29 Dec 2020
School
Department
Course
Professor
Week 10: Course Design
Jill’s Summary
• Constructive alignment: make sure learning outcome, teaching method, assessment aligned
o Backward design…
1. Identify learning outcomes (enduring and core concepts/skills)
2. Determine acceptable evidence (assessment types)
3. Plan learning experiences and teaching (learning events)
• Learning outcomes made of knowledge, skills, habits of mind/attitudes
o Use active verbs and make sure measurable when writing them
o Maps onto plan and program learning outcomes – government degree level expectations
for which faculty determines how those expectations manifest within the field and plan
• Assessment
o Summative: assessment of learning i.e. grades
o Formative: feedback valuable, progress-oriented
o Must be aligned, scaffolded, valid (alignment, weighting, wording, etc.)
• Instructional strategies – How can I get my students to where they need to go?
o Knowledge transmission – help them take in and retain information; efficiency; CLT
o Schema development – constructivism; guidance; elaborate with each other
o Transfer and application – move to higher-order thinking beyond memorization (apply to
different contexts); authentic assignments focused on application
• Instructional materials
o Optimize intrinsic, reduce extrinsic, increase germane cognitive load (not too challenging
but still relevant, through transfer tasks and interleaving)
o Strategies: segmenting, offloading, signalling, etc. (Mayer article: MLMs)
Exam Review Notes
• Teacher-centered will focus on testing content and responsibility ends with material
• Student-centered will focus on growth and genuine understanding with responsibility extending
to creating a conducive environment
• Transparency – be intentional about course design, explain why you’re doing what you’re doing
• Design course in way that helps students learning i.e. transfer activities, discussion, feedback
opportunities, collaborative group work