Running head: CURRICULUM

Curriculum: Case Study Two

Jon Merrill
Loyola University Chicago

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The purpose of this paper is to analyze and reflect upon the residential assistant (RA)
formational courses across five different institutions of higher education. In doing so, themes
and trends found in syllabi structure will be articulated and connections to literature will be
made. Overall, the guiding search criteria used was that the course needed to last a full semester,
focus on undergraduate populations, and require students to be in the classroom. This provided
consistency for analysis.
Syllabi Description and Integration with the Literature
As previously mentioned, all syllabi selected were used for "RA class". The overarching
purpose of these courses was to provide RA's with continual development and training
throughout the year. In addition to describing the overall structure of the syllabi, this section will

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examine the degree to which these courses followed an integrated course design. This idea was
introduced by Fink (2013) and focused on how instructors made a connection between the
learning goals, teaching and learning activities, and feedback and assessment practices of their
courses. In other words, these three components must all reflect and support one another (p.
71). This is in comparison to the list of topics approach, which identifies a list of important
topics to cover and uses a lecture format, and a list of activities approach which identifies
important topics and then infuses un-integrated activities into the class period.
College Student Affairs (CSA) 397A is The Pennsylvania State Universitys formational
RA course. The syllabus begins by listing the course instructors and their contact information
and moves on to describing the best way to reach them. Afterwards, it outlines the course
description - especially focusing on the importance of this course. These features are consistent
across the five syllabi. The four learning outcomes associated with this course are also
articulated: as a result of this course, students will " understand and be able to articulate the
philosophy of residence life and the roles and responsibilities of the resident assistant position;
gain an increased awareness of diversity and social justice and be able to identify ways that
diversity impacts interpersonal relationships and residence hall communities; develop skills to
address community standards, respond to crisis situations, and mediate conflict within the
residence hall community; and, be able to recognize elements of healthy, positive residence hall
environments by utilizing community development, communication, and programming skills"
(College Student Affairs, 2012). This syllabus provides a lot of detail about the overarching
structure of the course. There are clear units that students will be moving through when taking
this course. Furthermore, it outlines what content will be covered as well as some specific
learning activities that will be used during class periods. Finally, the syllabi focuses on the

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logistics of the course including grading, attendance, examination, and academic integrity
policies.
There is consistent integration throughout the course. The third learning outcome focuses
on developing the skills to address community standards, respond to crisis situations, and
mediate conflict (College Student Affairs, 2012). There is a specific unit focused on building
these skills. The first day of this unit focuses on developing foundational knowledge about
identifying students in distress. The unit then moves onto introducing communication skills for
working with distressed students. Finally, this unit ends with a role playing exercise - where it is
inferred that students have the opportunity to actually practice the skills they have learned.
Based just on the learning activities, the curriculum moves students from simply holding onto
foundational knowledge to actually applying that knowledge to practical situations. The only
formal assessment used in this unit is a short quiz during the first portion of the unity. However,
the successful completion of the role playing portion of this unit also serves as an example of
forward looking assessment (Fink, 2013).
Human Development and Psychology Counseling (HPC) 3400 is Appalachian State
Universitys formative RA course. In comparison to CSA 397A, this syllabus puts a large focus
on the course description explicitly stating why students should care about this course.
Furthermore, this syllabus describes the specific assignments that students will be completing
information that was missing from the CSA 397A syllabus. Finally, the syllabus includes a chart
that breaks down what topics will be covered and when assignments are due. There were no
learning outcomes articulated for this course suggesting a list of topics approach was used in its
formation (Fink, 2013). Additionally, the chart that outlines the course assignments of topic is

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simply that - a list of consecutive topics with a few assignments periodically used to assess
student learning. Although these assessments require students to articulate their learning through
reflective papers, they are loosely connected to the topics being taught.
The course syllabus for ED 492, Black Hills State University's formative RA course,
follows a similar structure as was seen in both CSA 397A and HPC 3400 in presenting logistical
information. Course objectives were identified; as result of taking this class students will be able
to "develop the skills and practices essential to the resident assistant positions; increase their
critical thinking abilities as well as problem solving abilities; and, acquire skills in working with
others as a member of a team" (Course Syllabus, 2012). Similarly to CSA 397A, these course
objectives are geared toward increasing the foundational knowledge of students. However, there
is a lack of goals that address other forms of significant learning. This syllabi also includes a
section that details the instructors pedagogical approaches and includes the rubric for all
assignments a piece that was missing from the previous two syllabi.
Similarly to the syllabi for CSA 397A, there is a specific link between objective
outcomes and the learning activities and assessments. This is especially seen in the integration
of the second course objective in which students should increase their critical thinking abilities as
a result of this course (Course Syllabus, 2012). For each reading, students are required to
complete a read and reflect assignment. This assignment is an example of Fink's (2013) active
learning. Through this assignment, "students reflect on what one is learning and how one is
learning" (p. 116). Students reflections are evaluated based on the "critical thought used in
assigned work" (Course Syllabus, 2012) which is explained within the rubrics. The act of
reflecting on the reading, with a consistent critical lens, connects the second course objective to

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the learning and evaluation that is happening in this course. Overall, the syllabus does an
excellent job of connecting various course objectives to the learning and evaluation happening
within the classroom. However, the biggest critique of this syllabus is the lack of a clear
structure in how the different course content units are organized it is unclear if an intentional
structure is in place.
Structurally, the syllabus for EDG 310, University of Hartford's formative RA course, is
very similar to ED 492. However, the learning objectives of this course stand out in comparison
to the ones previously described. As a result of taking this class, students will be able to "
identify student development theories and leadership practices; assess current trends and
pertinent issues that student leaders encounter; participate in a service learning based activity and
asses their experiences on a global and personal perspective; and, analyze what it means to be a
student leader" (EDG 310, 2014). These learning outcomes focus on establishing foundational
knowledge and requires students to apply this knowledge. Furthermore, this course incorporates
a service learning experience that will require them to " integrate this service with meaningful
instruction and reflection" (EDG 310, 2014). Fink (2013) articulated that the more kinds of
significant learning experiences that is incorporated into the goals of a course, the more likely
each kind of learning will happen (p. 91). Furthermore, the degree to integration is similar to
that of ED 492. The outcomes for this course largely focus on applying personal experiences and
knowledge. To accomplish this, the course uses a direct observation experience, in the form of
attending a leadership conference, to build the foundational knowledge. Then this knowledge is
applied during a direct doing experience where students participate in experiential learning
activity. Direct doing experiences are described by Fink as consisting of students engaging in a
real action in an authentic setting (p. 120). While there is a strong connection between the

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learning outcomes and activities in this course, it struggles to integrate the assessment strategies
to the learning outcomes.
The final syllabi chosen belongs to University of Northern Colorado's HESA 260.
Overall, the structure of this syllabus is very consistent with what has been previously described.
However, this syllabus fails to incorporate an overall outline of what topics will be covered
making it difficult to ascertain whether or not there is an overall structure to the course. As result
of taking this course, students will be able to " articulate their understanding of the role of the
RA; examine their identities and how they relate to their RA role; demonstrate a basic
understanding of student development theory and its practice; identify their own strengths and
weaknesses in the RA role and develop plans to improve; and, write learning outcomes for
themselves and programs" (HESA 260, 2013). Unlike other learning and course objectives
already described, these have a strong focus on the human dimension of learning. In other
words, students are being required to examine themselves and how their experiences impact their
growth within the RA position. Similarly to EDG 310, it is difficult to classify this course as
fully integrated. There are clear connections between course assignments and learning outcomes
- for example, the final project requires students to " select a creative medium for
demonstrating their understanding of the RA role and reflection on their growth throughout the
semester" (HESA 260, 2013) which correlates with the first learning outcome. However, since
there is little information that speaks to the learning activities being used in the classroom, Fink
(2013) would potentially classify this course under the list of activities approach: the instructors
have crafted a series of assignments that address the learning outcomes set for this course.
Synthesis

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Based on the five syllabi that have been described, there are clear components that are
necessary to incorporate - including information about policies and logistical information about
instructors and the course. After analyzing the five syllabi, the following are key features of a
syllabus that should be included: learning/ course objectives; pedagogical approach; a
description of assignments including the rubric; and, a detailed outline of what will be happening
during each session of the class. The learning outcomes provide an opportunity for students to
understand what they should be getting out of the course. Following an integrated course design,
there should be a clear connection between the pedagogical approaches and projects assigned to
students. This flows logically into introducing the different type of teaching methodologies that
will be used to create integrated learning experiences. This is present in ED 492: "this course
includes a combination of class discussion, reflective thinking and writing, small group meetings
and dialogue, public speaking, and group presentation" (Course Syllabus, 2012). Although brief,
it alludes to the different learning activities that students may be experiencing throughout the
class. Next, a key element in syllabus construction is including information about the
assignments that students will complete. Along this dimension, incorporating the rubric
information provides students with an understanding of what the teacher wants and to help
the teacher generate more meaningful feedback and assessment (Fink, 2003, p. 99). Finally, all
syllabi - to some extent - had an outline of what would be happening during each class period.
While most syllabi used this opportunity to let students know when assignments are due, other
syllabi used this outline to fully describe what would be happening during these course periods.
If done intentionally, this outline can provide students with a mental governing structure that
they will be able to plug the various course units into.

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Overall, the largest variation throughout the syllabi was the extent to which an
overarching structure to the course was elaborated. For example, the different course content
areas in CSA 397A can easily be organized into units that build upon one another. Students in
this course are first tasked with reflective work and then move onto the classical view of their
roles. The curriculum then focuses on the interpersonal relationship building portion of the RA
position and subsequently moves onto describing how to create positive communities overall.
Finally, the curriculum looks at factors that influence community building such as intercultural
sensitivity. In this example, the course content logically builds off itself in an organized fashion
and is conveyed within the syllabus. Other syllabi examined lacked this sense of a logical
progression. This fact reiterates why building an integrated course design can be difficult. In
addition to making sure that the learning outcomes, activities, and assessment are linked instructors also need to incorporate some logical structure onto their course. It seems that a
challenge for curriculum development is balancing overarching structure with integration. HPC
3400 is an example of a syllabi that has solid structure, but sacrifices integration. On the other
hand, ED 492 does an excellent job of demonstrating the integration amongst the different course
parts. However, both fail to provide on overarching or guiding structure to the course. There
needs to be a balance between these two pieces.

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References
College Student Affairs (CSA) 397A. (2012). Retrieved January 25, 2015, from
http://studentaffairs.psu.edu/reslife/pdf/CSA397_syllabus.pdf
Course Syllabus ED 492. (2012). Retrieved January 25, 2015, from
http://www.bhsu.edu/Portals/0/studentLife/residencelife/Syllabus_SP2012 _ED492.pdf
EDG 310: Residential Education and the College Student. (2014). Retrieved January 25, 2015,
from https://www.hartford.edu/res_life/files/pdf/ra_edg.pdf
Fink, L.D. (2003). Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to
developing college courses. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
HESA 260: Introduction to Residence LIfe. (2013). Retrieved January 25, 2015, from
http://aimho.org/committees/research/resources#ra
HPC 3400 Resident Assistant Development. (2007). Retrieved January 25, 2015, from
http://syllabi.appstate.edu/syllabi/resident-assistant-development-17