Seone S. Lolesio, Kesaia Seniloli and Emalini Nakabea Curriculum Transformation at the School of Economics, Faculty of Business and Economics, The University of the South Pacific Seone S. Lolesio, Kesaia Seniloli and Emalini Nakabea ATEC2016 Conference July 7 - 8 RMIT University Melbourne, Australia. The University’s main Laucala Campus in Suva, Fiji. (www.usp.ac.fj; USP Strategic Plan 2010-2012 photo)

Outline Introduction USP School of Economics Questions? Strategic Plan Graduate attributes STAR (Strategic Total Academic Review) School of Economics Curriculum transformation process Challenges Questions?

introduction Presentation focus – to discuss the process that was used by the School of Economics to transform its curriculum. Purpose of curriculum transformation: * developed a curriculum that is of high quality and relevant to the Pacific region, * and prepare graduates to be work ready in a complex and changing world. USP is committed to ensuring Quality, Relevance and Sustainability of its programmes (Strategic Plans 2010- 2012 & 2013-2018) Central to this commitment is the STAR project (Strategic Total Academic Review) The challenges during the curriculum transformation, current and future will also be discussed.

USP: Strategic plan USP Strategic Plan 2010-2012

USP: graduate attributes (Gas) Academic excellence Intellectual curiosity and integrity Capacity for leadership and working with others Appreciation of the cultures of the Pacific Islands Cross-cultural competencies USP’s Yearly Prospectus states that “The University of the South Pacific’s academic programmes will promote all 5 attributes in all graduates”. For detail information on these GAs, go to: http://www.usp.ac.fj/fileadmin/scripts/OtherRep ort/Prospectus_2016_en.pdf

USP: star (strategic total academic review)… Why STAR? in order for USP graduates to achieve the graduates attributes. the attributes must be measured. thus the whole curriculum (content and assessments) offered in various disciplines must be able to facilitate this measurement. hence the need for total academic review and to be strategically done. thus STAR (Strategic Total Academic Review) was born! one key action area for the STAR project was the development of measurable institutional outcomes(ILOs)to assess the graduate attributes.

USP: star (strategic total academic review) Institutional learning outcomes (ILOs) development process? curriculum experts and consultants from the US were hired to conduct trainings trainings of trainers (involving staff from all sections of the university in its main & regional campuses (14)) the Institutional Learning outcomes with rubrics were developed during these trainings.

USP: star (strategic total academic review)… STAR Outcome 1 7 measurable Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILOs) with rubrics ( and different level of achievements: benchmark (B), milestone (M) and capstone (C) Critical Thinking Teamwork Pacific Conciousness Professionalism Communication Ethics Creativity and innovation

USP: star (strategic total academic review)… STAR Outcome 2 4 university generic courses (UU) – addressing what other disciplines cannot address directly: UU100 Communication and Information Literacy UU114 English for Academic Purposes UU 200 Ethics and Governance UU204 – Pacific Worlds. 7 ILOs and rubrics

USP STAR: How does it work? Academic excellence Intellectual curiosity Capacity for Leadership etc… Graduate attributes Critical thinking Teamwork Pacific conciouness Professionalism Communication Ethics Creativity & Innovation Institutional outcomes Program Outcomes and course outcomes Program outcomes and course outcomes

USP STAR - School of Economics :How it should work? Graduate Attributes Minimum knowledge and skills Develop & Assess! Workplace Work ready! Curriculum transformation must be done!

School of economics: curriculum transformation Process Early stages Programme Learning Outcomes (PLOs) Curriculum mapping Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) and aligning of CLOs and PLOs to the Institutional (USP) Learning Outcomes (ILO) Inclusion in the individual course outlines Challenges

Early stages SOE staff were to be informed of the STAR outcome and the need for compliance. i.e the School curriculum was needed to be changed. School meetings and retreats – were held to inform staff about STAR and to make this curriculum transformation a reality.

Programme Learning outcomes (PLOs) development 1st step: development of the programme learning outcomes (PLOs) offered by the school at the undergraduate degree programmes – the Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) BCom in 3 disciplines: Economics, Official Statistics, Population Studies and Demography. 3 programme learning outcomes developed The BCom(Econmics) PLOs - given in the next slide.

Bachelor of Commerce Programme Learning Outcomes (PLOs) Economics Upon the completion of this programme students will be able to: Synthesize various theoretical and concepts in Economics (critical thinking) Demonstrate research and problem solving and numeracy skills commensurate to the level of the study (creativity/professionalism/teamwork) Apply economic theories in a variety of settings (critical thinking/ethics) Effectively collaborate with other team members in joint projects and assignments (teamwork/communication/ethics/professionalism) Evaluate economic policies that can address Socio-Economic issues in the pacific and beyond (pacific consciousness/communication/creativity) Effectively communicate ideas, debates and discussions in economics (professionalism/communication/critical thinking/ethics/teamwork)

Curriculum mapping: Undergraduate Degree programme (Bcom) only 2nd step – curriculum mapping Courses to map – given in the table below: Discipline 100 level 200 level 300 level Economics 2 3 8 Official Statistics Population Studies and Demography 1

Curriculum mapping: Undergraduate Degree programme… Mapping was based on: the courses offered in each discipline as a single major (Economics and Official Statistics) thus, discipline specific but not on electives ( mapped in own discipline) Population Studies and Demography- not offered as a single major (still mapping was done) All courses in different levels were mapped according to the ILOs and PLOs and the skill level to be acquired Format used – next slide

X x x Generics Core Programme University Outcomes X X X Professionalism X Critical Thinking X Communication X Pacific Conciouness Ethics Teamwork X Creativity Programme outcome1 x Programme outcome2 x

Curriculum mapping: Undergraduate Degree programme… Economics courses mapping - next slide. Official Statistics & Population Studies and Demography courses mapping were done in similar fashion.

Realigning of course learning outcomes (CLOs) and PLOs to the Institutional (USP) Learning Outcomes (ILO) 3rd step: CLOs realignment with the PLOs and the Institutional learning outcomes (ILOs) and the corresponding assessment activities. For ease of assessment: the100 level and 200 level courses were restricted to 4 learning outcomes and 300 level 3 learning outcomes only.

Inclusion in the individual course outlines OS102 Introduction to Statistical Frameworks EC307 Resource and Environmental Economics

Challenges Early stages and during development processes: changing the mind-set of the non-believers (those who did not want to become STAR..SS) workload problems – finding time to have all staff available for trainings getting the support of the Head of School

Challenges… Current and future: inclusion of new courses into the curriculum map. assessment training – finding experts to conduct assessment training on needy areas such as writing exam questions (especially multiple choice type questions) and rubrics. training of new staff. a re-run of the curriculum mapping with a content focus – i.e. dealing with over-laps. incorporating of Research Skills Development (RSD) (latest development) in all courses. continue to deal with non-believers!!!!

Questions? Graduation Day!!!

Thank you!