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Guidelines
- Learning outcomes
- Learning outcomes must be published on the course syllabus, along with other information.
- Faculty must make every attempt to deliver the stated learning outcomes as approved
for each course for each semester the course is offered and for each section of the
course. The learning objectives should not vary depending upon who is teaching the
course. It is incumbent upon the department chair or director to review the syllabus
of each course to ensure that the learning objectives are delivered.
- Learning outcomes must be published on the course syllabus, along with other information.
- Double and Triple certifications
-
In general, you can combine up to two "content" areas (demonstrate versatility, pursue
deeper understanding) with up to two "skills" areas (prepare for life-long learning).
STAS
counts as two "content" areas since it is by design an interdisciplinary category,
so you can double certify
STAS
with up to one "skill" area (prepare for life-long learning).
- Some courses might be designed in such a manner that they fulfill the learning outcomes
of two or three areas. Students who pass this course will fulfill requirements in
two or three categories, if the courses are approved.
- Multiple certification is limited to no more than THREE categories, with no more than
TWO categories among “demonstrate versatility" and “pursue deeper understanding” PLUS
no more than TWO from “prepare for life long learning.” For example, valid triple
certifications could include ARTS/SBS+/ESI or ARTS/ESI/CER or TECH/QPS/ESI. Invalid
certifications would include ARTS/USA/STEM+ or ESI/CER/SPK.
- Theoretically, a course may be double or triple certified, as long as (a) the learning
outcomes of each certification are distinct and (b) each set of learning outcomes
are satisfied according to the standards of each distinct category. It would be unlikely
that a course would be double certified as USA/SBS+ if the SBS+ objectives are predominantly
focused on US history. An important clue for the certification committee will be
what prerequisites the course requires. For example, a course proposed as USA/SBS+
with a prerequisite of “understanding of introductory US History” would likely not
pass muster. However, a course that introduces US history but has advanced discussions
in another Social Science topic might be a good candidate for USA/SBS+ certification,
as long as the sets are distinct.
- STAS courses are meant to satisfy ONLY the STAS requirement, and may not carry multiple
certifications. By design, STAS courses are interdisciplinary, so double certification
of STAS courses would imply that they are ALL double certified in some fashion. STAS
courses, however, can be double certified to satisfy “Prepare for Life Long Learning”
-
In general, you can combine up to two "content" areas (demonstrate versatility, pursue
deeper understanding) with up to two "skills" areas (prepare for life-long learning).
STAS
counts as two "content" areas since it is by design an interdisciplinary category,
so you can double certify
STAS
with up to one "skill" area (prepare for life-long learning).
- Course Clusters and Themed Paths. See below. For more information, please contact
Scott Sutherland.
- Within the Stony Brook Curriculum (henceforth SBC), all requirements are defined in
terms of learning objectives and standards, rather than specific courses. In addition
to helping clarify the goals of such requirements, doing this enables the SBC to have
a variety of methods of achieving such goals.
- Three related, but distinct, means of delivering parts of the SBC are multiply-certified
courses, course clusters, and themed paths.
- The first, multiple certification, is perhaps the easiest to describe. If a single
course is designed in such a way that it meets the standards of more than one category,
it can be certified as meeting the requirements for more than one category. There
are some limitations on multiple certification, but that is described elsewhere.
- A Course Cluster is a group of two or more courses that may not meet all of the standards
for the requirements when taken individually, but when taken together, the learning
objectives are covered. There may be fewer or more requirements than the number of
courses in a cluster. For example, a single course might meet the USA requirement,
and another course might meet the ARTS requirement, but when taken together, they
cover enough sociology that the student who completes the pair of courses would fulfill
the USA, ARTS, and HBS requirements. Or, a sequence of courses required in a major
might be structured so that no single course fulfills the standards for a category,
but when taken as a whole, the standards are met. As an explicit example, several
of the Honors College courses are structured in this way.
- Finally, a Themed Path is a group of courses which fulfill SBC requirements, but focus
on a specific theme or topic. Such themes may be related to a major or minor, or
may be just an area of interest. The individual courses which make up a theme may
be sequenced, or they may be such that students can take any number of them in any
order. They might be part of a cluster, or not. As an example of a theme, a suggestion
has been made to structure courses from the sciences, english, history, and technology
around the idea of "interconnected systems". Faculty teaching these courses would
work to link the content of each to the other. While individually these may only
give the SNW, HCA, USA, and TECH categories, students would be energized by the common
theme viewed from different perspectives.
- Let me emphasize that from a requirements perspective, a themed path provides nothing
that non-themed courses don't also provide. However, from an educational perspective,
a themed path provides an interesting and exciting way for students to organize their
curriculum around an area of interest to them, and gives a more personally meaningful
way of exploring these areas.
- We expect and hope that the various themes will be communicated to students as options when the SBC is presented to them in a variety of venues: at orientation, in the bulletin, and during advising.
- Within the Stony Brook Curriculum (henceforth SBC), all requirements are defined in
terms of learning objectives and standards, rather than specific courses. In addition
to helping clarify the goals of such requirements, doing this enables the SBC to have
a variety of methods of achieving such goals.