understand the purpose of these check-ins the in
the middle of the semester. However, I have learned the importance of self-assessment and
feedback. The mid-semester forms allowed us as students to reflect on the semester, and to see
where our strengths lie and where we need to improve. Other courses in the program have also
provided for creative learning activities. For example, in my Leadership course with Dr. Aurelio
Valente, we were assigned to use Twitter throughout the semester in order to reflect on our
everyday leadership and class readings. This assignment taught me that learning can be done
unconventionally. As a result of this course, I have been able to recognize significant and
insignificant learning experiences, which will be an important skill for my work.
My Strengths & Weaknesses

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As I previously mentioned, this course was extremely challenging for mebut I believed
I learned the most from this course out of all of the courses in this M.Ed. program. I learned so
much about learning and creating meaningful experiences for students. I found that in my
assignments, one of my greatest strengths was the ability to think creatively. This is evident in
the assignment in which we were tasked with designing our own course syllabus and the
Marquette module. For my course syllabus, I chose to design a study abroad course set in Hong
Kong, teaching students about the culture and history of their host country. I found it most
enjoyable creating the learning activities, which included weekly field trips, a local buddy
program, and a neighborhood video project. For the Marquette project, I was also able to design
creative sessions for the student workers that integrated professional development and social
justice. The ability to apply creative ideas was a surprising outcome from this course.
Another strength of mine is the capability to collaborate with others. This is evident from
our final Marquette University Module project. The project was extremely difficult, and required
great teamwork and communication skills. While in the past, I have worked on many different
group projects, this is the first time I have worked with a group on an assignment for this amount
of time. The project lasted almost the span of two months, and required a lot of back and forth
with the university partners and our group members. Like all group projects, it was extremely
difficult to find times where we were all available to meet and we all also had strong ideas about
the project that were sometimes conflicting with each other. For this project, I was required to
do a lot more negotiating and compromising than I have ever before. However, this challenging
experience has taught me more about group dynamics and teamwork. In the end, I believe I was
able to work well with my team and we were able to create a successful module for our
university partners.

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This course revealed to me some of my weaknesses, as well. I found that while creating
learning activities was one of my greatest strengths, it was also evident that I sometimes
overlooked the bigger picture. This was especially apparent when I would create the learning
outcomes for the syllabus assignment. With the integrated course design model, it is important
to first create the learning outcomes in order to create an effective outcomes-centered course.
However, it was difficult for me to not just jump into the small details of my course, including
the learning activities and assessments. I found that I had to start over a few times because I
would get too excited about creating the activities and assessments that I would forget to refer
back to my learning outcomes. I had to remember to always go back to the learning outcomes
and make sure that my activities and assessments were being met by the outcomes.
The process of drafting the learning outcomes was also a difficult task for me in this
course. Creating learning outcomes that were measureable, meaningful, and observable was
more challenging than I expected. When we work-shopped our course syllabus and Marquette
Modules learning outcomes, I found that what I thought was clear and made sense to me, often
times did not make sense to my peers. I know that I will continue working and honing on this
skill after this course ends because I understand the important role learning outcomes play.
Themes from my Learning
One of the themes that emerged from my learning in this course that my learning is
constant. While I am completing my degree at LUC, I have come to understand that my learning
does not end when I walk across the stage in my cap and gown. When we discussed in class
Michelangelos quote, I am still learning, I was truly impacted by this thought. It has
reminded me that I do not want to be an expert in anything and to stay humble. As a young
professional, I know that I have a lot to learn. However, I also want to ensure that when I am a

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senior level professional that I remember I can still learn more. It can be easy for individuals to
forget this concept when they have many, many years of experience under their belt.
Nonetheless, I will make sure that I stay humble in my knowledge and recognize the importance
of constant learning.
Furthermore, another theme that has emerged is self-efficacy. Like I previously
mentioned, this course was challenging in many ways. Although I taught English for two years
before starting my degree at LUC, I was not confident in my ability to create significant learning
experiences and designing courses. The course syllabus assignment in which we had to create
our own curriculum for a course of our choice was especially nerve-racking. The Marquette
Module was daunting, as well because we had to create sessions with minimal information. I did
not see myself as a teacher and doubted my abilities. However, upon completing this course, I
have come to realize that I am an educator. As a student affairs professional, I can create
significant learning experiences for my students outside of the classroom by being intentional,
thoughtful, and creative.

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References
Fink, L. D. (2003). Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to
developing college courses. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Nielson, L. B. (2010). Teaching at Its best: A Research-Based Resource for College Instructors.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

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