The Faculty of Arts Renewal Strategy
2008
Curriculum Review
From Faculty Executive - May 2008
N.B. This document was passed at the Arts Faculty Board meeting 2/08 on 14 May 2008. As minuted at that meeting, these guidelines apply only to majors taught within the Faculty of Arts, and do not have any bearing on majors taught outside the Faculty (currently majors in Psychology, Geography and Economics). Decisions about these majors will continue to be made by the BA Course Standing Committee after full consultation with all relevant Faculties.
The Arts Curriculum Review (the D'Agostino Report) was released in September 2007 and has been widely discussed within the Faculty over the last few months. The review panel was charged with analysing the strengths and weaknesses of the BA degree with the aim of producing guidelines for a "new generation" version that would conform to the requirements of the Melbourne Model and fulfil the ongoing needs of both staff and students in the Faculty of Arts. The main shortcomings of the heritage BA in this context were the absence of any requirement to complete a major and the accumulation of ever-increasing numbers of subjects within loosely defined study areas. The review accordingly provided definitions of a major, a defence of subject reduction and mechanisms for achieving it, along with establishing criteria of sustainability for major programs in the BA. It also affirmed the principles and practices of both disciplinary and interdisciplinary teaching and learning.
This paper extracts from the D'Agostino report a set of guiding principles for degree structure and curriculum development within the first three years of the new gen BA. It is acknowledged that many programs have championed and already adopted these principles; nevertheless, their full implementation will take considerable further time and effort. All decisions about specific programs and subjects will be left in the hands of the relevant Schools, though they will need to take into account these principles of new gen curriculum design and program sustainability when considering the future of areas of study for which they are responsible. These guidelines will ensure that each program is broadly comparable with all others within the degree.
Mechanisms for supporting and monitoring the health of BA majors are being developed by the Teaching and Learning Committee in consultation with Schools and with the approval of Faculty Board. An audit of all 2009 programs has been prepared, and will be matched against Curriculum Review guidelines when they are approved. These documents will form the basis for discussions between Teaching and Learning committee members and coordinators of majors and/or Heads of Schools, with a view to preparing further course changes for 2009 approval and 2010 implementation, and in the context of teach-out plans for the heritage degree. Finalisation of specific subject offerings may require a longer timeline, and must be undertaken with the needs of students who commenced their BA before 2008 in mind.
The Provost's office has recently announced a Review of Language Programs in the Faculty of Arts, and the application of some of the general recommendations below to specific language programs will need to await the outcome of that Review before being finalised. Hence recommendations marked with an asterisk * will need to be altered or reconfirmed at a later date.
General principles of the new gen BA:
- it will offer a range of programs in the humanities, social sciences and languages that meet the requirements of a broadly-based education;
- it will be benchmarked against the offerings of comparable national and international universities;
- it will consolidate traditional disciplinary knowledge and incorporate cutting edge developments in disciplines and interdisciplinary areas of study;
- it will provide clearly designed pathways to further graduate study and research-based programs and to employment opportunities;
- it will focus on the student experience of learning and on students’ acquisition of generic skills alongside specific subject outcomes;
- it will provide knowledge transfer and academic enrichment opportunities for students in the form of internships, volunteer work, study abroad and exchange programs;
- it will provide access to e-learning opportunities, online resources and a state of the art Learning Management System.
Structure of the new gen B.A.:
- each student will take two Interdisciplinary Foundation subjects at first-year level, one of them in their first semester of study;
- each student will take a total of 75 points of breadth subjects at first, second and third year levels;
- each student will complete 75 points at each year level before progressing to the next year level;
- each student will complete at least one major within their degree;
- minor sequences (25 points at each year level) will be available but not compulsory.
Features of a major:
- Non-language majors will consist of 100 points (8 subjects), including one Interdisciplinary Foundation subject at first year and a compulsory capstone at third year, so that students choose one discipline-based subject at first-year level, three discipline-based subjects at second-year level and two discipline-based subjects plus capstone at third-year level;
- * language majors will consist of two discipline-based subjects at first-year level, three at second-year level and three at third-year level with no specified capstone;
- the first-year program as a whole must provide and articulate a basis for subsequent study; some programs may wish to consider general or IDF (rather than discipline-specific) prerequisites for second year study;
- each major will provide a sequential program of study over three years, such that each year builds on the preceding one;
- disciplinary majors will offer a coherent program of study, explicable in relation to internationally-recognisable understandings of the discipline and defensible in terms of coverage of subject matter and methodologies;
- interdisciplinary majors will need to provide some core subjects as well as a program-specific capstone, and will not merely consist of cross-listed optional subjects;
- * a compulsory capstone subject at third year will consolidate students’ experiences of the discipline and open up employment, research or graduate study pathways;
- a student’s experience of the major must be managed so that they can make informed choices among the subjects on offer and find a clear pathway through it towards clearly-designated outcomes;
- the major will explicitly prepare its students for employment or further study in research and/or vocational programs;
- staff in the program will work cooperatively in the design and delivery of the whole program, and in team teaching within individual subjects.
Administration of a major:
- all majors will appoint an academic coordinator, who will be a senior member of staff with responsibility for the academic content and delivery of the program, and for consulting and coordinating all staff teaching into the major. They will also be responsible for organising the promotion of the major to students and prospective students through publications, talks and course advice;
- all majors (or groups of majors where appropriate) will be represented on a Faculty Board of Studies with membership from academic, professional, community and student interests as appropriate;
- the Faculty and its Schools, in the first instance through the Arts and Music Student Centre, must offer clear and consistent course advice to students and ensure the availability and functionality of an effective Learning Management System and Student Information System.
Consequences:
- * each major will offer a limited number of subjects while maintaining the principle of student choice: the suggested maximum is two at first-year level, and between five and six at each of second and third year levels;
- * + no subject will be offered at more than one year level (unless there are exceptional and demonstrable pedagogical reasons for doing so);
- * + subjects with small enrolments on an ongoing basis will be discontinued (unless there are exceptional and demonstrable pedagogical reasons for maintaining them and they can be adequately resourced or cross-subsidised);
- curriculum design and subject delivery will be a joint responsibility of all members of a program, so that each program is able to offer its major on a consistent annual basis;
- extensive cross-listing cannot be used as the sole means of maintaining a major, as each major must be substantially different from all others, and must have a unique capstone;
- * + where a major is constructed around core and optional subjects, cross-listing is appropriate for optional subjects. Subjects will not be offered as "core" in more than one major unless in exceptional and demonstrable circumstances;
- Schools are responsible for monitoring programs that are considered vulnerable according to the sustainability criteria identified in the D'Agostino report. Plans should be put in place for managing and resourcing, or reforming, such programs;
- the reorganisation of the first three years of the undergraduate degree is expected to provide increased opportunities for specialist teaching at levels four and five.
* - indicates that the relevance of this proposition to language-acquisition programs will be reconsidered after the Review of Language Programs has been completed.
+ "exceptional and demonstrable circumstances" will be defined after further consultation with relevant programs.