Innovative Curriculum and Pedagogy

Primary Goal: Develop innovative curricula and academic programs that support and enhance the success of our undergraduate and graduate students and prepare them for meaningful careers, lifelong learning, and engaged citizenship; and thereby maintain and enhance our position as a national leader in undergraduate and graduate education.

Research Questions

  • How does the current profile of our faculty, students, and mix of programs compare with our aspirational peers, and how does this profile align with the University’s mission? What approaches used by peers might UMBC adopt to strike an appropriate balance between in- and out-of-state students, the distribution of students among programs, and demographic characteristics such as gender and socio-economic status to better align our student profile with the University’s mission in the future?
  • What are the lessons learned from studies of retention and graduation rates at UMBC and elsewhere, and how can this information guide us to increase student success by developing innovative programs, curricula, classroom practices, and instructional modes at the undergraduate and graduate levels?
  • What measures of success for students have we used in addition to retention and graduation rates? What should we use as the critical measures of academic success? How can we use assessment of these critical measures to support continuous improvement of student learning outcomes at UMBC?
  • What are the current best practices in innovative curriculum and pedagogy at our peer institutions and nationally? How have UMBC programs leveraged resources, partnerships, technology, and innovations to enhance student learning? What additions would be needed to significantly improve student learning and how should they be prioritized? What specific opportunities and challenges related to classrooms, infrastructure, technology support, and faculty development exist to support curricular and pedagogical innovations and partnerships across the curriculum?
  • Drawing on national best practices, how can UMBC balance supporting existing academic programs and the development of new programs? What metrics can we use to track whether we have achieved the appropriate balance as well as the best mix of academic fields and degree levels/options?
  • Drawing on national best practices, what is the appropriate balance between supporting the instructional duties of the faculty in: 1) areas of existing strength, 2) areas that need strengthening, and 3) areas of academic innovation? How can new support and the reallocation/redesign of existing support be used to enhance classroom infrastructure, technology, and faculty development in all three areas? What best practices in faculty reward and recognition, including P&T and prestigious awards, can UMBC utilize to support high quality teaching and encourage curricular and pedagogical innovation?

Members

Co-Chairs

Jeff Leips
Associate Professor, Biological Sciences

Carole McCann
Professor and Chair, Gender and Women’s Studies

Members

Bev Bickel
Clinical Associate Professor, Language, Literacy and Culture

Sherri Braxton-Lieber
Director, Instructional Technology, Division of Information Technology

Mauricio Bustos
Associate Professor, Biological Sciences

Kisha Fields ’03
Alumni Board Representative

Arnold Foelster
Director, Academic and Student Affairs Enterprise Systems, Information Technology

Preminda Jacob
Associate Professor, Visual Arts

George Karabatis
Associate Professor, Information Systems

Sarah Luttrell
Graduate Student

Marissa Piegols
Undergraduate Student

Penny Rheingans
Director, Center for Women in Technology
Professor, Computer Science and Electrical Engineering

Donald Snyder
Lecturer, Media and Communication Studies

Simon Stacey
Director, Honors College

Senior Advisors

Scott Casper
Dean, College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences

Linda Hodges
Associate Vice Provost, Faculty Affairs and Director, Faculty Development Center

Bill LaCourse
Dean, College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences

John Martello
Vice Provost, Professional Studies and Chairman/CEO, UMBC Training Centers

Consultants

David Hoffman
Assistant Director of Student Life for Civic Agency

Diane Lee
Vice Provost and Dean, Undergraduate Education

Janet Rutledge
Vice Provost and Dean, Graduate School

Steven Smith
University Registrar