Discussion: Common Practices in Course Design

Consider the following scenario:

• Common practice at your institution has been for individual faculty members to design their own courses based on their expert knowledge of the subject matter. For foundational courses with many sections, such as first-year composition or college algebra, departmental faculty have contributed to the development of a common course outline, but as long as the faculty teaching the courses address the major topics on the outline, they can design and teach the course any way they wish. 
• When a faculty member believes a new course is needed, he or she can submit a proposal to the College Curriculum Committee, which is composed of faculty representing all departments and programs. Some departments have a departmental review process prior to sending a new course to the college committee, but not all. In all but a few rare exceptions, the college committee approves the new course proposals and the course is added to the institution's course offerings.

Post a response to the following:

• What are the positive aspects of this situation?
• What are the potential problems?
• Consider the viewpoints of faculty, students, administrators, and the institution in your response. How could the potential problems be minimized or solved? What new problems might these solutions create? In your response, focus on ideas you have gained from the Ferren and Gaff articles, and from the chapters in Diamond's book.