Access to the Future Fund - An Innovation Fund Project

Project Goal: Design, develop, and evaluate a Curriculum Commons Model that will have broad application for the Alberta post-secondary system.

Access to the Future Fund - An Innovation Fund Project

Background• Brokering presents development cost issues for

the host institution and delivery issues for the receiving institution(s).

• The goal of the project partners, who are presently brokering the Practical Nurse curriculum, is to develop and field test a new co-ownership Curriculum Commons Model and Toolkit.

• Unnecessary duplication of curriculum development is inefficient.

Curriculum Commons Modelin Concept

• Collaborative process• Multiple users of a co-owned common

curriculum• Increase learner access without limiting

institution’s ability to control the delivery and services associated with the program

• The Curriculum Commons Model can be used with any viable curriculum, and in various academic disciplines and geographic locations.

Curriculum Commons Project Conceptual Framework

Common Curriculum

Model and Toolkit

Lakeland College

NorQuest College

Keyano College

Northern Lakes

College

Overall Purpose of the Project• To assist Alberta post-secondary institutions

in collaborative curriculum development, maintenance and implementation

Goals of the Project• Increase program quality• Increase learner access• Improve program articulation/transfer

agreements leading to improved transfer and laddering opportunities, and increased learner satisfaction

• Reduce negotiation over program credits and brokering

• Increase cost-effectiveness of curriculum development

• Provide information to policy-makers and stakeholders

• Create a sustainable and replicable model that facilitates collaboration and articulation between institutions

Alignment with Alberta Advanced Education and Technology

Roles and Mandates Policy Framework for Alberta’s Publicly Funded Advanced Education System (November 2007)

Excerpts……principles for advanced education system partners,

who are called upon to be accountable, collaborative, responsive, sustainable, and effective in the use of resources… (p. 2)

…collaboration among system partners…curriculum, or delivery opportunities enhanced through the leveraging of technology (p. 6)

…and that funding models should provide incentives for collaboration and allow institutions to respond to provincial and regional needs (p. 6)

…key considerations…integrated and collaborative approach to delivery (p. 12)

The project meets all the policy outcomes outlined inA Learning Alberta (May 2006):

• Enables institutions to respond effectively to the choices and aspirations of learners in their communities

• Provide consistent and high quality programming in diverse communities

• Provide improved curricula . . . permitting institutions to adapt high quality programming to diverse needs, despite cultural or geographic limitations

• Supports institutional autonomy, allowing institutions to modify and redirect services to diverse learners

• Expands body of knowledge in the areas of curriculum collaboration and sustainability

• Contributes to development of seamless post-secondary system in Alberta

Alignment with Alberta Advanced Education and Technology

Curriculum Commons ModelA Two-Year Project

Year One(September 2008 to June 2009)

• Research best practices to inform the subsequent design of a made in Alberta Curriculum Commons Model and Toolkit.

Year Two(September 2009 to June 2010)

• Test and evaluate the model and toolkit with the NorQuest, Lakeland, Keyano, and Northern Lakes Practical Nurse Diploma program curricula.

• Disseminate the project results.

Six Research Questions

1. How do educational institutions collaborate to achieve cost-effective curriculum development and maintenance?

2. What issues are associated with collaborative curriculum development, maintenance, and usage?

3. What are the limiting factors of a collaborative model?

4. What are the best practices associated with the legal agreements essential to a collaborative model?

5. What models will facilitate the participation of member institutions of the post-secondary system?

6. What are the best practices in terms of implementing a Curriculum Commons Model?

Curriculum CollaborationDefined

The process of institutions working together as equal partners with

shared vision, goals, and guiding principles towards the development

of a sustainable curriculum commons model that can be replicated across the Alberta post-secondary college

and technical institute system

Working together…

Our ValuesEquity

Fair, impartial, even-handed

ReciprocityGive and take, mutual

exchangeof advantages and

privileges

TrustFaith and confidencein our collaboration

Organization

• Governance TeamVice President, Academics

• Management TeamDeans

• Project Integration TeamCommons Project Manager/ResearcherCoordinator - Curriculum Control Unit, NorQuest CollegeProject Coordinator - Centre for Innovation and Development, NorQuest College

Overview of Year 2 Activities

• Model and Toolkit Website• Curriculum Review Process• Legal Framework• Evaluation and Dissemination

Ready access. . .

Model and Toolkit Website

• Development of a Curriculum Commons Model and Toolkit website

• Leadership provided by NorQuest College Centre for Innovation and Development

• Work with Project Manager and Curriculum Commons Steering Committee to develop website

Curriculum Review Process• Develop 3-year Curriculum Development

and Maintenance Project Charter• Leadership provided by NorQuest

Curriculum Quality Assurance Department• Work with SME’s (subject matter experts)

and Program Chairs (Coordinators) to develop Communities of Practice

Communities of Practice…Inter-institutional faculty teams (subject matter experts) working collaboratively to

develop and maintain high-quality Practical Nurse curricula

Guiding Principles thatenable collaboration (MOU)• Shared vision• Autonomous, board governed institutions• Consensus decision making• Pooling of our resources• Dialogue and consensus problem solving• Congeniality and collegiality• Co-equal partners• Teamwork• Trust and confidence in our collective capacity• Transparency, inclusivity, information sharing• Transparent funding framework• Joint planning for long-term sustainability

Legal Framework• Project Memorandum of

Understanding approved by Vice Presidents, Academic and Deans to sustain the project

• Curriculum Collaboration Agreement being developed to sustain the collaboration following the project

Evaluation and Dissemination

What we learned…

• Formative and summative evaluation• Leadership provided by Dr. Brian Larson,

Project Manager/Researcher• Adapt Stufflebeam’s Context Input Process

Product (CIPP) model of evaluation to the project

• Purpose of evaluation is to generate information that can be used for improvement decisions and to enhance replicability of the model and toolkit

• Final project report prepared by the Project Manager/Researcher

Overview of Project TimelinesModel and Toolkit Website• November 2009 to June 30, 2010

Curriculum Review Process• Life cycle curriculum processes (November 2009 to

April 2010)

Legal Framework• Project MOU complete• Collaboration Agreement (December 2009 to March

30, 2010)

Evaluation and Dissemination• Formative evaluation Feb (COP) and May (website)

2010• Summative evaluation June 2010• Final Report July 2010

Curriculum Commons ProjectSteering Committee

Jason Dunne, Dean, NorQuest College (Chair)Guy Harmer, Dean, Keyano College (Member)

Judy Sarsons, Dean, Lakeland College (Member)Julia Melnyk, Dean, Northern Lakes College

(Contributing Member)Barbara Armstrong, Keyano College (Non-Voting

Member)Brian Larson, Project Manager/Researcher