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OPAL | Open Educational Quality Initiative Course Design Home » All CFT Teaching Guides » Course Design Effective teaching depends on effective planning and design. Many problems that can occur once a course is in motion can be prevented by advance preparation and planning for your students’ learning. Overview Understanding by Design, a 1998 book by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe, offers a powerful framework for designing courses that begins with desired outcomes of “enduring understandings” for students, and then works backwards to design evidence of that understanding, and then learning assessment activities to lead to such evidence. In general, a helpful way to design a course is to proceed through the following phases: 1) Identify desired results— GOALS Organize your course around your core learning goals to foster enduring understandings in your students. Content Goals: What knowledge do you want students to attain? 2) Determine acceptable evidence — PROGRESS 3) Plan learning experiences and instruction — PRACTICE Basic Principles Resources

PBL: What Does It Take for a Project to Be "Authentic"? Everyone thinks that Project-Based Learning has something to do with "authentic" learning. But not everyone agrees what this means. Take this quick quiz. Which of the following projects could be called authentic? a) Students learn about endangered species in their region and take action to protect them, including a public awareness campaign, habitat restoration fieldwork and communication with local government officials. b) Students design and create a calendar with pictures and information about endangered species, which they sell at a pre-winter break community event and donate the money to an environmental organization. c) Students play the role of scientists who need to make recommendations to an environmental organization about how to protect endangered species in various ecosystems around the world. To authenticity purists, a project is not really authentic unless it is in the real world, connected directly to the lives of students and real issues in their communities. Not Authentic

Tips for Designing Online Courses by Karin Kirk, Science Education Resource Center, Carleton College Jump down to communicating course content | using projects and case studies | references Online course design is rooted in the same solid principles of face-to-face teaching, but requires additional considerations. Start with the same pedagogic principles of overall course design, such as the Cutting Edge course design philosophy. Set out goals for the course: At the end of the course, I want my students to be able to... Set skills goals such as working in groups, developing quantitative skills, or improve writing skills Choose content to achieve overarching goals Develop a course plan That said, even though the course topic and goals may be the same as a face-to-face course, the course layout, pacing, content delivery and assignments will all be tailored for online delivery. Traditional lecturing is replaced by a variety of multimedia communication tools. Options for communicating course content References Resources

Guide to Online Course Design [INFOGRAPHIC] Today there are a countless number of tips and tricks when it comes to effective online course design, that it can become confusing where to start. These theories can range from actionable steps to philosophical diatribes, both of which provide their use, but equally are confusing as to where to begin. Enter the “Guide to Online Course Design” infographic by MindFlash. This infographic outlines some of the key components to creating an online course. More than ever, it is important that you encourage online interaction and feedback mechanisms for the students in the online courses. With the “bones” (software) in place, you can then begin the fun part: finding content for your course. BlogsWikisGroup Pages (Google)Discussion BoardsVimeoYouTubePowerPoint PresentationsWikisInternet Libraries Depending on the content being taught, you can certainly find a medium that is best suited for your needs. Student interaction is also a key component to the success of your online program.