http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3 http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/v3/mods-3-2.xsd
Developing a homeland security curriculum
a case study in outcomes-based education
In 2007, I began research for my doctoral dissertation on what a curriculum in an undergraduate degree in homeland security should look like. At that time, the field of homeland security was a nascent discipline, and as such it did not have a standardized academic curriculum. There were several institutions of higher learning in the United States that were offering degrees in homeland security, but no consensus existed on what the curriculum should contain. This is what prompted me to perform a case study, gathering input from a body of subject matter experts as to what these experts felt were the necessary learning objectives for an undergraduate degree in homeland security. The research project used a qualitative, case study methodology to examine and validate the results of earlier studies on homeland security curriculum development. I used a consensus-driven, iterative Delphi technique to survey a sample of homeland security experts to ascertain their ideas on what elements should comprise an undergraduate degree in homeland security and then compared the data with earlier research projects. The participants in the study identified a list of 15 core academic areas with a set of 50 associated program-specific objectives and a list of eight overarching program objectives that in their eyes could comprise a standardized model homeland security curriculum. I felt that adoption of such a model curriculum would not only aid in standardization but could be a precursor for an institution seeking program accreditation in the field of academic homeland security.