Develop a program curriculum and map learning outcomes to certification
In this unit, you'll look at four general approaches to designing a new cloud computing degree program that has certification implemented:
- Program design and structure.
- Program learning outcomes.
- Program courses and learning outcomes.
- Curriculum mapping for certification outcomes.
Understanding the available options can help you learn how to implement Microsoft certifications inside a degree program.
Program design and structure
When an educator develops any degree program, one of their first tasks is to select the topics that will be part of the program’s core offering. To implement distinct cloud computing courses that are part of an institution's overall program and that align with specific industry areas, educators need an understanding of industry needs and the related job market. Creating a draft visual representation of the program structure and courses, as shown in the following figure, is a meaningful way to communicate the vision of the program to other stakeholders, such as to other educators, industry advisors, and students.
It's common for specialist computing programs to include a selection of core computer science courses that are broadly aligned to and supportive of specialist courses. In the preceding figure, the courses in light blue and marked with an asterisk are specialist cloud courses.
When the program structure is completely formed, specialist courses are selected to embed certification. In the context of the cloud computing program example, the following academic courses were selected for embedded certification:
- Cloud Computing & Administration
- Cloud Data Platforms & Tools
Let's look at the Cloud Data Platforms & Tools course to understand how course learning outcomes are mapped to certification outcomes.
Curriculum mapping for certification outcomes
In the preceding unit, the Cloud Data Platforms & Tools course is an example that shows implementing certification and mapping academic outcomes to certification outcomes.
The course’s academic (conceptual and practical) learning outcomes are to:
- Critically evaluate and define data concepts for relational, non-relational, and Binary Large OBject (BLOB) object data (a conceptual outcome).
- Design and deploy core components of a cloud data storage solution (a practical outcome).
- Critically evaluate and discuss cloud-based transactional, batch, and streaming data processing approaches (a conceptual outcome).
These academic learning outcomes map broadly to the certification outcomes for the DP-900 Microsoft Azure Data Fundamentals course, shown in the next section. Mapping outcomes implements the DP-900 course learning materials as part of the academic course, and it provides coverage for embedding the DP-900 certification exam for academic credit. The course offers the certification exam for academic credit, and students have an opportunity to study both academic concepts and industry technologies as part of their learning experience.
Curriculum mapping for certification outcomes
| Course learning outcomes | DP-900 |
|---|---|
| Critically evaluate and define data concepts for relational, non-relational, and BLOB object data. |
|
| Design and deploy the core components of a cloud data storage solution. |
|
| Critically evaluate and discuss cloud-based transactional, batch, and streaming data processing approaches. |
|
In courses that implement certification for academic credit, it's essential to maintain the academic integrity of the course and to align the certification content to academic content. As shown in the preceding table, correctly mapping course learning outcomes to certification outcomes provides coverage both for conceptual and for practical components.
Because certification content is constantly evolving, we recommend that educators follow certification developments and ensure that courses cover new areas. For example, the DP-900 certification course, which is part of the Cloud Data Platform & Tools course, went through a content update during the first phase of cloud program development. Educators should expect these kinds of changes to occur anytime during the academic year.
As part of the assessment strategy for an academic course that implements certification, the program team must choose an appropriate academic weighting for the certification piece. For example, a course might be allocated 15 academic credits, with each credit equal to approximately 10 hours of study time. With this approach, 5 credits can be allocated to a single certification course that has an exam, with the remaining credit allocated to academic coursework, as shown in the following figure. Institutions will have different policies for academic credit and weighting allocation, so the amount of credit will vary by institution.
