Curriculum Development Consultant

Introduction:

The Islamic University of Gaza (IUG) has received a grant from the Quality Improvement Fund (QIF) - Education to Work Transition Project - Ministry of Education and Higher Education and funded by the World Bank for the project entitled: FreeSoft; The project aims to develop the competencies of IT graduates to integrate into freelancing and software outsourcing. Accordingly, IUG seeks the selection and employment of a highly-qualified curriculum development consultant.

Assignment Objective:

IUG is considering the selection of a professional and qualified consultant to be part of the consultation team, who will be responsible for reviewing and evaluating the current curriculum of the IT Programs, including course description and teaching methods, and designing the course outlines that need to be developed taking into consideration the Needs Assessment recommendations of the project. The consultant will also provide a new program curriculum map that is based-on the need of the local and regional market and the private sector in areas of freelancing and software outsourcing, and aims at upgrading the skills of the students and qualifying them to meet the needs of the market, thus, increasing the graduates’ chances of employment.

Main Tasks and Responsibilities:

The curriculum development consultant will be responsible for the following tasks:

1. Design and implement proper methodology to conduct this assignment.
2. Review the current academic curriculum for the IT programs (Information Technology, Computer Science, Software Development, Multimedia Technology and Web Development) and confirm the courses to be developed/revised, taking the Needs Assessment recommendations into consideration.
3. Suggest areas of interventions and needed actions to improve the course content, teaching methodologies, procedure, tasks, Project selection criteria, and outcomes for current courses.
4. Conduct a full “Curriculum Mapping” as an essential part of program curriculum development.
5. Develop and design at least new five courses with detailed outlines and description of each course after consulting with the steering committee and based on the Needs Assessment recommendations.
6. Develop the course syllabi that should include: the course topics, objectives, outcomes, plans, and schedule for developed courses. The course syllabi should also report the practical part of the course (e.g. lab work) along with its outcomes and relationship with the theoretical part.
7. Suggest a list of books and references needed to enrich the developed courses.
8. Provide external learning material that may include presentation slides, video lectures, and/or online resources for the theoretical and practical parts of the developed and revised courses.
9. Develop an instructor guides for the developed courses.
10. Define new trends and assessment techniques to be integrated into the courses.
11. Modify the developed courses after being tested based on students’ and staff feedback.
12. Lead two 4-hours workshops with targeted departments’ faculty members to use the modified curriculum.

Deliverables:

1. Draft Report to be submitted within (4) weeks of signing the agreement that includes the following:

• Comprehensive strength & weakness analysis report with detailed evaluation of the existing curricula of the targeted programs in terms of relevance to labor market needs including benchmarking of the current curriculum with the recommended actions.
• The areas to be upgraded and the needed improvements.
• First and final drafts of developed and revised curriculum for the IT programs courses including syllabuses, mapping, outlines, objectives, full course description and teaching methodologies and resources of (5) core courses based on the needs and requirements of the labor market.
• Final Comprehensive Report which documents all conducted activities, including but not limited to: methodologies, implemented activities, findings, recommendations, local market needs and proposed actions.
• 8 hours training targeting departments’ faculty members to use the modified curriculum.

Place of work: The Islamic University of Gaza.

Contract Type: Lump Sum Contract.

Contract Period: July 1st2018 - April 30th 2019.

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Qualifications & Skills:

Qualified consultant should hold the following:

• At least PhD in Information Technology, Computer Sciences, Computer Engineering or any related discipline from a recognized university.
• 5 years minimum work experience in higher education institutions.
• Proven experience in development, assessment and evaluation of curriculum, teaching and learning resources.
• Strong and proven experience working with Higher Education Quality Assurance standards and units.
• Experience in adapting Work-Based Learning (WBL) approach is preferred.
• Currently in touch with local market and aware of its needs.
• Excellent communication and networking skills.
• Excellent reporting and formal writing skills in both English and Arabic.

Application Process

Interested candidates should submit their CV along with relevant competencies and comprehensive experience record by email to [email protected] no later than 13th June, 2018.

The selection process follows World Bank recruiting policies and procedures. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.