2013 Portland Summer Sustainability Institute
Curriculum Revision Plan
Portland Community College’s Technical Education for High Performance in Landscaping, Operations,
Construction, and Architectural Design/Drafting/Interior Design (LOCATE) grant, funded by the National
Science Foundation, offers the Summer Sustainability Institute (SSI). The SSI is designed to support faculty
in revising their curriculum to integrate current sustainability concepts, methods, theories, and practices to
help prepare students for careers in high performance design, construction, maintenance and other fields.
Section I: Curriculum Revision Plan Objectives
The SSI Curriculum Revision Plan helps guide participants’ development of new and/or revised course
curriculum with the following objectives:
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Identify integration of newly acquired SSI knowledge into revised curriculum.
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Align course revisions with current sustainability concepts, theories, and practices.
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Document course content changes and/or additions instructors intend to make in their courses along
with related changes to instructional practice.
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Determine the impact on students that SSI participants expect from their course revisions such as:
○
Improvement of awareness and knowledge of sustainability issues, principles and practices;
○
Development of new skills relative to sustainability practices;
○
Application of new knowledge and skills in school projects and other learning activities;
○
Change in student perceptions and/or choices of courses, degree programs, or careers.
Ensure curriculum and assessment plans contain descriptions of essential elements for effective
instruction, such as:
○
Identify specific and measurable outcomes that students will demonstrate;
○
Instructional modes to be used for specific content (e.g. lecture, hands-on learning, demo, etc.);
○
Instructional tools used for specific content (e.g. multimedia, technology, equipment, materials);
○
Assessment strategies to measure student outcome and skill attainment (e.g. test, presentation,
portfolio, observation by instructor, etc.).
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Section II: Curriculum Revision Plan
Revision of at least one course is a requirement of the SSI program. The overall purpose of this Curriculum
Revision Plan is to help you organize your ideas in a way that will facilitate integration of your sustainability
training into your courses. Revisions should include some new or modified content and possible adoption
of new instructional techniques.
Please submit your completed Curriculum Revision Plan by August 23 to Heidi Sickert, LOCATE Project
Director, in person at the Summit or at heidi.sickert@pcc.edu. You will have an opportunity to share your
ideas with each other during the SSI Summit in August and via our web page at www.locate-stte.org. Note
that parts of your plan may be combined with other faculty input for use in LOCATE SSI evaluation reports,
but names and identifying information will be removed to ensure anonymity. We also appreciate all
suggestions to help us improve the LOCATE SSI program.
Table 1. Course(s) to Revise
Identify the course(s) you plan to revise using knowledge and skills gained from the SSI.
College/School
Why did you choose this/these course(s) for revision?
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Course Number & Title
Table 2. Impact of Curriculum Revision Goals
Describe the expected changes in sustainability awareness, knowledge and skills that you expect your
students to demonstrate as a result of your curriculum revisions.
Highlight “Yes” or “No” for each revision goal. Then, briefly explain your expectations.
Curriculum Revision Goal
Yes
No
Improvement of student awareness and
knowledge of sustainability issues, principles
and practices.
Yes
No
Demonstration of new knowledge and skills
relative to sustainability practices.
Yes
No
Application of new sustainability knowledge
and skills in school projects and other
learning activities.
Yes
No
Change in student perceptions and/or
choices of sustainability-related courses,
degree programs, or careers.
Yes
No
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Describe Expected Change
Section III: Curriculum Revision Description
Use the following guidelines and tables to identify the learning objectives and instructional techniques you
plan to revise in your course(s). They are designed to help you organize your plan for adding content
and/or new student learning activities to the course(s) you teach.
Please copy and paste additional tables, if needed for multiple courses.
Table 3a. Learning Outcomes
New or revised learning outcomes are essential for effective curriculum revisions. Please identify at least
two student learning outcomes and list them below. The outcomes should describe exactly what you
expect students to be able to do, related to sustainability, after taking your course.
Write these outcomes using action verbs, rather than in general terms like “understand”, which is hard to
assess. Reference the Verbs for Measurable Learning Objectives (at the end of this document) for help in
setting specific learning goals for student attainment of sustainability knowledge and skills.
Course Number and
Title:
Students completing this course will be able to:
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Table 3b. New Instructional Methods
Describe any new instructional methods you plan to use as a result of your SSI experience to help achieve
your new learning outcomes, such as: inclusion of technical content from relevant journals; videos and
other multimedia; new projects; guest lecturers; hands-on learning activities and labs; service learning
program; etc.
New Methodology: Identify any new instructional methods you plan to integrate into your course(s).
Please include the name of the course(s) in which you will incorporate each new instructional method.
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How do you expect the new instructional method(s) to increase your students’ development and
application of sustainability knowledge and skills?
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Table 3c. Student Assessment
Student assessment should be closely aligned with each learning outcome, to ensure that students
demonstrate active use of new knowledge by solving problems, making critical decisions, or creating new
information or products from what they learn.
Assessment of new skills may require a few new test questions or they might require direct observation of
new tasks or collaborative work. To make your observations consistent and accurate, you may wish to
create a checklist or rubric that enables you to assign ratings of student performance (e.g., excellent, good,
acceptable, poor).
Describe assessment methods to determine achievement of specific learning outcomes. Please identify
and list the course(s) in which you will incorporate your described assessment methods.
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Section IV: Curriculum Revision Summary
Please provide below a brief description of your curriculum changes. Please include in the description:

3-5 sentences describing your course (or each course), and

3-5 sentences that specifically describe how and what you’ve changed in your course as a result of
your participation in the LOCATE SSI.
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Addendum: Curriculum Revision Plan Feedback
1. How has the SSI shaped your curriculum revision process?
2. How can the SSI approach to the curriculum revision process be improved?
3. Please describe the major challenges you encountered in revising your curriculum?
4. What instructional resources (aside from additional funding) do you need to help your students
reach their learning goals in the courses revised as a result of your SSI experience?
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Verbs for Measurable Learning Goals or Outcomes
add
alter
analyze
apply
arrange
articulate
assemble
build
calculate
calibrate
categorize
chart
check
choose
classify
collect
combine
communicate
compare
compile
complete
chart
compute
conduct
connect
construct
contrast
convert
coordinate
correct
criticize
critique
decrease
defend
define
demonstrate
derive
describe
design
designate
detect
develop
diagram
differentiate
discriminate
dissect
distinguish
distribute
divide
document
draw
duplicate
eliminate
employ
estimate
evaluate
execute
expand
explain
express
extend
extract
extrapolate
find
finish
formulate
generate
group
guide
identify
illustrate
include
increase
indicate
insert
integrate
isolate
label
list
locate
manipulate
map
mark
match
measure
modify
name
number
order
organize
outline
paraphrase
perform
place
plan
plot
position
predict
prepare
present
propose
prove
provide
rearrange
recall
reconstruct
regroup
relate
remove
reorganize
rephrase
replace
report
reproduce
restate
restructure
score
select
show
signify
sketch
solve
sort
state
structure
suggest
summarize
support
translate
troubleshoot
verify
write
Recommendations for Setting Learning Outcomes and Planning Student Assessment
Understanding: It is challenging to assess whether students “understand” a particular concept or principle, so try to create a task that will
verify their understanding. Students should be able to demonstrate their capability to use new knowledge to make decisions or
communicate information to others. Some examples: apply a principle in a particular context, find a solution to a problem, compare and
contrast ideas, assess a sustainability plan or practice, or perform a new skill and explain why it is important.
Quality and Value of Assessment: Regardless of your chosen method for measuring student learning, try to insure your outcomes can be
measured. Use specific criteria to grade students, while providing feedback that supports improvement.
Standards: If you are using established industry or educational standards, please list them as part of your learning objectives. Include a
reference citation (publication or Internet URL) where the standards may be found.
New Teaching Methods and Strategies: You may decide to use a new teaching method or change your student learning environment as a
result of your SSI experience. New methods can be simple or complex, but consider the purpose and how best to integrate the method(s)
into your course(s).
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