Quality Curriculum: Components for Consideration

UMKC’s Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, which reviews and recommends action on undergraduate programs, policies and curricula, encourages the use of high-impact practices in program and course design. Learn more about high-impact practices and explore the differences between undergraduate degree types to inform curriculum development.

High-Impact Practices

High-impact practices, or HIPs, are active learning practices that promote deep learning through student engagement, as measured by the National Survey on Student Engagement (NSSE). To be a HIP, the experience must help students achieve deep learning, promote significant engagement gains and encourage a positive, differential impact on historically underserved student populations. This is defined by George Kuh and colleagues at the Association of American Colleges and Universities.

Increasing student engagement and success through HIPs

HIPs share eight key elements, including:

  1. Performance expectations — set at appropriately high levels
  2. Time and effort — significant investment by students over an extended period of time
  3. Interactions — with faculty and peers about substantive matters
  4. Diversity — students must participate in experiences with people and circumstances they are not familiar with
  5. Feedback — must be frequent, timely and constructive
  6. Reflect and integrate learning — periodic and structured opportunities
  7. Real-world applications — opportunities to discover relevance and apply skills
  8. Public demonstration of competence

These characteristics can be used as principles to guide the design and delivery of nearly every learning experience. Doing so holds promise for reinforcing and amplifying the effects of deep learning and engagement, with particular benefit to underserved student populations.

Incorporating High-Impact Practices Into Your Courses and Programs

To increase student engagement and success, Kuh recommends that every student participate in at least two HIPs during their academic career. However, ideally, every student should participate in one HIP per year.

In addition to incorporating nationally recognized HIPs (PDF), the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee encourages the designation of curriculum attributes to assist student advising regarding practices, including:

Guidelines for Differentiating Undergraduate Degree Types

Units that propose offering of both a BA and BS or BFA degrees for a common focus of study (major) must differentiate the options through curriculum and Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs).

Program curriculum and student learning outcomes should meet the following standards.

Bachelor of Arts: The Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree is anchored in the arts and humanities, mathematics, or the social and natural sciences. The BA degree emphasizes the development of critical thinking, communication and creative reasoning skills. Students in BA degree programs have more opportunities to develop multi-disciplinary expertise through minors, double-majors and general elective coursework. Coursework in the major generally comprises 25 to 30% of the degree’s total credit hours.

Bachelor of Science: The Bachelor of Science (BS) degree is anchored in STEM fields — mathematics, natural sciences, engineering, computer and information sciences, and the social and behavioral sciences – psychology, economics, sociology, and political science. The BS degree emphasizes the development of quantitative and scientific reasoning skills. Students in BS degree programs develop more specialized knowledge through greater math and science coursework. Coursework in the major or related STEM areas generally comprises 50% of the degree’s total credit hours.

Bachelor of Fine Arts: The Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a professional degree in the visual, fine or performing arts. BFA coursework is anchored in artistic creation and performance. Coursework in the major area generally comprises a minimum of 50% of the degree’s total credit hours and emphasizes the practice and analysis of the artistic discipline. Accredited BFA programs typically require 65% of focused curriculum.

Curriculum and SLOs should reflect greater depth or mastery for BS and BFA options as compared to BA options.

  • Curriculum design should reflect a minimum of 15 additional STEM credit hours in BS programs when compared to BA requirements.
  • Curriculum design should reflect a minimum of 15 additional Arts and Humanities credit hours in BFA programs when compared to BA requirements.
  • Program assessment must be designed and implemented to differentiate degree-type outcomes.
  • 50% or more of SLO’s for the BS or BFA programs must be level 4 or above.

Learn more about depth of learning by exploring Bloom’s Taxonomy (PDF), which classifies learning objectives into hierarchical levels of cognitive learning.

If available, you should provide a comparison to aspirational programs in the discipline, specific to

  • Major-specific content and credit hours relative to both BA and BS or BFA
  • General Education distribution and credit hours
  • Breadth of curriculum in other STEM Fields — mathematics, natural sciences, engineering, computer and information sciences and the social and behavioral sciences — psychology, economics, sociology and political science.
If available, you should include any criteria that have been established by external or specialized accreditors.