Degree Structure and Design

decorative imageStructure and design are key concepts in planning a degree. Just as in a kaleidoscope or a puzzle, the pieces of an academic degree need to stick together to show a pattern of learning, because a degree is more than just a collection of individual courses. A college degree means that you know certain information and have certain skills but, more importantly, that you have consciously considered relationships among skills and information and have experienced some learning that “makes sense” as a whole.

How do the pieces make sense? What holds them together? The pieces are held together by the linkages you create as you investigate relationships among your courses and your goals, academic skills, and professional needs.

decorative imageThe Association of American Colleges publication on The Challenge of Connecting Learning talks about degree structure and design.  Both ESC and the Association of American Colleges stress coherence and connection as key aspects of college degrees.

How do these relatively abstract concepts translate into concrete pieces in your degree? You can apply them in this way:

  • A degree needs to include components that introduce you to the various aspects and history of a field, as well as courses designed to teach the ways of asking and answering questions—the ways of thinking critically—that the field employs.
  • A degree needs to include study in a variety of fields so that you start to understand different ways of thinking critically about your world and gain perspective on how different fields of study relate to one another.
  • A degree with a concentration needs to have an overall structure appropriate to the field.
  • A degree with a concentration needs to have a beginning (introductory courses), middle (specific knowledge and methodology in the field), and end (chances to blend and apply knowledge and reflect on overall learning in the field).

These characteristics are still relatively general and can be interpreted in many ways. Yet they are essential to the creation of a college degree. You need to consider the concept of degree structure and design as you create your own pattern for your degree, to make sure that the pieces relate and build upon one another.  Progression, integration, and breadth are all aspects of degree design. Much of your work with your mentor will focus on creating a structure for your degree.

Progression

Progression means that courses show development in understanding and depth.  Bachelor’s degree concentrations have a) introductory courses in which you learn the vocabulary and general considerations of a field, b)  intermediate courses in which you learn the methodologies and applications used by practitioners in the field, and c) more advanced courses in which you learn how to analyze results of those methodologies and applications.

Integration

Integration means that there is some connection among some of the courses in the degree, not only in the concentration, but also between general learning and concentration courses. An integrated degree means that you have some courses that support and enhance one another.

For example, degrees with concentrations in human services usually integrate courses in psychology and sociology to better grasp societal influences on people. Degrees with concentrations in literature usually integrate studies in history to provide a way to understand the literature of a certain time period. Degrees with concentrations in business usually integrate courses in sociology and communications to provide better understanding of how to communicate with individuals and groups.

Breadth

Breadth deals with the scope of studies in the degree, and the idea that a degree encompasses many fields of study.  The SUNY General Education Requirement focuses on one way of developing breadth in a degree, by taking courses in different areas (math, natural science, social science, American history, western civilization, other world civilizations, humanities, arts, foreign language, basic communication). Another way to create breadth in a degree is to make sure that you have an variety of courses in a concentration (e.g., a concentration in literature would not be broad enough if it included courses in just one time period, type of literature, or culture).  Still another way to create breadth in a degree is to consider the areas of knowledge, investigative methods, and supportive studies that professionals in a certain area need to know—and to use the answers to help choose a broad base of courses for the degree.

Questions to Help You Consider Degree Design

  • How do certain courses in the degree link with, support, and/or enhance one another (e.g., do some pieces of your general learning relate to and enhance studies in your concentration?)
  • Is there an overall structure or design to your degree, a certain focus or line of inquiry?
  • How have you addressed progression, or movement from introductory- to advanced-level coursework, especially if you are designing a concentration for a bachelor’s degree?