CFD Curriculum Design & Development 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: When writing program-level student learning outcomes, which characteristic is MOST important to ensure measurability?
- Using action verbs from a cognitive taxonomy (Correct answer)
- Including the course number in the outcome statement
- Referencing specific textbook chapters
- Specifying the number of hours students will spend on tasks
Correct answer: Using action verbs from a cognitive taxonomy
Action verbs derived from taxonomies like Bloom's make outcomes observable and measurable by specifying what students will demonstrate.
Question 2: A curriculum committee wants to ensure a new general education requirement addresses higher-order thinking. According to Bloom's revised taxonomy, which level BEST reflects higher-order thinking?
- Remember
- Understand
- Apply
- Evaluate (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Evaluate
In Bloom's revised taxonomy, Evaluate and Create represent higher-order thinking, requiring complex cognitive engagement beyond recall or comprehension.
Question 3: What is the purpose of a program logic model in curriculum development?
- To create a detailed weekly schedule of course content
- To map inputs, activities, outputs, and outcomes to show how a program achieves its goals (Correct answer)
- To compare the cost-effectiveness of different instructional approaches
- To document faculty credentials for accreditation purposes
Correct answer: To map inputs, activities, outputs, and outcomes to show how a program achieves its goals
A program logic model visually represents the causal chain from resources and activities to short- and long-term outcomes.
Question 4: Which of the following is a key principle of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as applied to curriculum development?
- Providing one optimal pathway through content for all students
- Designing flexible means of engagement, representation, and action/expression (Correct answer)
- Differentiating curriculum only for students with documented disabilities
- Ensuring all students reach the same level of achievement
Correct answer: Designing flexible means of engagement, representation, and action/expression
UDL calls for proactively designing curriculum with multiple means of engagement, representation, and action and expression to support diverse learners.
Question 5: A faculty developer is conducting a curriculum audit and finds significant content overlap across three courses. Which strategy would BEST address this issue?
- Reducing the credit hours for all three courses
- Eliminating the course with lowest enrollment
- Conducting a curriculum mapping exercise to identify and redistribute redundant content (Correct answer)
- Requiring students to take only one of the three courses
Correct answer: Conducting a curriculum mapping exercise to identify and redistribute redundant content
Curriculum mapping reveals where redundancy occurs and allows faculty to redistribute or intentionally scaffold content across courses.
Question 6: In Fink's Taxonomy of Significant Learning, which domain encompasses students' understanding of themselves and others?
- Foundational Knowledge
- Application
- Human Dimension (Correct answer)
- Caring
Correct answer: Human Dimension
Fink's Human Dimension domain focuses on learning about oneself and others, fostering personal and social development.
Question 7: A college is redesigning its nursing curriculum using a competency-based education (CBE) approach. What is the defining feature of CBE?
- Students progress based on demonstrated mastery rather than time in seat (Correct answer)
- All students complete the same number of clinical hours regardless of prior experience
- Faculty determine competencies without input from professional bodies
- Assessment occurs only at the end of the program
Correct answer: Students progress based on demonstrated mastery rather than time in seat
CBE allows students to advance upon demonstrating mastery of defined competencies, decoupling progression from seat time.
CFD Curriculum Design & Development 3
When writing program-level student learning outcomes, which characteristic is MOST important to ensure measurability?