Examining the alignment of subject learning outcomes and course curricula through curriculum mapping

Abstract

Content analysis has been used to conduct curriculum mapping to map the course objectives, course content, and the assessment tasks of 14 compulsory courses, onto the five Subject Learning Objective (SLO) factors of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction (DC&I) in a teacher education institution in Hong Kong. The results show that the SLO factors appear either as a cluster or a concentrated whole in the courses, suggesting a connective nature and dominated feature among them. The situation can be explained by the planned integrated learning experience as well as emphasis on specific SLO factors in response to change in educational context. Comparison of the coverage of SLO factors in the Bachelor of Education (BEd) and Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) is performed. The results suggest that the BEd program by design has more curriculum space for students to achieve this set of SLO factors than of the PGDE. It takes advantage of more curriculum space to adopt a spiral curriculum to facilitate complex learning in a logical progression. The study recommends that curriculum mapping is a useful tool to evaluate the extent to which the courses offered by an academic department are in alignment with its agreed SLOs. The methodologies can be used in other educational settings. Implications are made to enhance curriculum planning of teacher education programs.