Course Design

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Course Design
Preparing a Syllabus

• Once you have a sound course design, your
  syllabus almost writes itself.
• -Teaching at its Best
• L. Nilson, 1998

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Course Design
Content-Centered
What will I cover?
Learning-Centered
What will they learn?
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Course Design
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Course Design
Learning-Centered

• Students learn how to find knowledge, they do not
  wait for faculty to provide it
• Ongoing student and course assessments show
  faculty where teaching is effective and
  ineffective
• Students performance on activities and
  assignments is assessed by more people than a
  single instructor
• Students construct the questions they need to
  ask, rather than expecting teachers to choose
  what students ought to know
• (Allen, 1996)

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Course Design
Learning-Centered

• Students become active and participatory
  learners they are not just audiences for teacher
  lectures
• Students have opportunities to learn through
  teamwork and to be rewarded for group efforts,
  not just for their own activities
• Academic effort is measured by how much students
  learn, not how many hours faculty teach
• Faculty guide students, helping them formulate
  fruitful problems and questions and uncover
  effective ways to learn answers (Allen, 1996)

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Course Design
The General Design

• Consider your audience
• Establish tiered instructional objectives
• Evaluate content options and appropriate readings
• Determine class format
• Develop assessments

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Course Design

• Consider your audience!

• What preparation will most students bring? Do
  prerequisites guarantee this?
• Attitudes? Required course? Elective?
• What are the student expectations? Are these
  appropriate? Can they be incorporated into your
  teaching plan?
• Student long-range goals?
• Can flexibility be built in to accommodate this?

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Course Design

• Establish tiered instructional objectives

• An instructional objective is a statement that
  gives instructional focus and direction,
  establishes guidelines for testing, and conveys
  ones teaching intent to others.
• -Stating Objectives for Classroom Instruction
• Gronlund, 1985

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Course Design

• Establish tiered instructional objectives

• Course Design by Objectives
• First define your ultimate end-of-course
  objectives
• Then work backwardswhat will students have to be
  able to do before they can accomplish each
  ultimate objective?
• Continue working backwards to the most basic
  performances they must master to achieve the above

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Course Design
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Course Design
Objectives
Assessments
Skills
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Course Design
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Instructional Objective (for a specific group of
students)
Skills (what students will need to be able to do
in order to attain this objective)
Content
Class Format
Assessment Format
Syllabus Does your syllabus share with your
students the thinking process that you followed
to design this course?
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Course Design

• Establish basic learning objectives

• Students will learn to appreciate their natural
  surroundings and will know that underlying
  geologic structures control the landforms we see

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Course Design

• Translate these, if needed, to become effective
  instructional objectives

• After working with slide images and through
  field experiences, students will be able to
  locate and identify faults, fractures and folds
  present in an unfamiliar landscape.

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Course Design

• Identify the skills needed in order for students
  to be able to achieve the objective

• Recognize the surface expressions of different
  geologic structures AND how expression varies
  with topography
• Critically observe and analyze an unfamiliar
  landscape for diagnostic geologic contact
  relationships

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Course Design
Evaluation

• Blooms Taxonomy
• Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (1956)

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Course Design

• Finks Taxonomy
• To Improve the Academy (2001)

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Course Design

• Writing objectives

• Many Fewer
• Interpretations Interpretations
• To know To write
• To understand To recite
• To really understand To identify
• To appreciate To sort
• To fully appreciate To solve
• To grasp significance of To construct
• To enjoy To build
• To believe To compare
• To have faith in To contrast
• from Mager (1975) in Diamond (1998)

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Course Design

• Evaluate content options

• Rank the topics
• (rank highly your essentials AND those that
  meet student needs or expectations)
• Slash, burn distill
• (this always hurts, but designing courses
  backwards will help establish priorities)
• Compare to your full array of content options
• is something missing that you value? Are you
  missing a major learning goal?

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Course Design

• Evaluate readings

• Consider the level (and financial resources!) of
  your students
• What is the purpose of the reading? How will it
  support the course? How often will students use
  this resource?
• Read a variety of texts
• ...unless you wrote the text, you wont find
  exactly what you need BUT...
• Is a course reader better?
• ...can better suit to your needs...but takes a
  huge effort to integrate well...

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Course Design

• Determine the class format

• Lecture based?
• Discussion based?
• Need labs or experiential components?
• How and when will student inquiry take place?
• What does the phrase knowledge transfer conjure
  up for you?

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Course Design
Encourage Active Learning From Davidson
Ambrose, 1994

• Students should
• be prepared to work hard when they enter a
  classroom
• take an active role in acquiring and maintaining
  new information during the class
• continue their interest after class hours
• What questions will you ask... what examples will
  you use... to help stimulate interest? How will
  you hear from students during class?

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Course Design
Design Effective Learning From Davidson
Ambrose, 1994

• Most of the learning in a typical course takes
  place outside of class
• design meaningful after class projects, labs,
  readings
• prepare assignments that apply class material to
  new contexts
• How does each experience contribute to the goals
  for the course?

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Course Design
Provide Prompt Feedback From Davidson
Ambrose, 1994

• Learning is an iterative process apply, discover
  errors, try again...
• plan to provide prompt and supportive corrections
• keep in mind that not all feedback need be graded
• How long will it take you to return graded
  assignments? How can you provide immediate
  feedback? How can the students themselves
  provide feedback?

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Course Design
Emphasize importance of time and effort spent
learning From Davidson Ambrose, 1994

• Everyone who wants to learn a subject must put in
  time and effort
• Students must make effective use of class and
  study time
• Will you discuss time management with your class?
  What study strategies will be most successful
  for the course objectives?

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Course Design
Encourage Student-Faculty Contact... From
Davidson Ambrose, 1994

• This is at the very heart of the educational
  process
• Allow time both within and outside of class to
  display enthusiasm, sensitivity, and command of
  content
• How many students will you know by name? How
  open will your office door be? How will you show
  students that you are receptive?

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Course Design
Encourage Cooperation among Students From
Davidson Ambrose, 1994

• improve collaborative skills
• develop personal responsibility
• enhance self-esteem
• build confidence in science
• Will in-class or out-of-class projects be
  assigned that require students to work together?
  What do you need to learn about directing
  successful group work?

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Course Design
Communicate High, Attainable Expectations
From Davidson Ambrose, 1994

• attendance and class participation are greatest
  in courses that demand a lot
• students often give highest ratings to their most
  difficult (yet attainable) courses
• What are your expectations for this course? What
  will students be able to do after this course?
  How high will you set the bar? How will you
  catch struggling students?

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Course Design
Respect diverse talents and ways of learning...
From Davidson Ambrose, 1994

• each student brings a unique set of abilities,
  interests, and experiences into class
• people process and learn science in very
  different ways
• What strategies will you use to reach students
  with various learning preferences? Will you
  challenge students to develop new learning
  styles? How will you discover whether or not
  your teaching style is reaching all students?

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Course Design

• Develop an assessment plan for them

• What have your students learned?
• How will students acquire the skills you value?
• Let the course objectives shine through your
  assessment end-of-course objectives should map
  out your projects, homework, exams, etc.

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Course Design

• Develop an assessment plan for you...

• Options for getting feedback (CATs) Classroom
  Assessment Techniques
• Mid-term formative evaluations
• Professional feedback classroom consultations,
  videos, etc.

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Course Design
Sources

• Allen, L. R. (1996) An Instructional Epiphany.
  Change, Mar.-Apr. 1996, 28 (2), 52.
• Angelo, T.A. and Cross, K.P (1993) Classroom
  Assessment Techniques, Jossey-Bass Publ., San
  Francisco, 427p.
• Davidson, C.I. and Ambrose, S.A. (1994) The New
  Professors Handbook A Guide to Teaching and
  Research in Engineering and Science. Anker Publ.
  Co., Bolton, MA 199p.
• Diamond, R.M. (1998) Designing Assessing
  Courses and Curricula A Practical Guide.
  Jossey-Bass Publ., San Francisco, 321p.
• Fink, L.D. (2001) Higher-Level Learning The
  First Step Toward More Significant Learning in
  To Improve the Academy, v. 19 Anker Publ.,
• Nilsen, L. B. (1998) Teaching at its Best A
  Research-Based Resource for College Instructors.
  Anker Publ. Co., Bolton, MA 219p.

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Course Design
Other Good Reads

• Boice, R. (2000) Advice for New Faculty Members
  Nihil Nimus, Allyn Bacon Publ., 319p.
• Davis, B. G., (1993) Tools for Teaching,
  Jossey-Bass Publ., 429p.
• Reis, R..M. (1997) Tomorrows Professor
  Preparing for Academic Careers in Science and
  Engineering, IEEE Press, NY., 416p.