Course Design Workshop
Frostburg State University
January 2008
Tracy Edwards
Focus: Syllabus Design

 Course design is dependent upon...
– The nature of your students
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Your strengths as a teacher
Required University / Program / other curricular frameworks

 University Guidelines
– http://www.frostburg.edu/admin/policies/fsupolicy/2_025.pdf
 Physical Geography Course Requirements
 How can we move from predominately coverage-driven course design to more learning-centered elements of design?

 Undergraduate Institutional Learning Goals
– http://www.frostburg.edu/about/uglearninggoals.htm
 YOUR course design: Is it content-driven OR learning-centered?

 Works backwards:
– Identify the knowledge-based and skills-based goals FIRST
– Develop a pedagogically coherent plan to best accomplish those goals
– Create a document which impresses these objectives, and strategies to meet the objectives, upon the student

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Distributed BY the 2 nd class meeting
In course design, when using Bloom’s
Taxonomy revisited, the FINAL STAGE…

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Understand your assumptions and values
Identify the course learning outcomes
Identify the knowledge type outcomes in course
Identify the process type outcomes in course
Create the learning activities to embrace the learning style diversity
Create the assessment activities
 Create the syllabus

GOALS
Learning
Objectives or
Outcomes
Activities
( Assessment )
A learning-centered syllabus requires MORE rather than LESS information

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Establishes contact / connection between student and instructor
Helps set the tone for the course (Consider a letter to the student)
Describes instructor beliefs about educational purposes
Introduces students with course logistics
Contains necessary course handouts
Defines student responsibilities for successful course work
Describes active learning
Helps students access their readiness for the course
Sets the course in a broader context for learning
Provides a conceptual framework
Describes available learning resources
Communicates the role of technology in the course
Can provide additional readings / resources
Can improve the effectiveness of student note taking
Can include material to support out-of-the-classroom learning
Can serve as a learning contract

 Is the way we are conducting class giving you the best chance to demonstrate what you know?
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If so, what is most and least useful in this regard?
If not, what features of the course might we restructure to make this possible, and how?