MODULE 7

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MODULE 7
Putting All Together and Designing the Course
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Learning Objectives

• How modules ideas connect?
• How to get started on your course redesign?

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The sequence of steps for course design is
DIFERENT from the course natural flow!
Natural Course Flow
Content
Activities
Assessment
Goals
Course Design Flow
Goals
Assessment
Activities
Content
Do NOT design your course in the same sequence
you will teach it!
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Why course design should follow a different
sequence of steps?
To make sure course activities and assessments
will develop the desired outcomes!
By having the Course Objectives in mind since the
beginning of the course design, professors will
be able to create aligned assessments and
activities
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Course Design Overview
1. Start with the end in mind!
The Backward Design
Define Learning Objectives
Create Learning Activities
Create Assessments
2. Think from Students Perspective!
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1. Start with the end in mind!
What are the main ideas you want students to
learn?
Action Verb Direct Object
Boil them down until getting observable behaviors
Learning Objectives
BIG IDEA
What students should be able to do by the end of
the course?
They are the course FOCUS!
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But how about other educational standards?
PRIORITIZE!
If the rest of the content are not considered BIG
IDEAS, they will be classified as worth to know
Work only on the lower levels of Bloom
Taxonomy! (Knowledge, Comprehension and
Application)
What to do with them?
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2. Think from Students Perspective!
Assessments and Learning Activities should be
interesting to STUDENTS!
Meaningful
Provide continuous feedback
Engaging
Authentic Tasks / LCT Strategies
Assessment should target Learning Objectives!
Students should demonstrate they are able to
perform the objectives
Assessment criteria should be clear to students!
Use Rubrics
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Learning activities should be centered on
students!
The purpose of a lesson is to develop students to
a higher level of understanding!
Desired knowledge and skills
Current knowledge and skills
Lesson Plan
In order to succeed, professors need to engage
students in the learning process!
Strategies!
Use
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The LCT Model

• Provides a more purposeful framework for
  teachers, curriculum specialists, and
  administrators to strategically design courses
  and use learner-centered teaching approaches to
  develop students higher-order thinking, career
  skills, and personal awareness and empowerment

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Focus on Learning Approaches
Approaches are based on learning tasks (content)
and learning environment (context)

• Focus on student thinking or sense making
• Thinking is highly contextualized
• Specific subjectdiversity of understandings
  students develop when learning domain-specific
  concepts
• Specific settinghow individuals interpret
  various context variables (norms of discourse)

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Why LCT?
LCT provides different teaching strategies to
accommodate for different student needs!
Why professors need to use a mix of different
strategies?
People Learn in different ways!
Students may get bored!
Different strategies develop different skills
Communication
Critical Thinking
Analytical skills
Civic Responsibility
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LCT Strategies
Real-time feedback in-class writing, review
games, clickers, debriefing.
Verbal Story-telling, humor, teach in chunks...
Service Learning
Place-Based Learning
Visual videos, objects.
Lab-Based Learning
Work-Based Learning
Kinesthetic perform a task, role-playing, build
models
Social In-class discussion, debate, small
project, concept mapping
Case Study
Simulations
Problem-Based Learning
Project-Based Learning
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Considerations of LCT Approaches
Approach Active Inquiry Contextual
Driven by An Engaging Teacher A Problem to Solve Real-world Settings (outside of classroom)
Purpose Higher-Level Thinking Career Development Personal Development Empowerment
Level of Student Engagement
Best Used for Course Content Delivery (beginning) Content Application (middle) Contextual Application (end)
Curriculum Design 100-200 level Survey Courses 300-400 level Discipline Specific Courses 300-400 level Capstone Courses
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Research

• A collective case study was conducted
• Students motivation and learning experiences
  regarding three learner-centered teaching
  approaches in life, environmental, and
  agricultural sciences
• Active Learning (N 3)
• Inquiry Learning (N 4)
• Service Learning (N 4)

• Collectively, college students (N 357) in 11
  undergraduate courses completed the Assessment of
  Learner-Centered Practices (ALCP) questionnaire

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Results

• New instructional design model was supported by
  the student data

• Results showed teaching approaches informed
  students motivation and cognitive engagement
  differently across the three approaches

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What do students say about learner-centered
teaching approaches?
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Student Learning Experiences by Approach (N
357)
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Student Motivation by Approach (N 357)
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Cognitive Engagement by Approach (N 357)
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Students Testimonials
I learn best when I can find personal
significance in the material I am studying. In
other words, I need to view information not just
as a bunch of facts, but also as whole concepts.
This class, for the most part, highly stimulated
my learning style. For me, class discussions were
helpful because it helped me synthesize
information and gave relevance to the topics.
I have truly enjoyed this class, and the way it
was designed as a learner-centered experience. I
feel that it was the first time I was treated as
a competent and intelligent person who could be
trusted with her learning experience.
Student Perceptions of Learner-Centered Teaching,
DeDe Wohlfarth
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How to choose among LCT strategies?
It will depend on the desired outcomes!
From Big Ideas to Lesson Plans!
Learning Goals
Nature of the Content
Learning Experiences
Objectives
Content Plan
LESSON PLANS
Activities
Assessment
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How to choose among LCT strategies?
What students should do to learn this concept or
skill?
What students should know and be able to do at
the end of the class?
It may require Active Learning, Inquiry Learning
or Contextual Learning activities!
Nature of the Content
Learning experiences
LESSON PLAN
Objectives Learning Goals
How would you summarize this concept in one
sentence?
What specific activity professor could create
that will provide students the right learning
experience? What resources should be used?
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Possible Course Structures
Approach Large Course Introduction 300-400 Discipline-Specific Capstone Freshman Orientation
Active 75 65 45 15 25
Inquiry 20 25 40 20 25
Contextual 5 10 15 65 50
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More Possible Course Structures
Approach Peer Teaching for Content Delivery Peer Teaching with Service Project Freshman Orientation Clinical Preparation
Active 90 50 25 10
Inquiry 10 20 25 80
Contextual 0 30 50 10
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How to get started on the course redesign?
Choose the course
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• Based upon
• Your own preferences or students recommendations
• Departments need
• Requirements from a Grant

Apply Backward Design and LCT to define syllabus
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Write Lesson Plans
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Learning Objectives

• How modules ideas connect?
• How to get started on your course redesign?

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References

• Backward Design and LCT
• Same references as previous modules
• Student Testimonials
• Student Perceptions of Learner-Centered Teaching,
  DeDe Wohlfarth, PsyD, Associate Professor,
  Department of Psychology
• Spalding University

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Education is not filling a bucket but lighting a
fire. -William Butler
Thank You!