CFD Curriculum Design & Development 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which accreditation concept requires a program to demonstrate that its graduates actually achieve stated learning outcomes, not just that the curriculum addresses them?
- Curriculum mapping
- Outcomes-based accreditation (Correct answer)
- Input-based review
- Seat-time verification
Correct answer: Outcomes-based accreditation
Outcomes-based accreditation requires evidence of actual student achievement of learning outcomes, not just documentation of curriculum intent.
Question 2: When integrating experiential learning into curriculum design, which of Kolb's cycle stages involves abstract conceptualization?
- Concrete Experience
- Reflective Observation
- Abstract Conceptualization (Correct answer)
- Active Experimentation
Correct answer: Abstract Conceptualization
Abstract Conceptualization in Kolb's cycle is where learners form generalizations and theories based on their reflections.
Question 3: A faculty developer advises a team to use rubrics aligned to program outcomes for their capstone course. What is the PRIMARY curricular benefit?
- Reducing faculty grading time significantly
- Enabling direct assessment of program-level learning outcomes using student work (Correct answer)
- Eliminating the need for standardized external assessments
- Ensuring all faculty award the same grades
Correct answer: Enabling direct assessment of program-level learning outcomes using student work
Capstone rubrics aligned to program outcomes allow programs to collect direct evidence of student achievement at the program level.
Question 4: Which term describes the unintended lessons about values, norms, and social hierarchies that students learn through the structure and culture of an institution?
- Explicit curriculum
- Null curriculum
- Hidden curriculum (Correct answer)
- Extracurricular content
Correct answer: Hidden curriculum
The hidden curriculum refers to implicit messages about norms, values, and power conveyed through school practices, policies, and culture.
Question 5: A program wants to ensure students can apply discipline-specific knowledge to messy, real-world problems. Which curriculum design approach is MOST appropriate?
- Content-centered curriculum
- Problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum (Correct answer)
- Discipline-siloed curriculum
- Lecture-intensive curriculum
Correct answer: Problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum
Problem-based learning organizes curriculum around authentic, ill-structured problems that require students to apply and integrate knowledge.
Question 6: In curriculum design, what does 'scaffolding' refer to?
- Structuring course content in alphabetical order for easy retrieval
- Providing temporary, adjustable support that helps students progress toward independent mastery (Correct answer)
- Requiring students to build physical models of concepts
- Dividing a course into discrete, self-contained modules
Correct answer: Providing temporary, adjustable support that helps students progress toward independent mastery
Scaffolding provides structured support that is gradually removed as students develop competence and independence.
Question 7: A faculty team is debating whether to use a course-embedded assessment or a standalone standardized test to measure program outcomes. Which is a key advantage of course-embedded assessment?
- It is always less expensive than standardized tests
- It provides authentic evidence from real learning tasks integrated into the course (Correct answer)
- It eliminates the need for faculty to design rubrics
- It guarantees higher student performance rates
Correct answer: It provides authentic evidence from real learning tasks integrated into the course
Course-embedded assessments use actual student work from within courses, providing authentic, contextually valid evidence of learning.
CFD Curriculum Design & Development 4
Which accreditation concept requires a program to demonstrate that its graduates actually achieve stated learning outcomes, not just that the curriculum addresses them?