Course Design Workshop Series
In this four-part workshop series, you will learn the basics of course design while working to develop or redesign a course of your choosing. Topics include: the essential features of learning objectives, writing assessments to meet your objectives, structuring your course to maximize learning, and more.
Complete a rough schedule of a course that meets best practice standards, by completing the following:
- Write course- and module-level learning objectives that meet the best practices articulated in the Learning Objectives White Paper.
- Brainstorm both formative and summative assessment items that test specific objectives.
- Choose materials that support the student’s successful completion of the course objectives and assessments.
- Order assessments and presentation of material to best support student learning.
An Introduction to Course Design (Course Design Basics 01)
In this introductory workshop, you will receive an overview of the design workshop series and leave with a basic understanding of course design and the essential features of course objectives, as well as several new White Papers and a Design Matrix, for use throughout the workshop series.
- Distinguish between well-written and poorly written objectives.
- As a group, begin drafting learning objectives that meet the best practices articulated in the Learning Objectives White Paper.
Designing Learning Objectives (Course Design Basics 02)
In this second workshop, you will take an in-depth look at writing and revising learning objectives and begin writing learning objectives for your course. During the workshop, you will learn the differences between goals and learning objectives, how to write learning objectives, and how to use learning objectives to gain proper course alignment.
- Distinguish between goals and learning objectives.
- Put an “X” next to objectives that do not contain an observable behavior.
- Match goals with the appropriate level from Bloom’s Taxonomy.
- Match already written learning objectives with course goals, if applicable.
- Write new learning objectives that align with course goals.
Designing Assessment (Course Design Basics 03)
In this third workshop, you will explore how to assess students learning successfully and develop assessments for use in your own course by learning the differences between Formative and Summative assessment, characteristics of good assessment, and proper alignment of assessment with objectives.
- Distinguish between formative and summative assessments.
- For one or more objectives, write a description of or example question from both a summative and formative assessment.
Organizing the Course (Course Design Basics 04)
In this final workshop, you will focus on the alignment and organization of all activities, assessment, and content materials for your course. By the end of this session, you will complete a rough schedule, providing you with a course map that can be used to help develop and implement the course.
- List learning objectives in the order in which they need to be completed.
- Group and sequence the listed learning objectives into modules.
- List assessments for each module.
- List materials for each module.