Curriculum change is a complex process that requires time and commitment. It involves the development of a new curriculum framework that is responsive to pedagogical insights, technological advancements, and student needs. It also includes the building of a community of practice and capacity-building to support the implementation of the curriculum. In addition, a strong culture of evaluation is needed to ensure that progress is measured and communicated.
Despite the importance of these components, many curriculum changes do not achieve their intended outcomes. One reason may be that they fail to identify key concerns of the people involved in the curriculum change and take them into consideration. In this article, the authors explore the importance of recognizing individual concerns about a proposed curriculum change and provide recommendations for addressing these concerns.
The method for collecting data for this study was the Stages of Concern (SoC) questionnaire and personal interviews with selected faculty and staff. Paper copies of the SoC questionnaire were distributed in May 2005 to 60 members of full-time basic science faculty and clinical chairs at our institution as well as select clinical faculty and staff with active teaching responsibilities at all levels.
In the interview data, respondents recognized a general resistance to change as a problem in moving forward with curriculum reform. They also identified a lack of knowledge about the five curriculum design elements and how they could be implemented in their own individual situations as areas of concern. They recommended that the committee leaders and curriculum implementation team develop and implement a system for documenting and communicating about the curriculum change process in order to better address concerns of faculty and staff.