Module 2 Course Development

Kathleen Burnett, FSU

Linda Smith, UIUC

Harry Bruce, UW

Outline

• Administrivia

- Volunteers Needed for Week 3

• Instructional System Design Process

- Designing Effective Courses

- Rethinking the Role of the Course Outline

• Steps in Planning a Course

Outline

• The Fundamentals of Course Construction

- Goals, Objectives, and Learning Outcomes

- Learning Styles

• Course Design Guidelines

• Syllabus

- Checklist

Outline

- Tips on Writing a Syllabus

• Class Discussion

Volunteers Needed

• We need volunteers to do short CAT presentation (5 min max) for the Assess- ment and Evaluation class next week

• The FLAG website (see Required Readings for Week 3) has a list of the CATs that can be used for evaluation

• A sign up sheet will be passed around

Instructional System Design

Process

CoursePlanning

LessonDelivery

StudentAssessment

CourseEvaluation

and Revision

Designing Effective Courses

Steps:

1. Gather information on the university culture, faculty, students needs, and course content expectations

2. Decide upon (i) the goals for the course and (ii) specific learning objectives for students

Designing Effective Courses

3. Select content, learning activities, teaching methods, materials, and media that are appropriate and relevant to those goals and objectives

4. Develop student assessment methods that directly reflect the learning objective(s)

Designing Effective Courses

5. Implement the course plan, creating a learning environment and a community of learners

6. Revise the plan after assessments and evaluations

Course Considerations

• Audience for the course

• Required vs. elective

• Hazing mentality

• The ‘tyranny of coverage’

• Graduate vs. undergraduate

• Team Teaching

Rethinking the Role of the Course Outline

1) Students, instructors and administrators alike tend to associate good teaching with ‘dynamism’

2) Most instructors attribute both the success and failure of their teaching to individual behaviors alone – rather than planning issues

Rethinking the Role of the Course Outline

3) Fail to recognized the links between student learning and the department’s / university's mission statements

4) Role of course outlines in facilitating student learning is vastly underappreciated

Assumptions

• The form and content of course outlines matters in the teaching of all disciplines

• Effective teaching and learning should be defined in terms of the attainment of course objectives

• Evaluating effective teaching is necessarily linked to course assessment

Planning a Course

1) Define your view of the purposes of education

2) Set course goals

3) Select course content

4) Arrange course content

5) Consider student goals & characteristics

Planning a Course

6) Choose instructional modes

7) Select readings and activities

8) Write a syllabus

9) Plan to get student feedback

10)Seek advice from colleagues & experts

5 Easy Pieces

• In Ruth Colvin Clark's model, instructional content is structured using facts, concepts, procedures, processes, and principles:

1) Facts (Arbitrary, difficult to remember items of information)

2) Concepts (Classes of things or ideas learners need to be able to apply)

5 Easy Pieces

3) Processes (How things work)

4) Procedures (How to perform a specific task)

5) Principles (General guidelines)

The Fundamentals of Course Construction

• Aims and objectives

• Content and sequencing

• Assessment and evaluation

• Administration and presentation

Goals

• Charles Williams lists three kinds of goals:

1) Factual and theoretical knowledge

2) Discrete, practical skills, &

3) Growth in abilities that generalize

• He also suggests expressing objectives in terms of specific behaviors

What is a Learning Objective?

• It makes clear the intended learning outcome or product of instruction, rather than what form the instruction will take

• Learning objectives focus on student performance

What is a Learning Objective?

• Communicate what the instructor is trying to teach; what the students are to be expected to be able to do; how their achievement will be measured; and what will be accepted as evidence that they have achieved the goals

Reasons for Developing Objectives

• Objectives help reduce complaints because:

- Students can see how the material is related to their educational goals or to any other goals they can recognize

as being important

Reasons for Developing Objectives

- Your tests will correspond to the stated learning objectives

- Students know what to study and what they are expected to be able to do after the instruction

Examples of Objectives• To acquire knowledge, students might:

- do integrals or

- describe how something works

- develop the skill to solve particular kinds of problems, &

- be able to generalize about parallel or analogous concepts

Types of Learning OutcomesBased on Bloom’s Taxonomy:

- Knowledge. Primarily concerned with students’ ability to memorize or recall certain specific facts

- Comprehension. Usually involves the ability to interpret, paraphrase, and

extrapolate, thus demonstrating students’ basic understanding of ideas that they did not originate

Types of Learning Outcomes- Application. Includes activities in which the student applies concepts and principles to new and/or practical situations

- Analysis. Concerned with breaking down a piece of information into its constituent parts, differentiating and denoting

Types of Learning Outcomes- Synthesis. Involves the blending of elements and parts to form a whole i.e., students should be able to create a structural pattern that was not previously present

Types of Learning Outcomes- Evaluation. At this highest level, students might judge the value of a work, the logical consistency of written data, or the adequacy of someone else’s conclusions

Writing Goals• Goals must be written in clear, concise

terms “not open to misinterpretation” & must contain:

1) a verb that describes an observable action

2) the conditions under which this action takes place, &

3) the level of acceptable performance

Verbs for Creating Concrete Learning Objectives*

analyze appreciate classify collaboratecompare compute contrast definedemonstrate direct derive designatediscuss display evaluate explainidentify infer integrate interpretJustify list name organizeoutline report respond solicitstate synthesize

*N.B. not an exhaustive list

Setting Course Objectives

• What should students learn from the course

• What content will they encounter and what learning experiences will they have

• Need to consider how essential the topics or skills are to the course as a whole & how interesting they might be to students

AIM

Objective 1

Objective 2

Concept A – Concept B – Concept C – Concept D.,

:

The Relationship Between Aims, Objectives, & Concepts

Course Objectives & Learning Styles

• The AVK (audio/visual/kinesthetic) model

• Should strive for a mix of qualitative and quantitative objectives

• Need a range of learning environments

Creating Learning Objectives

1) Establish a Course Goal -- a course goal is a global statement about the projected outcomes of the course

Generally, a course goal is a broad statement that will include many subordinate skills.

Creating Learning Objectives

2) Arrange Content in Topical Units – before breaking down the goals and learning objectives, it is often helpful to break the course content down into smaller “topical” units

This step will reveal which units will require the most instructional emphasis, and which will require the most testing

Creating Learning Objectives

3) Write Learning Objectives – the next step is to write learning objectives for each of these subordinate topics

Learning Objectives: Caveats

• Don’t make them too narrow or too wide; too restrictive or too vague

• Learning objectives shouldn’t discourage creativity or take away the need for the instructor to communicate the “challenge” of studying and learning to students

Course Design Guidelines

• Select learning objectives according to clearly determined student needs

• Analyze learning objectives to determine course content

• Use course objectives to develop learning activities and methods of assessing student performance

Course Design Guidelines

• Analyze student characteristics to identify those factors that should influence the way these learners are taught

• Select learning activities that will maximize student achievement of course objectives

Course Design Guidelines

• Use media to support learning activities and their intended outcomes

• Evaluate the effectiveness of your learning activities, media, and teaching performance to identify areas for improvement

Course Design Guidelines

• To meet the minimum requirements for effective instruction, instructors should:

- Specify the goals to be obtained

- Formulate learning plans by first specifying the desired objectives of the instruction

Course Design Guidelines

- Assess the effectiveness of the instruction

- Make successive revisions of the learning activities for cumulative improvement as indicated by assessment results

Course Content & Sequencing• Need to decide: (i) which material, (ii) in

what order, and (iii) what mode of instruction will help students to accomplish course objectives

• Next need to decide what specific content will best facilitate this process

Course Content & Sequencing

• Book Analogy chapters = weeks introduction / body / conclusion

• Within the body, start by giving names to each of these major parts

Syllabus Considerations

• A syllabus assures students that certain activities, a grading system, etc., will occur during the semester

• Syllabi should be written to cover the worst-case situation

• Requirements can be relaxed but not made more restrictive

Syllabus Considerations

• Any changes to a syllabus, even at the request of students, should be in writing & should have the consent of all the students

• End each syllabus with a caveat to protect you, your department, and your institution if changes in the syllabus must be made once your course is underway

Syllabus Considerations

• Example -- “The above schedule and procedures in this course are subject to change in the event of extenuating circumstances.”

Uses for a Syllabus

• Aids the instructor in course design and development

• Lists general administrative and logistical information

• Delineates policies and expectations

• Presents an overview of course content

Uses for a Syllabus

• Provides information on schedules, assignments, and exams

• Influences student attitudes and increases motivation

• Serves as a starting point for mutual discussion

Uses for a Syllabus

• Serves as a study guide/source of assistance for students

• Meets departmental or administrative needs and requirements

Syllabus Checklist

Course InformationCourse Name, Number, and Section Class Meeting Time Class Meeting PlaceContact Information Name and Title

Syllabus Checklist

Office Number/Building Office Hours (both asynchronous &

synchronous)Office Phone and Fax Number E-mail Address Class E-mail Address (Listserv)

Syllabus Checklist

Required Readings/Texts Suggested Readings PrerequisitesIndividual/Class E-mail Address (Listserv)

& and Other Instructional Technologies Course Packs

Syllabus Checklist

Course Description Goal/Rationale of the Course (i.e., how the

course will benefit the student; how the course relates to the content, primary concepts and principles of the discipline)

Learning ObjectivesParticipation

Syllabus Checklist

Projects (w/ information on group processes, type of knowledge and abilities that will be emphasized)

Other Materials (do students need to buy S/W, calculators, art supplies, etc.)

Student ResponsibilitiesHomework/Tests/Exams

Syllabus Checklist

Course Content and Outline: (may be in the form of a course calendar)

Class Meeting: (date, time, location)Holidays: (plus other non-meeting dates)Major Topics: (weekly breakdown)Due Dates: (Readings, Assignments,

Tests, Projects, etc.)

Syllabus ChecklistGrading Method and Scale: A clear

explanation of evaluation, assessment and measurements (e.g., format, number, weight for quizzes and exams, descriptions of papers/projects, and the overall grading scale and standards)

Resources: (web-based, labs, etc.)

Syllabus ChecklistEssential Policy Information:

(accompanying each item should be a statement on how each will impact grades)

Sample policies: Attendance/Lateness Policy, Policy for Late Work, Policy for Missed Tests, Policy for Extra Credit, Honor Code, ADA Policy, etc.

Syllabus Checklist

Other things you might consider:

- Give your students tips/advice on how to approach studying for the course

- Recommend that students take a look at old exams/papers if these accurately reflect your testing style for this course

Syllabus Checklist

- Talk about how you feel about giving extra credit

- Make suggestions on how students can make the most of an office visit

Tips on Writing A Syllabus

1) Be as brief as possible

Use short sentences or lists or outlines

2) Don’t overwhelm students with lengthy prose

3) Organize the information (w/ outlines, tree diagrams, concept maps, etc.)

Tips on Writing A Syllabus

4) Be friendly

Use everyday words and address the syllabus to the student (e.g., use “you,” “we,” and “I,” rather than “the student,” “your professor,” or “the instructor”

5) Consider the visual organization of the information

Tips on Writing A Syllabus

6) Highlight important information (sparingly) i.e., too much emphasis will be counterproductive

7) Use headings so students can easily scan it to find pertinent information

Tips on Writing Your Syllabus

8) Use plenty of white space

Don’t put too much text on one page

9) Be neat

Avoid messiness, typos, etc.

Class Discussion