- Guidelines for Course Development
- Table of Core Categories with Corresponding Core Knowledge and Skills
Guidelines for Core Course Development
Nineteen categories of courses are found within the four levels of the core curriculum (Core Gateway: 1 category; Core Competencies: 5 categories; Core Studies: 10 categories; and Core Capstone: 1 category). Some of these categories are designed to allow a number of differing courses from a variety of disciplines to fulfill the requirement; other categories have their requirement reflected in a single course or discipline. But each of these categories is to be understood in relationship to its purpose or purposes for imparting knowledge and/or ensuring skills. The central purposes for each category are spelled out earlier in this document. Core courses should also promote moral formation. Although specific virtues are not listed for each category, each core course should demonstrate its promotion of the virtues through pedagogical and other means.
If this core proposal is approved, the College will develop the new curriculum during the 1999-2000 academic year. Departments must bring a proposal to the Core Curriculum Committee for each course they wish to fulfill a category requirement. (Current course candidates listed elsewhere in this document are for illustrative purposes only.) Subsequently, core courses will be regularly evaluated according to a cycle of review established by the Core Curriculum Committee. Proposals should include the following:
- Title of the course
- Catalog Description (include suggested course number and semester hours)
- Expanded Course Description
- Outline of the course
- Place in the curriculum/Rationale:
- Description of the course content relative to the purposes of the core curriculum: knowledge and skills (and, if applicable, virtues)
- Description of the pedagogical approaches to be used relative, in particular, to the purposes of the core curriculum identified as virtues
- Relationship, if any, of the course to department major, minor, or cognates
- Resource Allocation
- Faculty
- Library resources
The proposal should indicate which purpose(s) in the core, particularly knowledge and skill, the course is intended to fulfill and provide appropriate rationale. The committee will also pay careful attention to the description of pedagogical implications, recalling this sentence from the Statement of Purpose for the Core Curriculum: “While a specification of virtues we would want to foster in our students will have definite implications for the content of the core curriculum, it will also and especially be crucial for the pedagogies we employ in the teaching of core courses.” Reference must be made to the course’s dual purpose, if appropriate, in serving the department’s major or program. Additional guidelines the committee will use are as follows.
The Core Curriculum Revision Committee has suggested no limit to the number of courses that can be listed as meeting the requirements of a given category; however, practical issues (e.g., present staffing patterns) will guide the initial round of review. Also, for the purposes of advising and degree audit, the list of courses should be neither excessively large nor subject to frequent change.
A course that is included in a core category may also be used to fulfill a major or program requirement. In this way, the impact of the core is less imposing to students and the purposes of the core will be better integrated into some upper-level courses.
If a course is used by a student to meet a given core category, that course cannot be used by the same student to meet a different core category (with the exception of the cross-cultural engagement requirement). Although it is possible that a given course could theoretically fulfill the goals of two different categories, in practice this will not be permitted for any particular student so as to ensure sufficient breadth in student core programs.
Although many existing courses, with moderate revision, will be able to gain approval as meeting core category requirements, proposals for new courses are welcome, particularly when the sponsoring department demonstrates there will be no net increase in staffing.
When evaluating whether each course proposed for a given category meets the stated purposes relating to forms of knowledge and skill development, the committee will consult the table below. The listing of a specific purpose or purposes indicates the centrality of these aims for the given category, and proposed courses must reflect the purpose or purposes accordingly. As expected, a proposed course may include other purposes beyond those listed. Also, when more than one purpose is stated for a category that includes a variety of courses, not every course is expected to meet all of the stated purposes (e.g., all courses in the category of the Arts will not include the discipline of listening as a central purpose).
Upper level courses (e.g., Global and Historical Studies, Biblical or Theological Foundations) will address their stated purposes with greater depth; it follows that these three categories will generally include among their purposes The Art of Executing a Research Project. In contrast, lower level courses most often have the skills of written rhetoric and the discipline of reading among their central purposes. The similarity of purposes between the Core Gateway and the Core Capstone levels is intended; differences will be reflected in the level at which these purposes are addressed at the later stage of college study.
Finally, all categories will contribute to the purposes of developing knowledge of The Christian Faith and the Reformed Tradition, as well as enhancing skills of Cultural Discernment. Likewise, the development of reasoning and writing skills are implicit throughout the entire curriculum, the latter made explicit in the Writing Program of the college.
The following table states first the core course or category, then the core knowledge and skills to be conveyed in that course or category.
Course/Category |
Core Knowledge |
Core Skills |
6.2.1.1 |
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6.2.2.1 |
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6.2.2.2 |
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6.2.2.3 |
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6.2.2.4 |
|
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6.2.2.5 |
|
|
6.2.3.1 6.2.3.2 |
|
|
6.2.3.1 6.2.3.2 |
|
|
6.2.3.3 |
|
|
6.2.3.4 |
|
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6.2.3.5 |
|
|
6.2.3.6 |
|
|
6.2.3.7 |
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|
6.2.3.8 |
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6.2.3.9 |
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6.2.3.10 |
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|
6.2.3.11 |
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6.2.3.12 |
|
|
6.2.4.1 |
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|
The following table states first the core purpose, then the categories contributing to that purpose.
CORE KNOWLEDGE |
|
Knowledge of God |
Categories |
3.1.1 |
|
3.1.2 |
|
3.1.3 |
|
Knowledge of the World |
|
3.2.1 |
|
3.2.2 |
|
3.2.3 |
|
3.2.4 |
|
3.2.5 |
|
3.2.6 |
|
Knowledge of Ourselves |
|
3.3.1 |
|
3.3.2 |
|
3.3.3 |
|
3.3.4 |
|
3.3.5 |
|
3.3.6 |
|
CORE SKILLS |
|
Skills of Reasoning |
|
4.1.1 |
|
4.1.2 |
|
4.1.3 |
|
Skills of Communication |
|
4.2.1 |
|
4.2.2 |
|
4.2.3 |
|
4.2.4 |
|
4.2.5 |
|
4.2.6 |
|
4.2.7 |
|
4.2.8 |
|
Technological Skills |
|
4.3.1 |
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Research Skills |
|
4.4.1 |
|
Physical Skills |
|
4.5.1 |
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