Centre for Educational Development

• Life-long learning.
• Innovation and entrepreneurship.
• 21st century competencies.
• Promoting the citizenship.
• Curriculum based on economical, and social transformations at the local, regional, and international levels.

Aim

The aim of the CED in teaching and learning is to support Sohar University mission for being internationally recognized through the implementation of methods that help students to learn more successfully and actively. Learning outcomes at Sohar University are well defined, based on international standards and local needs. In addition, online surveys system is well established. The content and strategies set out in course profiles are coordinated with other courses at the program level and followed in practice to ensure effective progressive.

CED Teaching and Learning Duties

The CED is working together with all lecturers and streams at Sohar University to improve the quality of teaching and enhance active learning. Structured and well planned teaching approaches are required to achieve learning outcomes. Therefore, the major duties of the CED include:

1. Run workshops on course and program learning outcomes.
2. Analyze and map course learning outcomes.
3. Ensure the Integration at every level of the curriculum needs to be improved.
4. Monitor on a continuing basis with necessary adjustments made in offered programs to ensure continuing relevance and quality.

Objective

Ensure assessment practices are aligned with the curriculum, teaching and learning.

To achieve this objective, assessment practices will be guided by the following:

1. Provide guidelines and adopt highly contextualized and validated assessment models at all levels of the university instruction.
2. Design and implement assessment tasks that represent meaningful instructional activities within the mainstream educational assessment models.
3. Implement authentic and performance-based assessments by specifying correct and clear characteristics relating to content or skill focus.
4. Conduct and integrate feedback to reflect the curriculum and the needs and interests of the learners.

Types of Assessment Models

1. Performance or task based tests.
2. Alternatives to assessment.
3. Authentic assessments.

Assessment Protocols

1. Evaluate curriculum and course profiles to ensure learning outcomes are aligned and consistent with the assessment practices.
2. Conduct feedback sessions to all program and course coordinators.
3. Communicate meaningful assessment strategies to enhance teaching and learning.

Assessment Design Framework

1. Task based selection considering learning outcomes and classroom activities.
2. Framing of real world criteria/rating scale.
3. Writing of task descriptors.
4. Multiple raters’ reliability.

Feedback, Impact, and Washback

1. Discuss teachers’ specific instructional goals as matched with the instructional outcomes.
2. Determine specific, discipline based contents and skills that the students are expected to attain.
3. Discuss assessment practices in terms of fairness, appropriateness, and usefulness.
4. Outline different types and forms of assessment tasks: authentic-real world tasks, interdisciplinary tasks, and multidimensional tasks.

• Enhanced academic advising.
• Support classes e.g. Writing studio, Learning support (language, vocabulary, reading and speaking), special support classes for repeaters.
• Career counselling (especially for GFP students to help choose faculty of interest in future).
• Alumni meet.
• Job fairs.
• Student exchange/ visit to neighboring institutes.
• Community service (a day at an orphanage/ old people’s home).
• Campaigns (e.g. conducting environment awareness drive, cleanliness drive, green drive- plant a tree etc.).
• Youth festival (involving students across faculties and/ or neighboring colleges to conduct/ participate in various activities e.g. debates, poetry, essay writing, project display competitions etc.).