These maps may be utilised for several purposes.  Some colleges and universities use them to start a discussion and share knowledge of curriculum among staff, while others may use them to analyse and improve curriculum by looking for gap, overlap, or sequencing issues.

A curriculum map consists of a table with two axes: one displaying learning outcomes and the other displaying the courses or activities in the programme.  The alignment of the outcomes and courses or activities is shown in the cells of the table.  

Operational maps allow areas that have action requirements to show the distance travelled for each of their objectives.