Course Design Workshop Frostburg State University January 2008 Tracy Edwards Focus: Syllabus Design

Why this review? Course design is dependent upon... – The nature of your students – Your strengths as a teacher – Required University / Program / other curricular frameworks

Syllabus Contents University Guidelines – Physical Geography Course Requirements How can we move from predominately coverage-driven course design to more learning-centered elements of design?

Undergraduate Institutional Learning Goals – YOUR course design: Is it content-driven OR learning-centered?

Learning-Centered Course Design Works backwards: – Identify the knowledge-based and skills-based goals FIRST – Develop a pedagogically coherent plan to best accomplish those goals – Create a document which impresses these objectives, and strategies to meet the objectives, upon the student

The Role of the Syllabus Distributed BY the 2 nd class meeting In course design, when using Bloom’s Taxonomy revisited, the FINAL STAGE…

Course Design & Bloom’s Taxonomy Revisited Understand your assumptions and values Identify the course learning outcomes Identify the knowledge type outcomes in course Identify the process type outcomes in course Create the learning activities to embrace the learning style diversity Create the assessment activities Create the syllabus

The Syllabus provides an illustration of course design for the student GOALS Learning Objectives or Outcomes Activities (Assessment) A learning-centered syllabus requires MORE rather than LESS information

Learning-Centered Syllabus Functions Establishes contact / connection between student and instructor Helps set the tone for the course (Consider a letter to the student) Describes instructor beliefs about educational purposes Introduces students with course logistics Contains necessary course handouts Defines student responsibilities for successful course work Describes active learning Helps students access their readiness for the course Sets the course in a broader context for learning Provides a conceptual framework Describes available learning resources Communicates the role of technology in the course Can provide additional readings / resources Can improve the effectiveness of student note taking Can include material to support out-of-the-classroom learning Can serve as a learning contract

A mid-term question: Is the way we are conducting class giving you the best chance to demonstrate what you know? – If so, what is most and least useful in this regard? – If not, what features of the course might we restructure to make this possible, and how?