About Us
As college faculty, we have become experts in studying distinctions at the expense of losing sight of connections. We have developed curriculum within the isolation of the academy, around tables where only faculty are present. Our curriculum design process, more often than not, focuses on what new topic should be covered, in which course it should be covered, and which faculty member wants to cover it. It’s as if we see ourselves living and working in a laboratory that is separate from the rest of life. It’s a process that will no longer survive the scrutiny of accreditation.
Accreditation aside, it is doubtful the process can continue to be useful or make a difference for students. To this end, we are committed to assisting faculty and others in realizing how different plans, designs and approaches can begin to lead to realistic curriculum reconstruction.
Dr. Ruth Stiehl is best known in community college circles as the author of The OUTCOMES Primer: Reconstructing the College Curriculum, which is being used by community and technical colleges in the states and provinces. The OUTCOMES Primer provides colleges with a process for thinking about learning outcomes and assessment in preparation for meeting emerging curriculum standards. At the present, Ruth consults with community and technical colleges in the United States and Canada.
A thought leader in the area of systemic thinking as it applies to learning and learning organizations, Ruth holds the position of Professor Emeritus at Oregon State University, and taught in the Community College Leadership Doctoral Program where she directed numerous research studies related to instructional systems during her tenure of 30 years. Prior to working with technical and community colleges, Ruth directed the graduate studies program in Training and Development for business and industry at Oregon State. She is author or co-author of six books on instructional systems and resides in Corvallis, Oregon.
Dr. Les Lewchuk holds the position of Professor Emeritus at Kwantlen University College in British Columbia, where he taught courses in organizational behavior and operations management with emphasis on leadership development. His experience and expertise also lies in instructional systems development and curriculum design where he has successfully developed and implemented a variety of online, print and other non-traditional learning strategies.
As founder and director of Strategic Concepts Inc, Les worked in both public and private sectors to facilitate strategic initiatives and special projects related to organizational effectiveness. He has done extensive work with documentation design and creating models and frameworks to visually illustrate ideas and enhance electronic, online and written work.
Les is also co-author of The MAPPING Primer: Tools for Reconstructing the College Curriculum and The ASSESSMENT Primer: Creating a Flow of Learning Evidence and has designed and developed outcomes-based learning environments using Moodle, WebCT and related systems.