I'm sure that compared to many of my colleagues, I'm quite late to the task. But now is when I really plan the course revisions I've been intending to make in courses I have taught many times.
I have watched the process become dominated by 21st Century tasks, and I am doing so much more without paper and pencil. I'm revising syllabi and verifying various links, revising my Blackboard sites and Classmate grade book for the new syllabi and class rosters for each course. I'm reviewing the online and digital classroom materials to see which ones require that I build in some revision time as the class dates approach.
Like most faculty, I do use paper in re-evaluating the content and sequence of each course. This involves scratched notes and materials with line-outs dropped into the folders when the courses were offered last. I pull out my paper calendar to scratch in sequencing ideas, but eventually that becomes dense and the arrows moving things around become confusing, so a digital version gets sketched in.
As every teacher knows, building the course is always a struggle with content load and the learning experience itself, and . . . time. Content load isn't just about information retention and skill development - it's always about so much more. I imagine for faculty in most fields, the specific information retained actually is second in the instructional goals on the scale of importance and intention. Often skills are important, particularly at upper division level, but we can never deliver enough information.
So if not just content and skills, what is it really about?
It's about developing a state of mind, an attitude of discovery, an awe about the body of knowledge and hunger for more, and a commitment to real excellence. If the students develop this, the rest surely will follow. These are things that aren't easily reduced to a percentage grade. My difficulty, which I likely share with many faculty, is finding the balance of focus in the course between this developmental aspect and the content. I need to develop enough of a body of knowledge that the student can begin constructing her/his own connections among the elements, and enough skill and foundation of experience for another step in the curriculum. Ideally, I want students to develop the commitment to visualize a complete path - one that challenges them, promotes their growth, and one to which they can commit.
One consistent problem is the student who lacks desire to meet goals that require real investment of effort, often - to be fair - in competition with other personal and educational goals. Or perhaps they lack the foundation for continuing development. It's a problem as old as formal education itself. The grand goal may be desirable but some or many of the steps to achievement are too demanding or distasteful, or their application may seem irrelevant. In such cases, the curriculum certificate or diploma forces the commitment. We do what we can to make it effective and palatable, but in the end students must demonstrate that they have achieved certain skills and knowledge to be awarded something that validates that achievement, i.e. a diploma.
Almost no class ever really achieves all of my goals - which is not to say I haven't had some excellent classes. (If they all were to do so, I would feel I could have reached higher.) But the classes all begin with a commitment and hope and energy to inspire and get people excited about what they are learning. To build a connected body of knowledge and an array of connected skills and perspectives for artists and their audiences.
I think most faculty share these or similar intentions.
[Now, back to prepping the syllabi.]
