THE COURSE INVENTORY
Below is an example of what a course inventory might look like.
In the left column are listed the individual learning goals for the entire academic program.
In row one are the names or numbers of each course in the program.
Whenever a course is intended to teach toward some aspect of one of the goals, an X is placed in the corresponding intersection of row and column.
Look at the example below:
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Program Goals |
Course 1 |
Course 2 |
Course 3 |
Course 4 |
Course 5 |
Course 6 |
Course 7 |
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Goal A |
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x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
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Goal B |
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Goal C |
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x |
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Goal D |
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x |
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x |
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x |
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Goal E |
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x |
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x |
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Goal F |
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x |
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x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
What would this inventory indicate?
This inventory shows where particular courses do and do not address any of the program goals.
For example, almost all of the courses address Goals A and B. Is this too many? Is there too much redundancy or the right amount?
No courses address Goal B. Clearly there is a problem here.
Only one course addresses Goal C. Is this the right amount of coverage?
By being able to see how different courses relate to the entire program, the faculty may determine whether any courses need to be revised, added, or deleted. Or whether a particular program goal really doesn’t matter.