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Universal Design | Course Content | Course Goals | Structuring an Effective Course | Selecting Learning Activities | The Syllabus
Structuring
an Effective Course
In Teaching Assistance: A Handbook
of Teaching Ideas (1982), John Andrews suggests that a teacher should use the
following questions as a means of planning an effective course. These points
should enable the instructor to see how goals can shape planning
for other aspects
of the class. Note that the questions focus at the end point first and then
work backward in time to the first action the teacher will take:
- How does the teacher want students to be changed as a result of this class? What should they be able to do that they cannot do now?
- How are these changes to be measured? What sort of performances (exams, papers, etc.) will be used?
- What subject matter will be covered to help students meet the expectations in (1) and (2)?
- What about the “how” of teaching? What sorts of formats or activities will be used to help students practice the abilities needed to meet (1) and (2)?
- How are expectations
communicated
to the students? What is their picture of the objectives they will need to
meet?
Mary Minter of the University of
Michigan (1986) has suggested a more detailed planning analysis for
an instructor
faced with a new course if such an expectation exists. She suggests that on
accepting the course assignment, well-prepared instructors first set out to
acquire as much information as possible about the students they
will be teaching
(see the first section of this handbook) and the content they will
be expected
to cover in the course, if such an expectation exists. Resources to consult
include the college catalog, previous syllabi, the official department course
description, and the assigned textbook. Instructors can also
solicit help from
anyone who has previously taught the course.
Minter regards the next
step as the
setting of general goals and specific instructional objectives for
the course.
Instructors might be able to use a general purpose statement given
on a previous
syllabus, and/or they might want to include different or additional
goals. The
next step is to provide the student with even more specific
instructional objectives,
which should relate to the overall goals and be specific to the major content
sections/topics. “Action verbs” that are specific, such
as: “list,
write, report, do” are highly recommended. The final step is to conduct
another level of task analysis. Students’ basic learning needs in the
subject area should be identified. (This can be based, for example, on past
experience with similar groups of students or on a personal
questionnaire that
students complete on the first day.) From all this analysis an
effective course
structure will evolve.
Grunert (1997) stresses the importance of a “learning-centered” approach to course planning. She suggests that students should be involved in course planning through clarifying their own goals for the course, helping choose learning activities, monitoring and assessing their progress, and assisting in establishing the criteria on which performance will be judged. Some instructors use portions of the first class to modify or build upon their own plans for the course by asking for student participation and suggestions.
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