Designing Your Course: Instructional Design, Course Planning, and Developing the Syllabus Danielle Mihram, Ph.D. Distinguished Faculty Fellow USC Center for Excellence in Teaching [e-mail]

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Designing Your CourseInstructional Design,
Course Planning, and Developing the Syllabus
Danielle Mihram, Ph.D. Distinguished Faculty
Fellow USC Center for Excellence in
Teachingdmihram_at_usc.edu
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Effective Course Design

• Effective course design includes the following
  key elements
• (a) Determining what you want your students to
  learn and how you will measure what they are
  learning and
• (b) Selecting a set of activities, assignments,
  and materials that will help you lead these
  students in their learning.
• At the end of this workshop, instructors should
  be prepared to produce a syllabus which
• Articulates specific aims and objectives for a
  course in their field
• Identifies the relationship between course
  objectives, course content, and sequencing of
  material
• Demonstrates how teaching effectiveness is
  related to student assessment and course
  objectives
• States clearly defined mutual expectations
• Is clear, coherent, and comprehensive.

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A Useful and Effective Syllabus

• Requires reflection and analysis before
  instruction begins
• Provides a plan that conveys the logic and
  organization of the course
• Includes content, process, and product goals
• Provides students with a way to assess the whole
  course its rationale, activities, policies, and
  scheduling
• Clarifies instructional priorities
• Defines and discusses the mutual responsibilities
  for the instructor and the students in
  successfully meeting course goals
• Allows students to achieve high degrees of
  personal control over their learning
• Is much more than a practical document, it has
  conceptual and philosophical components
• Serves as a contract for learning

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Overview

• Instructional design Course planning A
  systemic approach
• Planning
• Course content
• Course objectives
• The Teaching Goals Inventory
• Group work
• Learning objectives and outcomes
• Instructional strategies for student engagement
  and lifelong learning
• -- Issues of Assessment
• Examples of assessment tools
• Identifying and assembling resources
• Syllabus checklist
• Useful resources

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Instructional Design Course Planning A
Systemic Approach

• A systemic approach to course design and planning
  includes five (5) steps)
• 1. Analyzing
• The situational context of your course
• The conditions of your teaching situation
• The characteristics of the students (both student
  organization and grouping)
• The resources at your disposal
• 2. Planning
• The course content
• The course syllabus
• The course objectives (Formulating your course
  and what your students will learn)
• The student learning outcomes

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Instructional Design Course Planning A
Systemic Approach

• 3. Conducting
• Selecting appropriate and effective teaching
  methods
• Ongoing classroom assessment of your students
  learning
• 4. Assessing
• The course at mid-term
• The course at the end of term
• Reflecting on your teaching
• Course design includes the following
  Instructional Commonplaces
• Learner
• Teacher
• Subject matter
• Social milieu (learning context)
• Evaluation

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Analyzing

• Conditions of your teaching situation
• What official need(s) is the course to fulfill?
  e.g.
• Meet the needs of the labor market?
• Satisfy the requirements of a national
  accreditation organism?
• Update old content and respond to important
  developments in a modern field?
• What is the courses scope within the general
  program of study? (How does your course begin?
  Why does it begin and end where it does?
• The requirements of subsequent courses

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Analyzing (Contd)

• The characteristics of your students
• Diverse academic profiles? (the courses they
  have taken the content and pedagogical
  organization of the previous courses)
• The degree of homogeneity of the enrolling
  students
• Their professional (and personal) expectations of
  the course
• Do the students know each other, and have they
  worked together previously?
• The resources at your disposal
• Technological support IT support for web-based
  teaching, for multi-media instruction, or for
  distance learning?
• Use of smart rooms?
• Departmental (or university) support for field
  trips or out of class activities?
• Honoraria for guest speakers?

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Planning

• Initial questions to ask when determining course
  content
• What are the core scholarly, or scientific, or
  field-specific findings and assumptions?
• What are the main points of arguments? What are
  the key bodies of evidence?
• What is the context of the course within the
  larger curriculum framework?

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Planning (Contd)

• (Initial questions to ask when determining course
  content)
• Established course or new?
• Level of course (1st year? Upper division?
  Graduate level?)
• Is the course required or elective?
• Based on textbook and/or course pack?
• Requires activities outside of class?

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Overview

• Instructional design Course planning A
  systemic approach
• Planning
• Course content
• Course objectives
• The Teaching Goals Inventory
• Learning objectives
• Instructional strategies for student engagement
  and lifelong learning
• -- Issues of Assessment
• Examples of assessment tools
• Identifying and assembling resources
• Syllabus checklist
• Useful resources

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Planning Course Content

• Be clear about what is most worth knowing (What
  do students need to know in order to derive
  maximum benefit from this educational
  experience?)
• Describe the content that students will be
  required to know
• Discuss the content that you will make available
  to support individual student inquiry or projects
• Provide content that might be of interest to a
  student who wants to specialize in this area
• Develop a conceptual framework (theory, theme,
  controversial issue) to support major ideas and
  topics
• Decide what topics are appropriate to what types
  of student activities and assignments

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Planning Course materials

• Selecting pertinent course materials
• What do you and your students do as the course
  unfolds?
• About what do you lecture or discuss, or present
  as case studies? What is left up to the students
  more generally?
• What are the key assignments or student
  evaluations?

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Developing Course Objectives

• General objectives A course objective is a
  simple statement of what you expect your students
  to know.
• Determining the objectives is the most important
  aspect of course planning (Ask yourself, What do
  students need to know in order to derive maximum
  benefit from this educational experience? What
  educational outcomes do I want a graduate of this
  course to display?).
• Plan backwards from where you want students to
  end in terms of their new knowledge, attitudes,
  and skills.
• List these as learning objectives (student
  learning outcomes) by the end of the course you
  will be able to.
• Design the course in a logical and scaffolded
  sequence of learning activities (reading
  assignments, lectures, quizzes,
  technology-mediated experiences, formative
  assessments)

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Developing Course Objectives (Contd)

• Course Objectives are based on various learning
  modes the AVK Model of Learning
• Hearing (Audio), as in lectures, seminars and
  discussion sections
• Seeing (Visual), as in reading and observing
• Doing (Kinesthetic), as in performance, practical
  and laboratory work (which may involve taste and
  smell as well).
• (Students learn in highly individual and complex
  combinations of AVK.)
• Each discipline and subject has its own AVK
  requirements, but incorporating some A, V, and K
  learning into your course syllabus not only makes
  for a more interesting class but, pedagogically
  speaking, also helps to maximize the learning
  potential of each student.

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Developing Course Objectives (Contd)

• Verbs that can be used to help construct concrete
  objectives for your class.
• analyze appreciate classify collaborate
• compare compute contrast define
• demonstrate direct derive
  designate
• discuss display evaluate explain
• identify infer integrate
  interpret
• justify list name
  organize outline
• report respond solicit
  state
• synthesize
• (N.B. not an exhaustive list)

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Examples of Course Goals

• Discern the differences between personal writing
  and writing for academic and other audiences, and
  show awareness of and aptitude with voice and
  style appropriate for these audiences
• Understand the relationship of the visual to the
  textual learn to "read" images
• Integrate technology in a rich and meaningful way
  into the research and writing process
• Encourage students to write for a "real world"
  audience beyond the classroom, if possible for
  campus or local publication.

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Actual Examples of Course Goal Statements (for
you to evaluate)

• "Fin de sicle sic 1800, 1900, 2000 Three
  Modern Turns in Mythic National Cultures
• we will see how each era privileges certain
  classes of texts, defines the individual, the
  citizen, and the human in particular ways,
  inscribes that individual into the public sphere
  of the nation through education and other
  institutions, and offers a vision of history that
  legitimizes or challenges the group's identity.
  We will learn as scholars how to situate central
  texts of culture within precise, illuminating
  historical, sociological, and narratological
  contexts, in awareness of how ideological
  premises become naturalized by disciplines,
  theories, and the institutions adapting them to
  the service of the nation, as well as by a
  characteristic "order of texts" (Chartier) -- a
  set of textual or artifactual "performances" that
  disseminated those ideologies.
• http//www.utexas.edu/courses/arens/1800/1800index
  .html

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Actual Examples of Course Goal Statements (for
you to evaluate)

• Principles of Psychology
• The goal of this course is to provide a broad,
  general introduction to psychology, which is the
  scientific study of behavior and mental
  processes. () You should emerge from the course
  with an increased awareness of the broad range of
  phenomena investigated by psychologists and with
  a greater ability to understand and critique
  psychological research. Special emphasis will be
  placed on applying psychological principles to
  everyday life.
• http//www.southwestern.edu/giuliant/intro.html

• Fundamentals of Cognitive Neuropsychology
• In this course, we first will examine
  traditionally-defined topics in cognitive
  psychology (e.g., visual perception, attention,
  executive function, memory, motor control,
  language, consciousness), and address (a) how
  available cognitive theories have shaped the
  investigation of cognitive disorders in brain
  damaged patients, and (b) how the resulting
  neurological data has shaped (or reshaped)
  cognitive theory. Although the focus of this
  course will be on findings from studies of
  cognitive disorders in patients with localized
  brain damage, we will also seek converging
  evidence from complementary techniques that allow
  examination mind-brain relationships in normal
  individuals, including functional neuroimaging
  (e.g., PET, fMRI) and neuromonitoring (e.g.,
  ERP).
• http//www.columbia.edu/cu/psychology/courses/syll
  abi/3480.html

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Actual Examples of Course Goal Statements (for
you to evaluate)

• Corporate Finance
• This course provides an introduction to the
  modern theory and practice of corporate finance.
• Marketing Management
• The goals of this course are to introduce you to
  the substantive and procedural aspects of
  marketing management, and to sharpen your
  critical thinking skills.

• Strategy and Organization
• The primary objective of this course is to help
  you learn to diagnose management situations so
  that you will be able to transfer this skill to
  your work experience.

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Course Objectives The Teaching Goals Inventory
(TGI)

• Includes considerations of six major components
• Higher order thinking skills
• Basic academic success skills
• Discipline-specific knowledge and skills
• Liberal arts and academic values
• Work and career preparation
• Personal development

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Course objectives The Teaching Goals Inventory
(TGI)

• Found in
• Angelo, Thomas A. K. Patricia Cross (1993).
  Classroom Assessment Techniques - A Handbook for
  College Teachers. San Francisco Jossey-Bass (2nd
  ed.).

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Course Objectives The Teaching Goals Inventory
(TGI)

• Purposes of the TGI
• To help college teachers become more aware of
  what they want to accomplish in individual
  courses
• To help faculty locate classroom assessment
  techniques they can adapt and use to assess how
  well they are achieving their teaching and
  learning goals among colleagues
• To provide a starting point for discussion of
  teaching and learning goals among colleagues
• See pp. 393-397 in
• Angelo, Thomas A. K. Patricia Cross (1993).
  Classroom Assessment Techniques - A Handbook for
  College Teachers. San Francisco Jossey-Bass (2nd
  ed.).
• Online Access to list
• http//www.siue.edu/deder/assess/cats/tchgoals.ht
  ml
• http//fm.iowa.uiowa.edu/fmi/xsl/tgi/data_entry.xs
  l?-dbtgi_data-layLayout01-view

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Course Objectives The Teaching Goals Inventory
(TGI)

• Group work
• Teaching Goals Inventory and Self-scorable
  worksheet
• (Handout)
• A. Each participant
• Considers ONE course you are (or will) teach
• Responds (by circling in pencil) to each item on
  the TGI in relation to that particular course
• B. Participants form small groups
• Explain your responses to team members
• C. General discussion what have we learned?

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Actual Examples of Course Goal Statements (for
you to evaluate)

• PHYS345 Electricity and Electronics
• Course Objectives
• As a result of this course, I hope that you can
  better
• Realize the importance of electricity and
  electronics in everyday life and value its
  benefit to society.
• Access the fundamental physics available for
  dealing with engineering problems in the
  electrical domain.
• Apply selected physical concepts important in
  designing and using electrical and electronic
  circuits.
• Analyze and solve realistic problems, use
  mathematical techniques effectively in their
  solution, and reason accurately and objectively
  about the physical domain.
• Translate verbal and graphical descriptions
  of physical systems into appropriate mathematical
  models.
• Analyze and draw valid conclusions from
  experimentally obtained data.
• Apply spreadsheet or modeling software to
  organize data, perform calculations, and display
  results graphically.
• Communicate technical ideas effectively, both
  in writing and orally.
• http//www.physics.udel.edu/watson/phys345/frame/
  index_syllabus.html

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Learning Outcomes

• What your students will learn within the content
  of a body of knowledge
• Each course objective should lead to an
  actionable learning outcome A short statement,
  formulated from the professors point of view,
  beginning with a verb and providing actionable
  outcomes
• Introduce students to so that help student
  discover and then develop the ability to
  so as to transfer to give students a
  theoretical and practical overview to .
• See The Teaching Goals Inventory (TGI)

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Student Learning Outcomes - Specific Objectives

• Specific objectives from the students point of
  view (Learning goals and outcomes)
• What the student must be able to do or achieve
  during or at the end of a learning situation or
  section (in order to attain the general
  objectives).
• These objectives are linked to each of the
  courses themes and general objectives
• Permits you to link a given subject and student
  performance
• Each objective must be linked to an action or
  outcome

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Student Learning Outcomes - Specific
ObjectivesAn Example

• (Course Using Technology in Science Education)
• At the end of this course, you should be able to
• 1. List and contrast current models of science
  teaching and learning using technology.
• 2. Critique current models of teaching and
  learning using technology in relation to your
  personal philosophy of science education.
• 3. Analyze curricular technology models for
  alignment with published standards.
• 4. Identify effective assessment models for
  evaluating technology.
• 5. Discuss how pro-active strategies can
  establish safe classroom environments where all
  students are encouraged to participate and
  express their views.
• http//faculty.washington.edu/jrios/TEDUC20513/Ge
  neral20Course20Information.html

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Actual Examples of Learning Objectives (for you
to evaluate)

• Be able to compare and contrast earnings and cash
  flows as measures of performance.
• Identify and use three format techniques to
  increase the effectiveness of a written business
  communication.
• Understand the mechanics of the cash flow
  statement.

• Conduct independent research and write a
  publishable article for a newspaper or
  professional journal.
• Understand the implementation of SOX on US
  businesses and the resulting changes.
• Prepare and deliver a persuasive presentation
  using logical and emotional arguments.

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Actual Examples of Learning Objectives (for you
to evaluate)

• Art History - Survey II
• Learning Outcomes and Performance Objectives with
  their methods of measurement as used to
  determine the students mastery of those
  outcomes.Learning Outcomes/Performance
  Objectives/Measurements
• A. The student will identify vocabulary, media,
  and general theories related to the history of
  art from the 14th century through present day.
  Evaluation written assignments, including
  research papers, and written exams.
• B. The student will distinguish and classify
  works of art and architecture within the context
  of the individual, society, time, place and
  circumstance within the time frame covered in
  this course. Evaluation written assignments,
  including research papers, museum/gallery visits
  and written exams.
• C. The student will describe the material,
  cultural and conceptual conditions involved in
  making and using works of art and architecture.
  Evaluation written assignments, including
  research papers, museum/gallery visits and
  written exams.
• D. The student will interpret works of art and
  architecture by synthesizing formal analysis with
  scholarly research. Evaluation research papers,
  exhibit and/or resource critique.
• http//www.accd.edu/sac/vat/arthistory/arts1304/s
  yllabus.htm

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For Access to Syllabi in all Fields

• Go to
• World Lecture Hall
• http//web.austin.utexas.edu/wlh/browse.cfm

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Overview

• Instructional design Course planning A
  systemic approach
• Planning
• Course content
• Course objectives
• The Teaching Goals Inventory
• Group work
• Learning objectives
• Instructional strategies for student engagement
  and lifelong learning
• -- Issues of Assessment
• Examples of assessment tools
• Identifying and assembling resources
• Syllabus checklist
• Useful resources

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Instructional Strategies

• The core question How to develop a challenging
  and supportive course climate that builds on
  students interests, exemplifies the big topics
  in the field, teaches interpersonal and
  collaborative skills, and develops the capacity
  for lifelong learning (learning how to learn in
  the field).
• Decide on a mix of strategies to shape basic
  skills and procedures, present information, guide
  inquiry, monitor individual and group activities,
  and support and challenge critical reflection
• The chosen strategies must fit with the outcomes
  you hope to achieve
• Examples of general instructional strategies
• Training and coaching
• Lecturing and explaining
• Inquiry and discovery
• Field work and community-based work
• Experiential opportunities (such as internships)
  and reflection (portfolios)

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Encouraging Active Student Involvement and
Lifelong Learning

• Are course topics related to content, or process,
  or both? What embedded activities will help
  students to learn the tools of the discipline or
  field?
• Activities and products that can involve students
  in sustained intensive work, both independently
  and with one a other might include
• Group research projects
• Reaction papers on one of several topics
  provided by the instructor or suggested by the
  student(s)
• Challenging the students to improve the
  syllabus by adding or omitting a reading
  assignment or two (with a rationale for doing so)
• A learner-centered approach changes the students
  role by encouraging acceptance of personal
  responsibility for learning - intentional
  learning (this can be difficult for students
  who have been educated as passive learners).

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Considering Issues of Assessment

• (To be discussed at greater length in another
  session)
• Demonstrations of learning should include
  multiple ways to represent knowledge and skills
• Consider the role and rationale for individual
  and group assessment opportunities
• Provide worked examples and grading rubrics where
  possible so that all learners know what
  constitutes good (successful) work
• Consider using both formative and summative modes
  of assessment

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Examples of Assessment Tools

• Products (essays, research reports, other
  projects)
• Performance assessments (music, dance, dramatic
  performance e.g., role play, science
  experiments, demonstrations, debates.)
• Process-focused assessment (journals, learning
  logs, reflective statements, oral presentations)
• Assessment of recall and application at the
  highest cognitive level (Blooms et al.
  taxonomies)
• Examine the CET website for more helpful
  information on assessment
• http//www.usc.edu/programs/cet/resources
  /assessment/

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Overview

• Instructional design Course planning A
  systemic approach
• Planning
• Course content
• Course objectives
• The Teaching Goals Inventory
• Group work
• Learning objectives
• Instructional strategies for student engagement
  and lifelong learning
• -- Issues of Assessment
• Examples of assessment tools
• Identifying and assembling resources
• Syllabus checklist
• Useful resources

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Identifying and Assembling Resources

• Consider ways to include the full range of
  knowledge nodes (some of which may include
  alternative and conflicting perspectives). These
  would include
• Lectures, panel presentations, case studies,
  demonstrations, facilitation, discussion, online
  discussion boards
• books and readings, films, multimedia, maps,
  libraries, museums, theaters, studios, labs,
  databases, Internet sites, .
• Involve outside individuals, communities, or
  officials for guest lectures and service learning
  opportunities where appropriate (For example
  USCs Joint Educational project JEP.)
• Assign projects that will tap into students
  personal interpretations by challenging them to
  search for further information or new, even
  contradictory, points of view.

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Overview

• Instructional design Course planning A
  systemic approach
• Planning
• Course content
• Course objectives
• The Teaching Goals Inventory
• Group work
• Learning objectives
• Instructional strategies for student engagement
  and lifelong learning
• -- Issues of Assessment
• Examples of assessment tools
• Identifying and assembling resources
• Syllabus checklist
• Useful resources

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Syllabus ChecklistExpanded from Grunert, J.
(2007). The Course Syllabus

• Course Identifiers
• Instructor Contact Information
• Purpose of Course
• Course Goal and Learning Objectives
• Course requirements, Prerequisites, Co-requisites
• Required, Recommended Materials

• Assignments and Exam Due Dates
• Evaluation specifics
• Grading criteria
• Policies, Expectations
• Missed exams, quizzes
• Attendance
• Other, as required
• Detailed Schedule
• Reading list with reference

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Useful Resources on Course Design and Syllabus
Creation

• Grunert, Judith (2007) The Course Syllabus A
  Learning-Centered Approach. San Francisco
  Jossey-Bass.

• Prégent, Richard (2000). Charting Your Course
  How to Prepare to Teach More Effectively.
  Madison, Wisconsin Atwood (English ed.).

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Useful Resources on Course Design and Syllabus
Creation

• Angelo, Thomas A. and K. Patricia Cross (1993).
  Classroom Assessment Techniques A Handbook for
  College Teachers. San Francisco, CA Jossey-Bass
  (2nd ed.).

• Richlin, Laurie (2006). Blueprint for Learning
  Constructing College Courses to Facilitate,
  Assess, and Document Learning. Sterling, VA
  Stylus.

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Useful Resources on Course Design and Syllabus
Creation

• Teaching and Learning Resources on the website of
  the USC Center for Excellence in Teaching
• http//www.usc.edu/programs/cet/resources/
• Syllabus and Course Design
• http//www.usc.edu/programs/cet/resources/creating
  _syllabi/
• USC Office of Curriculum - Sample Syllabus
  Template
• http//www.usc.edu/dept/ARR/curriculum/handbook.ht
  ml

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Review

• Instructional design Course planning A
  systemic approach
• Planning
• Course content
• Course objectives
• The Teaching Goals Inventory
• Group work
• Learning objectives
• Instructional strategies for student engagement
  and lifelong learning
• -- Issues of Assessment
• Examples of assessment tools
• Identifying and assembling resources
• Syllabus checklist
• Useful resources