Concept Mapping as an Innovative Tool for Curriculum Development

In the last decennium learning outcomes became a key factor in quality assurance in higher education in Europe causing an increased interest in methodologies for specifying learning outcomes of a study programme. At the Faculty of Engineering Science, KU Leuven, the ACQA (Academic Competence and Quality Assurance) framework [1] was adopted and implemented. Competence profiles based on ACQA criteria were compiled for all engineering programmes and actively used in accreditation procedures, quality assurance and curriculum development [2]. Despite the proven value of the use of learning outcomes and competence profiles in curriculum development, education developers at the Faculty of Engineering Science felt a need for additional tools to analyse the curriculum with the feeling of ownership as an important additional scope. The use of concepts to analyse the curriculum felt to be very approachable and open to large groups of lecturers. In general, concept mapping is a visual representation of ideas designed to illustrate the relationships between ideas. Previous experiences with concept mapping as a tool for course design proved to be inspiring to elaborate these principles to a curriculum level. In this paper, we will describe the use of concepts and concept mapping as an innovative tool for curriculum development. The use of diverse formats of concept mapping at the Faculty of Engineering Science will be described and discussed in the context of qualitative support in curriculum development. References [1] Meijers A., van Overveld C., Perrenet J. Criteria for Academic Bachelor and Master Curricula. Technische Universiteit Eindhoven (2005), Eindhoven, The Netherlands. [2] Londers E., Berbers Y., Buyse MP., De Proft M., Froyen L. ACQA: an instrument for accreditation and quality assurance in engineering curricula. Proceedings of SEFI 2011 (2011).status: publishe