Course Planning & Preparation
Fink's
Five Principles of Good Course Design
Five
concise principles of good course design
Preparing or Revising A Course
This
website is designed to help you limit the content of your course, structure
and sequence the activities and assignments, set policies, and handle
administrative tasks.
Lesson Planning Procedures
The
lesson plan is a dreaded part of instruction that most teachers detest.
It nevertheless provides a guide for managing the learning environment
and is essential if a substitute teacher is to be effective and efficient.
There are three stages of lesson planning.
Daily Sample Lesson Plan Form
Only
empty daily sample lesson plan form for instructors
Instructional Design
Three
Purposes of the Instructional Design Process, Stages of Instructional
Design, and Writing Performance Objectives
Preparing or Revising a Course
In
designing or revising a course, faculty are faced with at least three
crucial decisions: what to teach, how to teach it, and how to ensure
that students are learning what is being taught. Often, the most difficult
step in preparing or revising a course is deciding which topics must
be excluded if the whole is to be manageable. There are strategies.
Instructional Design and Teaching Styles-Formal
Authority Approach
This
approach to curriculum planning focuses on content. The instructor defines
the theories, principles, concepts, or terms that students need to learn
and organizes them into a sequenced set of goals and objectives. The
instructor then selects activities appropriate to each part of the sequence.
There are various ways of deciding how to structure activities based
on further considerations, such as type of content or learning styles.
Instructional Design and Teaching Styles-Demonstrator
Approach
This
approach to curriculum planning focuses on performance of an academic
procedure. The instructor defines the steps an expert in the field would
use to accomplish necessary tasks and defines the standards which would
indicate mastery in applying these procedures. The instructor then develops
situations in which these steps can be performed and results observed.
The goals of the demonstrator are usually defined in terms of a student's
ability to successfully perform an academic task. The emphasis shifts
from "knowing about" to "able to do."
Instructional Design and Teaching Styles-Facilitator
Approach
The
goal of the facilitator is usually defined by the student's ability
to act competently in performing intellectual work. Defining what this
means is the critical part of planning a course.
Instructional Design and Teaching Styles-Delegator
Approach
This
approach to curriculum planning focuses on personal growth. The instructor
believes that it is not sufficient to teach only content, procedures,
or skills. Rather, the purpose of education is to enhance the holistic
development of the individual through knowledge, practice, and skills.
This approach takes shape when the instructor chooses a model of human
growth.
Course Preparation (PDF file)
At
the heart of a successful course is the planning that precedes it. Good
planning involves several steps: 1, 2, 3,…..
Course Planning & Teaching
Many
college teachers use a simple, content-centered planning model. The
operative planning questions are: How much of this content can I cover?
2. How much time do I have to cover it. 3…..
Course Planning
& Teaching (Textbooks, Manuals, and Readings)
In most college courses, readings carry the burden of conveying content,
hence they are central to the educational experience of your students.
Read all material you assign your students, to judge relevance and identify
potential problems of interpretation or elements of controversy. In
grading essay tests, you must be familiar with the sources on which
they are based, whether these sources contradict one another, and whether
they contain errors of fact or interpretation.
Planning Your Course: A Decision Guide (Microsoft Word Document)
Whenever
teachers plan or design their courses, they are in essence making a
series of decisions aimed at creating a “design,” which in this case
consists of a plan of activities for what the teacher and students will
do in a course. This guide identifies the several decisions involved
in designing a course, places these decisions in an appropriate sequence,
and suggests ways to make good decisions.
Lectures: Organizing Them and Making Them Interesting
When
one is preparing a lecture there are two major components that should
be considered. First, the lecture should be organized in a way that
aids comprehension and retention, and second, in order to maintain student
attention, the lecture should be made as interesting as possible. The
following paragraphs focus on these two major components.
Instructional Design Process
The
challenge facing a teacher who wants to implement higher level learning
is how to make the kinds of decisions needed to promote this special
kind of learning. And in order to make the right kinds of decisions,
the teacher will need a better understanding of what is involved in
the course design process.
HIGHER LEVEL LEARNING: Ways of Teaching
to Generate Significant Learning
When
formulating goals for a course, teachers need to identify significant
kinds of learning goals. This essay presents a taxonomy of HIGHER LEVEL
LEARNING that offers a way of identifying WHAT you want students to
learn.
Tips on Using the "Instructional
Design Process"
This
is a short list of specific suggestions on course design in general
and on the three decision areas in particular.
Teaching Your Own Class
With
careful organization your first teaching assignment can be a success.
In this chapter we offer some guidance on teaching a class for the first
time. We discuss how to structure a course, write a syllabus, take advantage
of online course software and present a lecture.
Planning Your Course: A Decision Guide (PDF file)
Course
planning questions and the answers about these
Keep a set of cumulative notes for each
course topic
Most
teachers keep a chronological set of lecture notes from the first to
the most recent time they have taught a course. Many teachers keep separate
notes for each lecture topic. "To these I add research articles,
newspaper clippings, cartoons, ideas for assignments or exam questions
and notes to myself for improving the lecture or discussion," reports
a professor of English
Completely rework your lecture notes
"It's
important to completely redo my notes each time I teach the course,"
says an economics professor. It helps me rethink the material so that
the ideas seem fresh and new to me as well as to the students. This
increases my enthusiasm for the subject matter and I think this is communicated
to the students."
Review several textbooks for each lecture
topic
Reviewing
the relevant sections of several textbooks for each lecture topic. A
faculty member teaching a lower division course in the biological sciences
says that in preparing each lecture he starts by comparing three or
four introductory texts. He then looks at one or two specialized books
on the given concept or biological process.
Use an abbreviated set of lecture notes
Many
excellent teachers describe a two-stage process in the preparation of
their lecture notes. A history professor, for example, says "First,
I write out a detailed set of lecture notes over the weekend or the
night before class. Then, on the morning before class, I take about
an hour and a half to reduce these notes to a brief outline on index
cards."
Reread the texts assigned to students
Teachers
in several disciplines report that a major part of their preparation
is rereading the texts assigned to students. "I reread the text
assignment over the weekend not only to ensure that it is fresh in my
mind," says one history professor, "but also so I can acknowledge
the parts I found dull, unclear, or especially important."
Prepare handouts of the outline and important
details
Preparing
handouts of the lecture outline and any detailed formulae, derivations,
or illustrations to be presented in the class.
Prepare a detailed course syllabus
"My
syllabus usually runs about 15 pages," says a professor of education.
"It is organized by class session and each section consists of
the major topic, four to eight important study questions or issues the
students are expected to understand or be prepared to discuss, and the
required reading and recommended supplemental readings. The syllabus
also describes the assignments, grading procedures, and the competencies
students are expected to have (i.e., the things they are expected to
be able to do) at the end of the course."
Teach the same course in a subsequent
semester
One
chemistry professor frequently teaches the same course "back to
back" in two consecutive terms. "This way I can maximize learning
from mistakes I have made," he explains
Audit the same or related courses taught
by colleagues
One
faculty member of computer science reports that he makes it a habit
to audit other faculty members' courses. "Particularly if I know
I am scheduled to teach a course for the first time," he explains,
"I make a point of taking the course from the best instructor available.
I attend all of the class sessions and usually do most of the homework.
I find this is a much easier way to do some advanced preparation than
sitting down and reading several textbooks. It forces me to do some
preparation each week.
Instructional Design Process
Are
you able to design a course that integrates course goals, teaching/learning
activities, and assessment?
Formulating Learning Goals
There
are a number of key ideas to keep in mind when formulating learning
goals for your courses.
An Overview of How to Design Instruction
We
suggest that for every course you teach, there are five defining dimensions
you should carefully think through. You should note that each of these
"structures" have a "tactical" dimension to them.
That is, something of the "how" (you will cover) is implicit
in these decisions as to "what" (you will cover). They are:
Instructional Design and Course Planning (PDF file)
For
the first steps designing an effective course and tasks in designing
effective courses.
Course Planning (Knowing Your Students) (PDF file)
Race,
religion, disability, sexual preference, academic entry level, aptitude,
socio-economic status, age, and marital status are all factors that
impact how a student learns. Your expectations, goals, and teaching
style are based on your experiences, which might be quite different
from those of your students. Understanding the various learning preferences
of students and differences between you and your students and among
your students can help you plan your course to take advantage of diversity
rather than letting it be a obstacle to student learning.
Preparing for the First Day of Classes
One
helpful starting point is to ask your Department secretary or chairperson
for all available information about the courses you have been assigned
to teach (e.g., recent course syllabi on file, names of faculty and/or
graduate teaching assistants who last taught the class). Speak with
experienced instructors and closely examine their syllabi.
It's a Start
Although
the first few days of a course may not completely determine how well
the rest of the course works, they are vital. A good start can carry
the instructor through several weeks of early shakiness, and a bad one
can take several weeks of damage control to overcome. Getting off to
a good start in a class is a real challenge, however.
Instructional Design
Instructional
Design is the systematic development of course content, sequence, methods,
and material using learning and instructional theory to ensure the quality
of instruction.
How do I make a lesson plan?
Ask
yourself first what you want to accomplish during this particular class
session. Students will walk in at X:00 and when they leave- what should
they be able to do? What new knowledge should they have gained and be
able to use and retain?
A
Self-Directed Guide to Designing Courses for Significant Learning (PDF file)
A
Self-Directed Guide to Designing Courses for Significant Learning
