1. ASCE Structures Congress- Austin, Texas
Special Session on Education Reform
Reflections on the Role of Attitudes
in Curriculum Reform: UBC Civil Engineering
C. Bazett1, T. Froese2, B. Lence3, S. Nesbit4, J. Sibley5, R. Vaziri6, C. Ventura2
University of British Columbia
1 Curriculum Redevelopment Associate
2 Professor
3 Associate Head & Professor
4 Senior Instructor
5 Director- Center for Instructional Support
6 Department Head & Professor
3. Timeline of Curriculum Redevelopment at UBC Continued…
PHASE 1- IDENTIFY PROGRAM LEVEL OUTCOMES
Today
4. Curriculum Redevelopment at UBC: a simplified framework
Phase 1
Identify Program Level Outcomes
Phase 2
Group Planning & Vertical
Integration
Phase 3
Horizontal Integration &
Resource Analysis
Phase 4
Implementation Round 1
5. Attitudes…
are “the ways in which one thinks and feels in response to a
fact or situation.” -Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge
directly influence behavior as well as learning.
that are negative can pose significant challenges to curriculum
reform efforts, or they can be process drivers.
Constructive attitudes reinforce the ideal curriculum reform climate,
a “curriculum community that is informed by the scholarly literature
and best learning-centered practices, and that is data-driven and
responsive in the broad context of UBC Civil Engineering.”
-Harry Hubball
6. A Changing Climate for Curriculum Reform
Evidence of constructive attitudes…
At the Global and Institutional Level
•Accreditation boards (CEAB, ABET) emphasizing learning-centered curricula
•Recognition of the new demands on Civil Engineers in the 21st Century
•New dialogue among academia & industry about responsibility for formal education
•Growing influence of UBC’s resource centers (CWSEI, TAG, ISC)
•UBC’s vision document (TREK 2010)
•UBC’s hiring of Carl Wieman and other respected scholars on pedagogy/curriculum
Harry Hubball Gary Poole Jim Sibley
Department of Curriculum Center for Teaching and Center for
and Pedagogy Academic Growth Instructional Support
7. A Changing Climate for Curriculum Reform
Evidence of constructive attitudes…
At the Department Level
•New department strategic vision
- new administration
- shift in demographics
- teaching release, full-time associate for curriculum reform
•Provision of new facilities in support of team-based learning (Design Studio)
•Development of second and fourth year design courses
At the Student Level
•Confronted with a more complex world, students demand more
•Diverse backgrounds and educational experiences diverse expectations
8. Challenges to Curriculum Reform
Evidence of destructive attitudes…
At the Global and Institutional Level
•Lack of consensus among academics and industry about the
role each plays in the formal education process
•Lack of incentive for quality teaching (‘publish or perish’ attitude)
At the Department Level
•‘I’m the expert’ attitude- Perceptions about the value of pedagogy
Affects
buy-in •“I’m no expert!”- Fears of being ill-equipped to change teaching style
•‘Content is king’ attitude- Tradition of attitude persists
At the Student Level
•Alternative teaching styles may be threatening to students
9. A Model for Behavior Change: Addressing Faculty Buy-in
The Theory of Planned Behavior -Icek Aizen
Any behavior change involves an individual’s attitudes, subjective norms,
and perceived behavioral control.
Corollary: Individuals will be more likely to buy-in to the
curriculum reform process if they believe…
• it will actually lead to changes in the CE curriculum (beliefs about outcomes)
• their participation will aid in the process
• changes to the curriculum are positive and necessary (evaluations of outcomes)
• their colleagues believe they should participate (normative beliefs)
• they want to do what their colleagues want them to do (motivations to comply)
• they will be able to commit to/ perform the changes required
10. A Closer Look at Student Attitudes About the Program
Capstone Design Course Reading Reflections
Students offered recommendations to address the
most commonly unmet attitudes:
Confidence
•More case studies highlighting the differing needs
and views of stakeholders
Consideration of others
•Speaking opportunities
•participatory classes
•Smaller classes
•Stronger professor relationships
Entrepreneurship
•More guest speakers talking about entrepreneurship
•Mandatory business course
11. A Closer Look at Student Attitudes about the Program
Student Engagement Survey Results (Sample)
3.0
2.8
2.6
Degree of Development
1. Are constructive attitudes 2.4
2.2 2nd years
degrading as students move 2.0 3rd years
4th years
1.8
through the degree? 1.6
1.4
1.2
1.0
Sustainability Globalization Leadership Lifelong learning
5
4.5
2. Why do students have 4
Level of Support
3.5
negative attitudes towards 3
2.5
RAP experiences (team-based 2
1.5
learning)?
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3. Do students automatically discount learning
experiences that they cannot immediately see as relevant?
12. A Closer Look at Student Attitudes about the Profession
Attitudinal Survey Results (Sample)
(2007/ 2008)
13. Conclusions
• Attitudes play an essential role in curriculum reform, influencing
Faculty and student behavior and learning
Implications from student survey results:
•attitudes may not be readily apparent to Faculty (RAP)
•negative attitudes may be unintentionally reinforced
•attitudes may be positively influenced by new course designs
• Behavioral change (buy-in) is affected by attitudes, subjective norms,
and perceived behavioral control
•Considering all three helps create the ideal ‘curriculum climate’
• Further research on student attitudes is required to inform the
structure and experiences of a new curriculum that supports
both cognitive and affective development.
Editor's Notes
Main Idea: Curriculum Reform, by its very nature, is about reflection. Departments must reflect on the existing curriculum, on their role within a wider community, on their philosophies about teaching and learning, on their defining characteristics, on the desirable qualities of their graduates, etc. On this occasion of reflection, the Curriculum Redevelopment Committee at UBC considered the important role of attitudes in the process of Curriculum Reform.
Main Idea: Before moving on, let me provide some context in the form of curriculum reform milestones that have taken place in the past at the Department. Activities have been sustained over the years, but until recently was being led, and in many cases executed, by one person, on the side of their desks.
Main Idea: Starting this year with the formation of a Curriculum Redevelopment Committee, a teaching release, and a full-time associate, the activity level on the project has increased significantly. This slide shows some of the milestones that have occurred this year as well as many more that are on the horizon. They comprise the strategic plan for our curriculum redevelopment process, which we hope will affect change starting in September of 2010.
Main Idea: This flowchart shows a simplified framework of our Curriculum Redevelopment process. In Phase 1, the stage in which we currently find ourselves, we are identifying program level learning outcomes and desirable educational experiences by engaging several stakeholder groups. In Phase 2, several teams representing the Civil sub-disciplines will plan improvements to their streams by vertically integrating content, attributes, and experiences, working from the existing curriculum map. Phase 3 will involve horizontal integration of the target streams, as well as development of a final curriculum map based on the resources available. Phase 4 represents the first phase of the implementation and monitoring plan.
Main Idea: Now that you have an idea of our history and process, let’s return to our theme on attitudes. This slide attempts to answer the question, “What are attitudes, and why are they important in Curriculum Reform?” The paragraph at the bottom of the slide indicates how attitudes relate to our mantra, provided to us by our industry expert, Harry Hubball. Examples of behavior: Faculty buy-in, a student’s professional decisions Examples of learning: Faculty understanding of curriculum redevelopment, student comprehension of content
Main Idea: In our reflections, the committee identified evidence of drivers, or constructive attitudes, that have contributed to a changing climate for Curriculum Reform. These drivers exist on multiple levels: Global/Institutional, Departmental, and Student Level. TREK 2010 Quotes: “ The University of British Columbia will provide its students, faculty, and staff with the best possible resources and conditions for learning and research, and create a working environment dedicated to excellence, equity, and mutual respect.” The graduates of UBC will have developed strong analytical, problem-solving and critical thinking abilities; they will have excellent research and communication skills; they will be knowledgeable, flexible, and innovative.
Main Idea: Drivers, or constructive attitudes, at the Department and Student Levels. The photographs along the bottom of the slide show how the Design Studio supports team-based learning.
Main Idea: The process of Curriculum Reform is also challenged by destructive attitudes, evidence of which is provided on this slide. These are the hurdles that we will need to address and overcome moving forward.
Main Idea: Of the several challenges identified on the previous slide, the committee saw Faculty buy-in as a particularly important challenge to address moving forward. It is perhaps useful to reference the Theory of Planned Behavior when developing strategies to gain a critical mass of buy-in. The theory states that behavioral change (to buy-in or not) is influenced by more than just attitudes. It is also affected by subjective norms and perceived behavioral control. Subjective norms are what a person believes others think they should do (what do my colleagues think I should do?). Perceived behavioral control is the confidence a person has in their ability to perform successfully the actions contemplated (the responsibilities and commitments of buy-in). The six points under the corollary illustrate how the theory of planned behavior applies to Curriculum Reform.
Main Idea: Now that we have provided a background in constructive and destructive attitudes at various levels and the ways in which attitudes influence behavioral change, let’s examine how our committee is exploring attitudes on a more detailed level. Much of this work so far has focused on trying to measure the attitudes students have about the existing Civil Engineering program and about the profession. The Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge for the 21 st Century justifies this priority: “ Absent a proactive effort at the university level, many civil engineering students and young engineers are not likely to acquire [constructive] attitudes—or worse, are likely to acquire negative attitudes.” –Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge CIVL 445: The following assignment was given to a class of 4th year capstone design course students in April 2008: “Make a curriculum change suggestion as to how to teach one of the attitudes suggested in the Body of Knowledge” report. 15 BOK Attitudes Commitment Confidence Consideration of others Curiosity Entrepreneurship Fairness High expectations Honesty Integrity Intuition Judgment Optimism Persistence Positivity Respect Self esteem Sensitivity Respect Self esteem Sensitivity Thoughtfulness Thoroughness Tolerance
Main Idea: Earlier this month, a student engagement survey was administered to 2 nd , 3 rd , and 4 th year students in the Civil Engineering program. The goal was to obtain feedback from students about a variety of issues: strengths and weaknesses of the program, recommendations for addressing the weaknesses, levels of support for currently utilized learning experiences and proposed curriculum changes, degree to which the program developed the BOK competencies. Although not explicitly designed to measure student attitudes, they were nonetheless captured in the data, stimulating important attitudinal questions for further consideration. Question 1. “The what”. The 4 competencies singled out are closely related to attitudes. It remains to be seen whether the responses of 2 nd and 3 rd year students are inflated by the offering of CIVL 201/202, or whether student attitudes do degrade as they progress through the degree (more about this on the next slide). Question 2. “The How” Question 3. Comes from the following data: 25% of students responded that the program lacked the flexibility to allow them to pursue personal interests 30% of second year students did not see the usefulness of the material they were learning (Polytechnic student attitude?)
Attitudinal Survey: This survey attempts to measure student attitudes about the Civil Engineering profession and the influence of innovative coursework (Community Service Learning) on these attitudes. Students are asked to indicate the direction and intensity of their agreement with a series of strategically-designed statements. The diagram on this slide compares the responses of 3 cohorts of students to one of the survey statements. The 2 nd year students after taking the course were most likely to strongly agree, followed by 2 nd year students before taking the course and finally 4 th year students who did not take the course. The purple (2 nd years) and turquoise (4 th years) bars, both indicating students who have not taken the course, hint at the possibility that student attitudes have degraded. Future Work: Acquire more longitudinal study data (in particular, survey 4 th year students who have taken the course), Validate survey questions (are they understood, how would an expert respond?)
Main Idea: Today’s presentation has focused on the importance of attitudes not only in establishing and sustaining momentum for a curriculum reform process (buy-in), but also in the product of this process, a revised curriculum that reinforces constructive attitudes necessary for learning and thriving as a professional engineer. Continuing work through student surveys and interviews will help galvanize the particular attitudes that our educational process is reinforcing or lacking, and highlight the potential for innovative courses to influence them. All of this will contribute to a new curriculum supportive of both cognitive and affective development.