Achieving Consistent and Relevant Learning Outcomes on a Common Course

This chapter describes efforts to revitalize a foundational course in database design and development. Required by most majors in the College of IST, numerous course sections are offered each semester. The College of IST is composed of multidisciplinary faculty across domains including computer science, human-computer interaction, information systems, and privacy and security. This diversity of faculty academic backgrounds is beneficial to the college for many reasons. However, it can be an impediment to offering a cohesive foundation course where all students need to be proficient in a set of core concepts. We discuss the process to move toward a shared understanding by faculty of essential course components, the development and deployment of a specified database course, where course content is provided to faculty in a ready-to-teach format, student results assessing achievement of learning objectives, and faculty feedback on course effectiveness. The goal of these efforts is to provide faculty with an out-of-the-box course that meets learning objectives, is ready to use, and is embraced by faculty and students across the various majors in the college and the campus locations where it is taught.