At Southwest Wisconsin Technical College (SWTC), in Fennimore, Wis., course curriculum development includes below-the-line learning plans, assessments and rubrics. Kristal Davenport, Instructional Technology Support Specialist, maintains the WIDS curriculum design and management system simplifies program management and the process of linking program outcomes to course components. Moreover, it streamlines Technical Skill Attainment (TSA) development and tracking.
Moving to Web-based WIDS was straightforward, according to Davenport. As part of the transition, all curriculum files across SWTC were uploaded to the new WIDS portal. Pre-launch meetings with WIDS Consultant Terri Johnson helped Davenport lead the College in making key customizations to the WIDS portal and application.
“The first day, we worked with the site administrator to layout how to manage the site, upload files, customize libraries and input core abilities,” says Johnson.
“I had a lot of reservations about WIDS,” adds Davenport, “but the final product has sold me. “It’s exceeded my expectations and will work really well with a lot of different departments. The flexibility to create personalized fields, such as attaching a budget field indicating who funded and developed the curriculum, is great.”
Davenport celebrates the relational database that serves as the foundation of the new WIDS. Any changes made in any part of a curriculum project are instantaneously made everywhere else in the curriculum.
“All of our faculty write their own curriculum using WIDS and we use WIDS as part of our Quality Review Process,” says Davenport. “Our next goal is to put all program outcomes into WIDS and train our faculty on how to link those outcomes to their courses.”
Now, SWTC curriculum specialists can instantly see all courses, the dates they were last revised, and the name of the person who revised them. This simplifies the QRP process greatly, according to Davenport.
Finally, TSA assessments, which allow evaluators to determine if students are meeting core program outcomes or not, will be easier to develop, manage and track. The assessments, according to Davenport, measure student achievement of industry-relevant program outcomes.