1. Course Design and Syllabus Design
A Presentation by the SHAFR Teaching Committee at the 2019 Annual Meeting, Arlington, VA.

2. Outcomes Identify and apply principles of effective course design
Identify and apply principles of effective syllabus design
Engage with subject matter experts to discuss best practice

3. Discussion Starter
What do you teach and how long have you been teaching?
Has your institution provided formal training in course design and syllabus design?
What problems have you encountered in connection with this aspect of your professional practice?

4. What do you want your students to be able to do?
Course Design
Who are your students?
What do you want your students to be able to do?
How will you measure student performance?

5. Course Design Who are your students? Traditional or non-traditional?
New to the institution, to the department, or to you?
Why are they taking the course?
What is their prior learning and their skill level?
What do you want them to do?
What are the big ideas in your course?
What are the student learning outcomes?
What are the enabling objectives?
What is the UbD process? (Wiggins and McTighe, 2005)
What is an integrated course? (Fink, 2005; Fink 2013)
How will you measure their performance?
How do you know that your students are learning?
What types of assessment do you use? Why?
How transparent are your grading practices?
What is assessment for learning? (Black et al. 2003; Wiliam, 2018)

6. Prescriptive Information
Syllabus Design
Descriptive
Information
Prescriptive Information
Teaching and Learning Information

7. Syllabus Design Descriptive Information
Course #, name, and description.
Prerequisites.
Purpose (establish relevance).
Learning outcomes.
Instructor biography and contact details.
Prescriptive Information
Institutional policies and values.
Your policies and values.
Can you offload the “boilerplate” to your electronic platform?
What is the tone of your syllabus? Why does that matter?
Teaching and Learning Information
Required texts and materials.
Schedule of topics and readings.
Teaching and learning activities.
Assessment schedule, methods, and grading.
What advice can you offer to promote student success?

8. Conclusions
Course design and syllabus design should be informed by best practice.
Course design: have you correctly aligned your learning outcomes with activities and assessment?
Syllabus design: does it set the right tone for your course and provide students with what they need to help them succeed?

9. References & Further Reading
Black, P. et al. (2003). Assessment for Learning: Putting it into Practice. New York: Open University Press.
Brigham Young University (n.d.). Center for Teaching and Learning. Syllabus Design.
Fink, L. D. (2005). A Self-Directed Guide to Designing Courses for Significant Learning. Dee Fink & Associates.
Fink, L. D. (2013). Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses. 2nd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Gannon, K. (n.d.). How to Create a Syllabus: Advice Guide. The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Gannon, K. (n.d.). DIY Syllabus: What Is a Syllabus Really For, Anyway? The Chronicle of Higher Education.
University of Washington (n.d.). Center for Teaching and Learning. Course and Syllabus Design.
Wiggins, G. P. & McTighe (2005). Understanding by Design. 2nd ed. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Wiliam, D. (2018). Embedded Formative Assessment. 2nd ed. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.