Course Design

Planning, designing and running a course can be intimidating and Curriculum Committee in collaboration with the Office of Curriculum & Assessment and the Center for Educational Excellence in Pharmacy have developed a crash course to course design found here

Additional information about creating courses can be found here 

One the first pieces of advice in designing instruction is to become familiar with the Seven Principles of Good Practice.  As stated in this link "The Seven Principles are intended as guidelines for faculty members, students, and administrators to improve teaching and learning. These principles seem like good common sense, and they are -- because "many teachers and students have experienced them and because research supports them." 

The second piece is to establish what are the 'teaching goals".  The Teaching Goals Inventory is a self-assessment tool of instructional goals.  One of the purposes of this survey is to help instructors become more aware of what they want to accomplish in their courses.  

The final piece is that many of us will be involved in teaching large classes; here is a basic survival guide.

Course Design can be accomplished in several steps:

Step 1: Define course goals by answering the question “what should students know or be able to do as a result of the course, or within 1-5 years of completing the course?”

Step 2: Decide how these goals will be assessed.

Step 3: Design learning experiences to help students achieve defined goals, considering what you want students to do both in and out of class

Step 4: Identify resources that will help students gain the knowledge and skills you have identified; including text books or primary literature for directed reading, instructor-prepared notes, web-based or internet-based resources.

Step 5: Prepare your syllabus.

Step 6: Seek and thoughtfully consider feedback from students and colleagues. 

Use the menu on the left to explore more information about each of these steps.