Planning sessions
This page outlines some principles for session planning and introduces two tools to help you
to plan effective learning for your students. Whatever your discipline and whether you are
planning a lecture, seminar, tutorial, lab session, problem-solving class, workshop or field
trip these tools will help you to think through what you want to achieve and structure the
session.
If you are new to teaching at Sussex, or thinking about taking on teaching you will probably
also find the online Preparing to Teach course helpful.
Learning Outcomes
The process of session planning begins with establishing clear learning outcomes. It may be
that the course convenor has provided learning outcomes for each session, but if not then
the first step is to write 2 or 3 learning outcomes that describe what you want students to be
able to do as a result of their learning in the session. Starting with a clear idea of what the
threshold is for success in a session really helps you to focus on what should be included,
and establishing what students should be able to do at the end will suggest ways of checking
that the required learning has happened.
Session Planning Template
The session planning template is a useful tool that takes you through the steps to plan an
effective session. Once you are familiar with the process you may find that you prefer a
different format for your planning document, the blank planning document in appendix 1 is a
good place to start because it has columns which direct your attention to the key aspects:
timing, content, methods, resources and assessment. This annotated session plan template
in appendix 2 takes you through the template stage-by-stage and includes examples of how
you might complete each section.
Timing is important, but can rarely be firmly set in advance. Experience will give you a better
sense of how long particular activities are likely to take but groups of students will respond
differently to tasks so it is important to allow some flexibility in your plan so that students can
explore aspects of the topic that interest them. It is a god idea to have activities that will
allow students to achieve the learning outcomes, but then to have an 'extra' activity that will
take things a bit further, but which can be cut if there is not enough time.
Methods should be varied and active to keep students motivated and engaged. Try to
include a mix of individual, small group and whole group activities and keep 'tutor
presentation' to a minimum - unless you are planning a lecture.
Resources can really bring a session to life. The sorts of resources that will be appropriate
for your session will depend to some extent on your discipline, but here are some
possibilities: handouts, presentation slides, audio, video, interactive whiteboard content,
'clickers', objects to be displayed with a visualiser such as subject-specific artefacts or
publications. And don't forget that the students' experiences can also be valuable
'resources'.
Assessment is crucial, even at the individual session level. That does not mean that every
session has to include a test, but there does have to be some way that the tutor and
students know whether or not the learning outcomes have been achieved. If good active
learning outcomes have been used then they are likely to suggest activities that are easily
assessed. For example, a learning outcome that calls for students to be able to discuss a
particular concept could lead to a small group task where students tackle a question that
leads to such a discussion. If the tutor is moving between groups listening to the discussions
then s/he will have a good idea of whether or not that learning outcome has been achieved
and students will know for themselves that they are able to do it.
Appendix 1 - Session Plan
Topic:
Aim:
Learning Outcomes:
At the end of the session a successful student will be able to:



Time
Content
Evaluation / Reflection (continue overleaf if necessary)
T & L Methods
Resources
Assessment (how will I
know the relevant outcome
has been achieved?)
Appendix 2 - Session Plan Template
Topic:
this is usually the title of the session – for example ‘Photosynthesis’ or ‘Shakespeare’s Hamlet’
Aim: this is what the tutor intends to do – for example ‘explain the process of photosynthesis’ or ‘discuss the main themes in Hamlet’
Learning Outcomes: Learning Outcomes describe what the students will be able to DO as a result of their learning in the session at the
threshold level. For a session 2 or 3 is plenty. For example:
At the end of the session a successful student will be able to:

Describe the process of photosynthesis or

Discuss the theme of revenge in Hamlet
Time
Content
T & L Methods
What time do
you expect to
start and end
each part of
the session –
for example:
10.00 – 10.10
10.30 – 10.40
The methods being used. It is
important to use a range of
different methods / modes. For
example:
The process of photosynthesis
or
Stephen Greenblatt: Hamlet in Purgatory
It is a good
idea to plan in
some flexibility
as activities
will often take
more or less
time than you
anticipate.
Tutor presentation
or
Student presentation
You should also include
activities that engage students
in ‘active learning’ such as
setting small group tasks.
Resources
Assessment
The resources used in
your session will
depend on your
discipline. Some basic
ones would be:
This is about how you (and
your students) will know
whether they have achieved
the learning outcomes. This
will usually be by informal
means such as asking
questions or observing how
well students cope with
tasks or engage in a
discussion. So for our 2
examples here the
‘assessment’ could be a
small group task to create a
poster showing the process
of photosynthesis or a
seminar discussion on
Hamlet following the
student presentation.
PowerPoint slides
or
student-produced
handouts
You should try to use
as many interesting
resources as possible,
such as subjectspecific artefacts,
illustrations, real
examples etc.
Evaluation / Reflection. This is a space for you to make some notes on the session – how did it go? what worked well? what not so well? why was
that? what could you do differently next time?