Irons Peter C, Holm Dietmar E, Annandale C Henry
J Vet Med Educ. 2017 Fall;44(3):440-449. doi: 10.3138/jvme.0316-062R.
Four years after the institution of a new curriculum at the University of Pretoria's Faculty of Veterinary Science, a second major curricular renewal was initiated as a result of several pressing drivers, many of which were unique to the national and institutional context. During the project, South African higher education was disrupted by student protests prompted by financial pressures on students, the overt colonial structure of higher education, and the need to accelerate transformation of the sector. A structured curricular renewal process was followed, including the laying down of the principles, the structuring the macro-curriculum as a story, the design of a meso- and micro-curriculum, and the mapping of the curriculum to Day One outcomes. The resulting program is a 6-year bachelor's degree with a blend of discipline and species modules, with the first cohort graduating in 2016. There is a strong focus on skills embodied in a 62-week experiential component, managed using a unique custom-designed online platform for booking placements, documenting exposure, assessing competency, and providing feedback to students. The experiential training includes a large elective component. Several causes of loss of impetus during the process are discussed and proposals are made for avoiding these. The value of accreditation as a driver and a source of inputs is evident. The process has succeeded in producing a significantly reshaped curriculum that has been well received by external stakeholders.
在比勒陀利亚大学兽医学院实施新课程四年后,由于诸多紧迫因素推动,启动了第二轮重大课程更新,其中许多因素在国家和院校背景下独具特色。在该项目实施期间,南非高等教育因学生抗议活动而受到干扰,这些抗议活动是由学生面临的经济压力、高等教育明显的殖民结构以及加速该领域转型的需求引发的。课程更新遵循了结构化流程,包括确定原则、将宏观课程构建成一个故事、设计中观和微观课程,以及将课程与入学首日的成果进行映射。最终形成的课程是一个为期6年的学士学位课程,融合了学科和物种模块,首批学生于2016年毕业。该课程非常注重在62周的实践环节中培养技能,通过一个独特的定制在线平台进行管理,用于安排实习、记录实践经历、评估能力以及向学生提供反馈。实践培训包括大量的选修内容。文中讨论了该过程中动力丧失的几个原因,并提出了避免这些情况的建议。认证作为推动因素和输入来源的价值显而易见。该过程成功产生了一个经过大幅重塑的课程,受到了外部利益相关者的好评。