Return to CADE

CADE Seminar

The Competency Assessment in Distributed Education (CADE) Course Design Seminar
Offered by: The Jesuit Distance Education Network (JesuitNET)

In the CADE seminar faculty gain experience designing competency-based curriculum.

Consistent with the goals of Jesuit education, the CADE seminar offers an approach and set of tools to facilitate the process of thinking about and developing a course based on the competencies students need to acquire, and the affective characteristics of Jesuit education that support decision-making. The seminar materials are intended to provide faculty with new ways of thinking about teaching and learning, regardless of whether a course is taught face-to-face, in a hybrid manner, or completely online.

The six-week seminar is not a prescriptive, step-by-step program, but rather a conceptual framework in which to think about the important aspects of curriculum design. During the seminar, faculty participate in face-to-face and online conversations about important aspects of curriculum design, complete reflective exercises that help them formulate and clarify their learning goals, and apply their learning to the design of a course.

The backward design process used in CADE helps faculty:

• Develop a personal model of teaching and learning as it relates to Ignatian tradition and spirituality
• Identify competencies they want students to develop in a given course
• Articulate how students will demonstrate mastery of their knowledge
• Describe appropriate assessment techniques for evaluating mastery of learning
• Clarify expectations for students based on level of expertise with a subject matter domain
• Identify content for a course based on the specific type of knowledge to be learned
• Create a detailed course outline
• Apply appropriate teaching methods given the specific knowledge to be learned

CADE Participant Requirements

A Commitment to Learn:
Jesuit education is both formational and transformational. The CADE seminar is as much about learning what it means to teach in the Ignatian tradition as it is about learning how to design pedagogically sound courses. Learning about Ignatian Pedagogy and how to apply it in the context of one’s teaching practice requires time to reflect, imagine, and create. CADE participants are also encouraged to experiment with new technologies during the seminar and work collaboratively with IT staff and librarians to expand their thinking.  It is estimated the activities in the CADE seminar require approximately sixty hours, and can be completed over a six – eight week interval.

Teaching Modality:
At the start of the CADE seminar, faculty participate in a two-day face-to-face workshop to review the curriculum design process and to meet other colleagues who will form the learning community. The CADE seminar material is made available to participants online so that they can access it from anywhere and at anytime. Faculty are required to log into the online site on a weekly basis, access the online learning materials, and complete the exercises according to the schedule provided in the seminar.

A major requirement for all learning is the active and ongoing participation in class discussions. CADE participants engage in seminar discussions that are both asynchronous (anytime, anyplace), and synchronous (2-3 conference calls between individual faculty and facilitators during the six - eight week seminar). Faculty can choose to participate in conference calls using technology such as Skype or G-chat, or by telephone. These conversations occur every 2-3 weeks and serve as design reviews whereby the faculty member can address any existing questions, concerns, or issues.

Portfolio Assignments:
Each participant prepares a design portfolio that consists of six worksheets and accompanying narratives.  Each worksheet addresses an important and necessary step in the curriculum design process. The portfolio is developed throughout the four seminar modules, becoming a cumulatively more detailed document that is purposeful and useful at each stage of preparation. At the completion of the seminar, the portfolio serves as a detailed design document for a face-to-face, hybrid, or online course. 
 
Intended Audience:
The CADE seminar is appropriate for all full-time and adjunct faculty regardless of discipline and intended instructional delivery mode (face-to-face, hybrid and online).  Instructional design staff, librarians and other professionals involved in the development and support of Ignatian education will also benefit from the seminar.

The CADE Seminar has been offered to more than five-hundred faculty and staff at AJCU and AUSJAL schools to develop individual courses, certificate and complete graduate degree programs. The seminar is appropriate for supporting the efforts of AJCU Centers of Teaching and Learning and faculty development initiatives.

Please contact Dr. Kathleen Snyder for additional information or to schedule a CADE seminar.

Dr. Kathleen Snyder
Director of Curriculum Development, JesuitNET
ksnyder@jesuit.net
(805) 895-4798