Course Design
About one month before the first class meeting, faculty should plan their offerings from their knowledge of the subject matter. For new areas of limited expertise, faculty members are encouraged to take a “crash course” in the subject matter and look at other course syllabi (can be found on the Internet), before planning their own programs. These resources address some of the best practices in course design.
Resource |
Summary |
Course Design |
This resource asks questions to guide in course design decisions related to the student audience, course goals, learning objectives, course content, organization, learning activities, assessment, evaluation, and feedback. |
Designing an Effective Course (pdf) |
Chapter 1 provides details on six course design tasks: 1) gather information; 2) decide on goals and objectives; 3) select content, learning activities, teaching methods, materials, and media; 4) develop assessment criteria; 5) implement course plan; and 6) revise the plan after evaluation. Other chapters in the FSU series are equally good. |
Designing an exemplary online course (slideshow) |
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Fink’s Five Principles |
Fink believes good courses adhere to five common principles: 1) challenge students to higher level learning; 2) employ active forms of learning; 3) give frequent and immediate feedback to students on the quality of their learning; 4) use a structured sequence of different learning activities; and 5) have a fair system for assessing and grading. Think about these as you design your course. |
Course Planning Questions |
This resource contains questions about students, curriculum fit, professional standards, learning space, goals, objectives, assessment, achievement and grading, activities, teaching methods and strategies, sequence and organization, resources, evaluation, debugging, and a syllabus checklist. |