Course design

The following questions are intended to provide a basic top down structure for you to use in designing your course.

Where does the course fit within the program of the department or school or University?

At the University level, how does your course relate to the University curriculum? At the school or department level, where does your course fit into their programs, e.g. what are the prerequisites for your course and what courses require your course as a prerequisite?

What are the goals/objectives and measureable learning outcomes of the course?

• Goals - Where are we headed?
• Objectives - How do we get there?
• Outcomes - How will we know when we get there?

Goals, objectives and outcomes will be useful in guiding you in developing the contents and activities in your course. Furthermore sharing these aspirations with your students will help guide them in the direction you intended (i.e. they "get it").

Outcomes can be particularly useful if they are measureable and thus can be used to decide if your course has been "successful."

What subjects will be covered, and what will not? What will the schedule be?

Content should follow from the previously defined goals for the course.

What is an appropriate format for the course, e.g., lecture, seminar, lab, online?

The choice of teaching environment will depend on the size of the class, the level of the course (e.g. freshman biology or senior molecular biology), and the nature of the subject matter (e.g. philosophy or physics).

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Related references:

A Self-Directed Guide to Designing Courses for Significant Learning

Designing & Assessing Courses & Curricula: A Practical Guide. Diamond offers a well-parsed process here, providing learner-centered-learning context in the first two chapters and clear objective-oriented chapters. The appendices - called "Resources" - offer a series of case students, templates, and observations that support the ideas and steps discussed.