Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Academic Plan Review
Academic Plan Review
Academic Plan Review
University
Didar Zhakanbayev
The Pennsylvania State University
ACADEMIC PLAN REVIEW 2
University
INTRODUCTION
foreign language. I thought that my experience in the field would help me better understand this
particular program and see how this program differ from the one taught in my country. Despite
the lack of some necessary data, the website was a great source of relevant information, and a
friend of mine studying in this program was very helpful by sharing syllabus of some courses she
has taken. That helped much on making the analysis of the program.
1 PURPOSES
Purposes of any curricula are intended outcomes. As program planner develops the plan
for a specific program, he/she must take into account such factors as knowledge, skills, and
attitudes to be acquired by students. That will help to sta1y focused on initial goals. There are
several statements of educational purpose common among college faculty. Here are some of
them: make the world a better place; learn to think effectively; contribute to society; enriching
experience.
Coming to the program I chose, the program offers a diverse and strong English
curriculum and is devoted to develop students skills such as: reading, writing, analysis, and
research which are required by various professions and sought by many different types of
employers.
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Students of the English major will have the opportunity to learn the history of English
language at its best practice. English major program graduates are greatly seen using their skills
and trainings in the field of teaching, public relations, lawyers, entrepreneurs, and professional
writing.
As the English Major website states, the Department of English preserves to be the
longest-running honors program in the College of the Liberal Arts. In addition to that, the
department has one of the largest internship programs. Also, by supervision of department
faculty member, students are able to study abroad, spending summer in London or in Ireland or
even go to some major universities around the world as exchange students. (The English Major
website)
The website did not have relevant information on educational objectives of the program,
therefore I looked through some syllabus to see what objectives do the courses have. The
objectives below were set by XX instructor of the course APLNG250: Peer Tutoring for
Multilingual Writers. By the end of this course, each learner will be able to:
support multilingual writers through the writing process by understanding their strengths
and weaknesses
assist multilingual writers with various aspects of their writing and at various stages of
undergraduate students
critically reflect on and self-evaluate the progress of his/her tutees writing development.
As I have read the course description, I can say that these objectives are appropriate and
achievable. This course doesnt have any required textbook, everything is distributed via angel
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site electronically. I dont know whether having or not having a required textbook is necessarily
good or bad. I believe it depends on the course and the instructor. However, to my subjective
view, I would prefer to have one. Because that will help to stay focused, and keep all the material
in one place. In addition to that, I saw some limitations in grading, which I will mention in
2 CONTENT
As a knowledge, any subject matter can stand on its own. However, when it comes to a
certain area or field some subject matter become less important some become more. We dont
need to teach a specific type of literature to somebody who wants to become an engineer. That is
why content part or subject matter is an important aspect of objectives in learning and plays its
independent role in the development of program. Here is an example course at English Major
program:
ENGL 429 New Media and Literature (Prof. L., Brian., 2016)
reflection on the concept of mediation (electronic and otherwise); on genre in both print culture
and electronic publishing; and on literariness itself. It introduces students to critical discussion of
creative works in digital media, including hypertext and hypermedia fiction and nonfiction, code
poetry and codework, cybertext and ergodic literature, net art and Web art, and software and
electronic installation art. Students will learn about major debates in North American and
European new media theory, understood as a distinct current of influence in twentieth century
literary and cultural theory. They will acquire a critical vocabulary and an interpretive
methodology for literary artifacts created and/or published in screen media. Finally, they will
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acquire a basic familiarity with the range of creative works in digital media and the critical
debates animating their reception. Students will write both short written exercises (30 percent)
and longer essays (40 percent), as well as give an in-class presentation (10 percent). 20 percent
of the course grade may be determined by class participation or quizzes. This course is an
advanced-level course, for students who have already acquired the prerequisite basic skills in
interpretive reading and writing. It expands elective and post-1800 offerings at the 400 level for
the English major and minor, and expands the topical range of the English studies curriculum,
which currently includes no course dedicated to new media. Special facilities needed: ITEC
classroom.
From this description we can see the objectives and what is mainly going to be taught
through the semester. The instructor hasnt stated any objectives for this course, which was quiet
surprising for me. For that reason, I cannot say for sure whether the students are aware of
objectives, if so, are they relevant and the students are meeting the objectives. In order to take
this course, student should have successfully finished all basic prerequisite courses such as
ENGL 015, ENGL 030 and other. That means these courses are essential foundation for the
whole program and students ought to take them in their 1st semester. In the next part I will be
3 SEQUENCE
learning in the right flow in an academic plan, thus student learn what they need to learn at the
right time. As mentioned before the foundation and introductory courses should be taught first,
before getting into the more complex courses. Seeing prerequisites, and if necessary taking them,
helps a lot at this point. Usually level of courses show their difficulty level. From instructors
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perspective, it is good to identify the students preparedness and his abilities to further in his/her
studies.
The English major consists of twelve courses (36 credits), six of which are either
adviser, at least three 400-level credits from either the required or supporting courses must
fulfill a departmental diversity requirement for a course related to race, gender, sexuality,
semesters
last 4 semesters
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18 credits in literature, writing, or rhetoric, at least 9 of which must be at the 300/400 level.
Mainly what we see is that the 1st 4 semesters offer foundational courses, and only after
that comes the major requirement courses. The rest of the courses offered as electives and
4 LEARNERS
The program website doesnt mention anything about learners characteristics and need, in
terms of their abilities and previous preparations. But I thought studying abroad would definitely
attract learners interest. And the English Major program has a great opportunity for students to
study abroad, spending a month in summer in London and exploring writings from early and
modern authors that capture the comedy and tragedy of that place. Students are also offered a
unique chance to go to Ireland, Italy, South Africa, New Zealand, India and England as exchange
student, get credits for their studies and travel of course. Instructional Resources
The website doesnt mention much about the resources and facilities provided for
students. However, what I found interesting and relevant was an internship course LA (ENGL)
495. This Writing Internship (3-12 credits) is offered to qualified students interested in writing,
editing, or public relations careers. Few experiences are as valuable in helping you choose a
career path and/or secure your first job. English interns learn what it is actually like to write or
edit professionally and complete the internship with a portfolio of published work and potential
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sources of recommendations for future jobs. The Internship may be taken for three to twelve
credits, only three of which may be applied towards the English Major and the Creative Writing
Concentration. The Media, Publishing, and Professional Writing Concentration and the Rhetoric
5 INSTRUCTIONAL PROCESSES
The website of the program mentions about Undergraduate student activities, such as Penn
It is stated on the program website that Penn State Adventure Literature courses integrate
the study of literature with some outdoor adventures, which helps to increase a students
classroom experience. It offers a unique opportunity to students to read and learn about authors
and their works, at the same time have fun traveling to the mountains, the river, or the seashore,
climb, hike, and kayak, and come up with writing about their experiences, and getting academic
credit that will help satisfy degree requirements. (Penn State Adventure Literature)
The programs in this series consist of innovative combination of work in the humanities
and kinesiology (classroom activity and outdoor experience) to develop both mind and body.
earn up to 6 credits (which may fulfill GH, US, and GHA requirements)
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the supervision of a faculty adviser Alison Jaenicke. The aim of this project is to establish a
writing community who would advance the ideals of free and open literary expression. Kalliope
also provides a literary edition and publication of student work, public reading and lecture.
6 EVALUATION
Evaluation of the curriculum has become very important in higher education for the past
two decades. Program developers should test the program to see whether it is effective and
meeting the needs of students. Evaluation shows educators goals as measured by student
achievement. The evaluation needs a lot of data from the program. To the extent that dont have
enough information on the program evaluation, I will give an example from syllabus of one
course to see how the instructor assesses his/her students knowledge. And make an assumption
that majority of the program courses are assessed the similar way. In the purposes part of this
paper I mentioned about XX instructor of the course APLNG250: Peer Tutoring for Multilingual
Homework 5%
Journals 15%
I understand that this is not a hard science, where students get what they get from exam.
To my view, giving 5% to anything done by students is very low. Some students might think that
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it is not worth doing for 5%. For that reason, tutoring practicum and analysis paper scores could
be decreased a bit. Again, these are just my thought. The instructor might have some reasons for
Here is another grading scale of the course ENGL 429 New Media and Literature
Attendance 10%
Attentiveness 5%
My question here would be, how can an instructor measure attentiveness? Should a student be
sharing his/her opinion all the time to show his attentiveness? Some might be attentive but quit. I
think that this criterion doesnt have any relevance in measuring learning.
7 ADJUSTMENT
Based on the table of academic plans in sociocultural context, adjustment appears after
assessment and evaluation, to make necessary change to improve the academic plan. Relating
this part to the English major program, I noticed that the last change in program plan appeared in
Fall 2015. Prior Fall 2015 The English major consisted of twelve courses (36 credits), seven of
which were either prescribed or must be drawn from a particular group of courses, whereas
starting from Fall 2015 the number prescribed courses decreased from seven to six. Now the
program has only two options for 200 level required courses, four areas with 400 level courses
each and a seminar or capstone. In contrast to that, the previous program had three 200 level
courses plus one more from four options, two 300-400 level courses in two groups called pre
1800 and post 1800 literature, and finally a senior seminar course. No capstone.
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8 OVERALL ANALYSIS
Relying on the program website and some syllabus, the overall analysis of the English
Major program showed me that this program is really strong, but not in terms of all eight
elements. The website of the program surely provides all current and prospect students with
useful information. However, I had some difficulties in finding necessary data for some of the
elements. Of course, who would expect that somebody outside would ever try to make an
analysis of their program based on objectives, assessment and learning opportunities. They dont
have clear objectives of the program. Most of the program courses lack description in bulletin.
There is no information about the resources they could provide students with. Mentioning about
the outcomes and achievements of the program, what would a graduate of this program gain and
I dont feel comfortable with suggesting recommendations for this program, because
what I suggest may already have been done long ago, but just havent been uploaded to their
website. Anyway, here are some of my recommendations that might be helpful in developing
Come up with program objectives and try to correlate them with department or
college objectives
Make a little fixed certainty in grading scale, so that instructors can make their
References
http://sites.psu.edu/kalliope/about-2/
http://english.la.psu.edu/undergraduate/adventure-literature
Prof. L., Brian. (2016). ENGL 429 New Media and Literature [Syllabus]. University Park, PA: