Course Design and Syllabus Construction

Heather Macdonald, College of William and Mary

Robyn Wright Dunbar, Stanford University

Barbara Tewksbury, Hamilton College

Developing a Course: Different Strategies

Teacher-centered What will I cover?

Learning-centered What will they learn?

Course Design Process (one approach)

Consider your audience and context Articulate your goals and objectives

Overarching goals Ancillary skills goals Select content to achieve goals

Develop a course plan, select teaching strategies, design assignments and assessments

Course Design Tutorial serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/coursedesign/tutorial/index.html

Consider Your Audience and Course Context Required course? Elective course? Attitudes and motivation of students? Commuter or residential students? Course size? Associated lab? Support (e.g., TAs, tech support) Other ….

These will influence the choices you make about the course

Articulate Overarching Goals What do you want students to be able to

do by the end of the course?

What kinds of problems do you want them to be able to solve?

How might students apply what they have learned in the future?

How will students be changed as a result of taking the course?

Some Examples of GoalsI want students to be able to:

use characteristics of rocks and surficial features in an area to analyze the geologic history

predict the weather given appropriate meteorological data

analyze unfamiliar areas and assess geologic hazards (different than recalling those done in class)

interpret unfamiliar geologic maps and construct cross sections

formulate new research questions in ____

Focus on Higher-order Learning Skills

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (1956)

KnowledgeComprehension

Application

AnalysisSynthesis

Evaluation

Focus on Measurable Skills/Actions

What could students do to show that they have mastered the following goals? Use characteristics of rocks and surficial

features in an area to analyze the geologic history

Learn to appreciate their natural surroundings

Evaluate Possible Goals for Entry-level Geologic Hazards Course

I want students to be able to: analyze historical records in an area and

predict the likelihood of future natural disasters.

understand the connection between plate tectonics and natural hazards

research and evaluate news reports of a natural disaster and communicate their analyses to someone else.

appreciate the awesome power of nature

Select a Specific Course That You Anticipate Teaching

What are your overarching end-of-course overarching goals? When students have completed my course, I

want them to be able to:

Ancillary Skills Goals Writing and/or oral communication Accessing and reading professional

literature Quantitative skills Research skills Teamwork skills Other

Choose Content Topics to Achieve Goals

Selecting topics What are the essentials? What meets student needs? Linked to goals?

Compare to the wide range of content topics – is something missing that you value?

Be able to research and evaluate news reports of a natural disaster and communicate analyses to someone else

Instructor #1 chose four specific disasters as content topics

1973 Susquehanna flood Landsliding in coastal California Mt. St. Helens Armenia earthquake

Instructor #2 chose four themes as content topics Impact of hurricanes on building codes and insurance Perception and reality of fire damage on the environment Mitigating the effects of volcanic eruptions Geologic and sociologic realities of earthquake prediction

Course Plan Build the course around assignments,

units, or projects designed to achieve your goals (rather than around a list of content items and topics to which you want students to be exposed)

How will you give students frequent practice in doing x (with timely and constructive feedback)? How will you build independence over time?

Select Teaching Strategies and Assessments

Learn about successful student-active teaching strategies think-pair-share, jigsaw, discussion,

simulations, role-playing, concept mapping, debates, labs, research experiences….

assignments involving writing, posters, oral presentation, service learning….

Make deliberate choices of the best strategy for the task (in your context).

Teach the Earth - Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College (includes Starting Point & On the Cutting Edge)

A Comment

What students receive grades on should be tasks that allow you to evaluate whether they have met the course goals

Cutting Edge Course Design Tutorialhttp://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/coursedesign/tutorial/index.html

Syllabus Construction Goals Expectations Tone