The following outlines the structure of a curriculum. Because the formatting does not use headers, it can be difficult to mechanically structure a curriculum. The output of a curriculum uses boldface, the horizontal ruler, and other non-structural formatting. The first task to prepare a curriculum for mechanical processing is to parse the content as output into the hierarchical structure.
The following is a structure outline of a curriculum:
This part contains specific instructions, criteria and examples of each section as previously mentioned.
The explanation should describe what the course covers and how it benefits students. Typically, the explanation is identical to the Need/Purpose in the Relationship to the College section. If extra context is added for the initial creation, be sure the long-term Need/Purpose is also included. The more specific the better.
you can use this standard catchall, “This proposal updates the course outline to current curriculum standards and practices.” You can also describe in detail what you changed and why. For off-cycle revisions: please describe the revisions done and the general reasons for those changes or the specific reasons for each change, whichever best suits your needs.
The standard explanation is, “Upon review, the department has determined that this course no longer meets the needs of our students.” You can use this or a more specific explanation.
The catalog description should be written in the present tense, using complete sentences, and for an audience of students interested in taking courses at this level but with little knowledge of the discipline. It should describe what the course covers. Spell out any acronyms the first time you use them. Avoid repetition, when possible. Avoid marketing pitches. However, you can speak directly to students, using the phrase, “Students develop skills in …” or similar sentences. Be sure to inform students if field trips are involved, if the course is repeatable, if there are TBA hours in the course, if the course is limited to only certain students, and if the course is Pass/No Pass only. Developers use “This course…”, “It covers…”, “It emphasizes…”, and “Topics include…” at the beginning of sentences. Using “Students develop/learn/refine” is increasingly common.
learning outcomes complete the following sentence: “Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to…” each SLO should begin with a lowercase letter and end with a period. learning outcomes should be measurable or demonstrable and should involve critical thinking. for transfer‐level courses (numbered 300 or higher), the majority of course objectives should begin with verbs from the Evaluation, Synthesis, and Analysis areas of the Bloom’s taxonomy chart. However, please keep in mind that the verbs should be used accurately with students in mind.
For transferable courses (300/400 level) that have both lecture and lab components, the committee’s policy is that lecture and lab topics should not be on the same line. Each line should be either all lecture topics or all lab topics. Non-transferable courses (sub-300) do not need to split lecture and lab.
The Methods of Instruction section describes the learning activities that instructors use to help students accomplish the learning outcomes for the course. Although the set of instruction methods is representative, please include enough information that an outside reader would get a sense of the course’s level of rigor. Please use the plural form if the activity occurs more than once in the course. For example, if there is only one lecture then use “lecture,” but if there are multiple lectures throughout the course then use “lectures.”
Common things to include: Lectures, demonstrations, media presentations, large-group discussions, small-group discussions, lab activities, projects, field trips, guest speakers, small-group activities, and student presentations.
Title 5, section 55002, states that a course outline must specify types or provide examples of required reading and writing assignments and other assignments to be completed outside of instructional time.
For this section, provide two representative examples of student assignments that would be completed outside of instructional time. All transfer-level courses are required to have students demonstrate critical reasoning, either through essay writing or problem-solving exercises, so please emphasize reading and writing assignments as appropriate to the discipline. Assignments described here should be included in the Methods of Instruction section. Assignments should include a length (e.g., two paragraphs, 3000 words, five-minute, or 3-5 pages).
Our current format establishes a clear connection between the assignments and the course objectives.
Please choose two SLOs from section 4 and write student assignments that address the SLOs directly. Make sure to use the exact SLO from the outline after giving the assignment example.
The following examples illsutrate the semantics and formatting (including the use of punctuation marks):
Sample Assignment #1: Scale of seventh chords assignment. Read chapter 3 in the text and listen to the lecture related to the scale of seventh chords. Practice the scale of sevenths as requested in skill drill 6. Be prepared to perform the scale of sevenths in any of the twelve major keys for your instructor. (Addresses SLO: perform the scale of sevenths at the piano in any key.)
Sample Assignment #2: Listen to the recorded example and follow the score of Miles Davis’ “Blue in Green.” Find the four-note voicings for each chord as explained in unit 4. Play the bass note in your left finger 5, the melody in your right finger 5, and the other two tones in your left and right thumbs. (Addresses SLO: apply four-note solo piano style at the keyboard from a lead sheet.)
The Evaluation Methods section answers the question: Upon what activities or products is a student’s grade based? This section is representative of the assessment and evaluation activities that departmental faculty may use to measure learning outcomes. Please be inclusive of multiple pedagogies and avoid deficit-minded assessments. Be as descriptive as possible.
Work to ensure that the evaluation methods assess the course’s current learning outcomes. Please use the plural form if the activity occurs more than once in the course. For example, if a single discussion is used to measure how well students meet an outcome, then use the singular “discussion,” but if there are multiple discussions throughout the course then use “discussions.”
Common things to include: Discussions, presentations, projects, portfolios, journals, written reports, essays, lab activities, exams. For courses which include DE, including “discussions” as an evaluation method is a best practice.
A representative list of textbooks gives discipline colleagues a sense of the content and level of difficulty of the course. Additionally, it’s required for articulation purposes.
Please enter textbook identification information in clearly labeled fields such as Title, Author, Publisher, Edition, and Year. On course outlines, Socrates displays this information in a preformatted style that approximates that of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA) style.
Recency of Texts: The UCs require textbooks on the COR be published in the past 5 to 6 years. This is required for UC transferability and Cal-GETC approval. If the text meets the traditional definition of a classic text for your field or is the preferred text in your discipline but is older than 5 to 6 years, please mark it “Classic” using the dropdown menu.
OER Update We encourage you to use OER material when possible. The core of the entry will stay the same with the only difference being you will enter the DOI or URL following the publisher. Please put a period between the publisher and the URL/DOI.
Authors: Invert authors’ names with the last name listed first, followed by initial(s). There should be a comma between the last name and initials of each author, and there should be a comma before the ‘and’ in a list with multiple authors.
Horowitz, M., French, K., Wallis, R. T., and Post, V. Rogers, M., and Whitaker, L. (Eds.) Horowitz, M., et al.
Year: If possible, use the most recent version of a textbook. For articulation, include at least one book published in the past five years.
Locally developed materials: If you create your own materials for a course, or if you provide content from multiple sources, then enter the phrase “Instructor-provided materials” or “Instructor-generated materials” as the title for a textbook, leaving the other fields blank.
If a course requires or if a specific offering might require students to have specific materials, please list them here. This might include having access to a mic and webcam for online offerings or specialized gear, software or materials for any modality. If no specific supplementary materials are needed, please leave this section blank.
Minimum requirements for a desktop or laptop for the virtual lab and software is a 8-core or greater processor, 32 GB RAM, 1TB storage space, video card with 5GB VRAM or greater.
Box of non-latex, powder-free gloves in your size
When this course is taught online, students might need access to a device with a camera and microphone, depending on instructor.
Genre-appropriate dance attire in any color and white-soled tennis shoes.
# 📘 Revised Custom GPT Instructions: American River College Curriculum Assistant
This GPT is designed to assist faculty participating in curriculum development and revision at American River College. Its operations follow the structural requirements of **Module 0460** and the expectations of the ARC Curriculum Committee.
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## 🛠 Treatment of Uploaded Curriculum Documents
When a faculty member uploads a curriculum document (e.g., a course outline):
1. **Immediate Parsing Required**
- Immediately parse the document into **Sections 1–15 according to Module 0460** upon upload.
- Parsing must occur automatically and without user prompting.
- **All Sections 1–15 must be captured in their entirety**; the GPT must not stop at partial parses.
- **Store the parsed content internally** — this becomes the **authoritative source** for all future operations (retrieval, revision, evaluation, comparison).
2. **Exclusive Use of Parsed Content**
- Once a document is parsed, all curriculum-related tasks must refer only to the internally parsed structure.
- **Do not use file search (`file_search`), semantic retrieval, or chunk-based lookups for any curriculum content under any circumstance.**
- **Do not quote, summarize, or infer from external representations** (e.g., PDF chunks, Markdown artifacts) after parsing.
- **Never substitute or infer content.** If a section has not been retrieved or parsed, state clearly: *“Section X not yet retrieved; unable to verify.”*
3. **Strict Fidelity to Source**
- Return each section **verbatim, exactly as it appears** in the uploaded document.
- Preserve all original language, formatting, and embedded alignment to objectives or SLOs.
- If a section is **missing, malformed, incomplete, or not retrieved**, state that fact **explicitly and transparently**.
- **Do not insert placeholders, inferred text, or substitute templated content** unless the user explicitly requests a modeled rewrite.
- **Prohibited language:** “likely,” “probably,” “typically,” or any inference about course identifiers, C-ID numbers, or articulation agreements.
4. **Section Retrieval Behavior**
- When retrieving any section (e.g., “Show Section 7”), always:
- Check that the internal parse is complete.
- Retrieve the exact section from the parsed internal structure.
- If the internal parse is incomplete, return: *“Section X is not yet retrieved; unable to verify until parsing is completed.”*
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## 🔍 Search & Handbook Functionality
Use the modular Curriculum Handbook only **when the user asks about curriculum rules, practices, or committee policies** — not for course content.
- Search only the modular knowledge files indexed in `000_Master_Index.md`.
- Match queries to module hooks and **cite the module(s)** (e.g., Module 020 for course proposal types).
- Do not use handbook content to generate or substitute course outline material.
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## ✅ Evaluation Protocol
When evaluating a curriculum submission:
1. Ensure the content has been successfully parsed using **Module 0460**.
2. Evaluate each section for:
- Completeness
- Formatting
- Clarity
- Alignment with SLOs and DEI/IDEAA principles
3. **Quote directly and exclusively** from the parsed document.
- If a section is not retrieved, state this fact. Do not infer.
- If correction is needed after a missed parse, acknowledge the cause (e.g., “Section not retrieved during initial parse; now verified”).
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## ✅ Revision Protocol
When asked to revise curriculum:
1. Parse the existing document using **Module 0460**.
2. Identify deficiencies or outdated elements.
3. Pay close attention to:
- **Section 7 (Typical Student Assignments):** Must be specific, aligned with SLOs, and pedagogically clear.
- Overall formatting against current handbook standards
4. **Never substitute from a generic template** unless the user explicitly requests a modeled example.
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# 📌 Key Additions in This Revision
- Mandatory **complete parse of all Sections 1–15**.
- Explicit rule: **state “not retrieved” if a section is missing, never infer or guess**.
- Prohibited use of “likely” or other speculative phrasing.
- Correction protocol: If an error comes from partial parsing, the GPT must note it explicitly when corrected.