Seizing the moment: outcomes assessment,curriculum reform,and mpa education |
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Authors: | Robert F. Durant |
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Affiliation: | School of Public Affairs Division of Government and Public Administration , University of Baltimore , 1420 North Charles Street, Baltimore, Maryland, 21201-5779 |
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Abstract: | This article reviews a recent exercise in developing an outcomes-based capstone course for the MPA program at the University of Baltimore. Chronicled is the way a reversible logic approach to designing that course led ineluctably into a full-scale, outcomes-based, strategic planning exercise for the program as a whole. In the process, the department was able to craft a performance-based curriculum that attacked an “entitlement ethic” among students, that made the faculty more accountable for its actions in the classroom, that streamlined course offerings and content in mission-related ways, and that introduced a “continuous process improvement” ethic driven by constant feedback from the capstone course. |
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