Self-Study Guide • Curriculum Design

Once identified and organized, the Curriculum Committee is in position to begin designing the specific components of the actual curriculum, required and elective courses, internships, independent study, off-campus opportunities, cross-department registration, dual degree options, evening programs, and a variety of additional configurations that the Committee may want to consider in designing a curriculum that fits and endures within their SPH setting.

A. Degree requirements

1. Examine the degree requirements for all SPH departments and how the genetics curriculum will fit with a variety of theoretical student profiles (M.P.H., M.S., Ph.D., combined degree, undergraduate students, and evening and weekend students).
2. Consider whether new public health genetics course(s) can supplement or even substitute for school-wide requirements.
3. Identify and anticipate what regularly occurring student and faculty issues may have an impact on the curriculum (e.g., sabbaticals, rotation of Curriculum Committee members, new student mentoring by enrolled students, student and faculty attendance at specific genetics meetings, etc.).

B. Course selection and design

1. Evaluate the courses that already exist within the SPH, medical school, ancillary health programs, undergraduate curricula, and neighboring institutions for their potential as required, elective, or equivalent courses.
2. If a decision is made to add new courses, consider when they will be offered and take into account the time slots already occupied by school-wide required courses.

C. Curriculum selection:
Evaluate curriculum design options congruent with the interests of the Committee and the SPH. These might include:

1. ONE COURSE. A single, elective course, either an introductory genetics or a genetics in public health application may be what the Committee determines best suits their educational environment.
2. A CONCENTRATION. Another option is a sequence of specific courses which upon completion constitutes a concentration or focus in genetics. This sequence might include required courses, electives, and/or an internship experience.
3. AN INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE. A genetics-related internship experience, may be a stand-alone option for interested students, or may be part of a more specialized concentration or degree program. Our own experience was that genetics-related internships were enthusiastically welcomed by both the students and the agencies within which students were placed.
4. DEGREE SPECIALIZATION. An SPH may prefer a new specialized degree in genetics, such as genetic epidemiology, or public health genetics. Obviously, this is a more involved structure and is likely to require faculty recruitment, training grants, and laboratory rotations.

D. Advisory committee:
Consider whether the curriculum will benefit from an advisory committee, whether internal or external, to advise on the direction, success, and promotion of the curriculum program.

E. Supplementary activities:
Evaluate existing genetics-related opportunities that may be available on campus, within the following:

1. MEDICAL SCHOOL. Available opportunities may include: genetics grand rounds, case conferences, ethics committee activities, genetics journal clubs, or one-on-one mentoring.
2. BASIC SCIENCE DEPARTMENTS. Opportunities may include: short course offerings on human genetics topics, seminar series, guest lecturers, journal clubs, or one-on-one mentoring. Undergraduate curriculum opportunities may include: seminar series, biology department speaker series, guest lecturers in genetics courses, or campus invited speakers
3. NEIGHBORING INSTITUTIONS. Any of the above activities may be available at a neighboring institution that might welcome this opportunity for interinstitutional and academic cooperation.

F. Evaluation:
We encourage initiating a broad view of evaluation resources available through your institution. Program evaluation is vital to understanding and improving all curriculum offerings. Specific evaluation information is provided under the curriculum section of this web site. Additionally, many institutions have evaluation expertise available through a teaching and learning resource center. At the University of Michigan, this resource is the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT), valuable in developing evaluation components, and also in many other aspects of the curriculum development.

TOP

Introduction | Self-Study Guide | Curriculum | Student Testimonials | Links

Home | UM SPH

In you have any questions, please contact: geneticsed@umich.edu