Mapping skills across the curriculum

Jackie Reid & Janelle Wilkes

The following resources can be used to develop a curriculum map of any set of skills or attributes for any degree program. The resources include spreadsheet tools for mapping the set of skills across a single unit or subject.

Information that can be recorded includes:

  • the unit/subject code
  • the teaching period(s) in which the unit/subject is offered in an academic year
  • an identification number (ID) for each skill
  • whether the skill is taught (T), practised (P) and/or assessed (A)
  • which week(s) of the teaching period each of these activities occur
  • the level of proficiency at which each skill is taught, practised or assessed

The unit/subject maps for a particular degree can then be merged to produce a map across a complete academic year of study.

Process Overview (please refer to the detailed instructions below before use)

The tool allows the development, distribution and analysis of skills assessment questionnaires. The developer opens the file, Qbuild.xlsm and uses the Skill Analysis ribbon tab to create a questionnaire. After defining the parameters to be assessed, the 'Publish' button produces a questionnaire Qskill.xlsm (from Qblank.xlsm) for distribution to unit coordinators. When opened the coordinator is prompted to select their unit from a list and to complete the questionnaire. The finished questionnaire is submitted to the developer by email or saved to a shared drive. The developer uses the 'Compile' button to select and join submissions before analysis of the results.

Detailed instructional material to assist users along with the necessary developer tools are included below.

  1. ReadMe.rtf - read this first!
  2. Developer-tools.zip - save to your device and keep contents in same folder when unzipped

Please note: the developer tools require a Windows version of Microsoft Excel 2007 or later. They will not work on mobile devices unless they are running a full version of Microsoft Excel (e.g. MS Surface) and will not work on Mac OS devices. For further assistance, please contact Janelle Wilkes

Reference:

Details of the development and applications of these tools can be found in:

Reid, J. & Wilkes, J. (2016). Developing and applying quantitative skills maps for STEM curricula, with a focus on different modes of learning,International Journal of Mathematics Education in Science and Technology, DOI: 10.1080/0020739X.2016.1144814

Acknowledgments:

Funding for this project has been provided by the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching. The project reported has ethics approval (UNE HE14:175).

We would like to thank Chris Cooper, whose skills in VBA coding were fundamental to the creation of these tools.