The course plan is an essential component of the design process for any course because it provides a road map, ensures alignment, facilitates collaboration, helps with resource allocation and facilitates continuous improvement.
- Provides a roadmap: A course plan provides a roadmap for the course design process. It outlines the objectives, learning outcomes, and content that will be covered in the course. This roadmap ensures that the course designer stays focused and organized during the design process.
- Ensures alignment: A course plan ensures alignment between the course objectives, learning outcomes, and assessments. It ensures that each component of the course is aligned with the overall goals of the course.
- Facilitates collaboration: A course plan facilitates collaboration between the course designer and other stakeholders, such as subject matter experts, instructional designers, and multimedia specialists. It provides a shared vision for the course and ensures that everyone is on the same page.
- Helps with resource allocation: A course plan helps with resource allocation by identifying the resources required for the course, such as textbooks, materials, and technologies. It ensures that the necessary resources are available before the course begins.
- Facilitates continuous improvement: A course plan facilitates continuous improvement by providing a framework for course evaluation and revision. It enables the course designer to reflect on the course’s effectiveness and make changes to improve the course’s quality.
- Adheres to online course standards:
How to Complete the Course Plan
Creating an engaging course involves careful selection of engaging subject matter, intended learning outcomes, and available resources. The course plan can be used to develop online courses for 8-week terms, short workshops, or online trainings. The following steps can guide you through the process of completing the form.
Course Information: Start by entering the Course Number & Title, Course Description, Aligned Program Objectives, Course Exit Outcomes and name of the physical textbook being used for the course, if applicable. You may want to complete the Course Teaching Notes and Assignment Groups sections once the entire course plan has been completed.
Groups: The Groups section is where important information is captured related to any group activities planned for the course. Start by entering the name of the group, the number of participants planned for each group, indicate if the group activity is an individual submission or a group submission, and indicate what assignments each group activity is associated with.
Weekly Titles: Divide the course material into logical modules and give each module a title. Organize the content in a way that builds upon previous topics and ensures a smooth progression of learning. Each week should have a clear focus and contribute to achieving the learning objectives.
Weekly Overview: Start by entering the subject matter that students are learning that week and explaining how the reading and activities connect to the learning goal.
Weekly Activities: The weekly activities section includes seven areas: Learning Objectives; Activity Type; Activity Info; Interactions; Assessment & Grade Category; SRP Essentials; and Activity Settings.
- Learning Objectives: It’s important to clarify the specific learning objectives you want to achieve. Objectives should be clear, measurable, and aligned with the overall purpose of the course. Consider what knowledge, skills, or attitudes you want participants to gain by the end of the course.
- Activity Type: This section describes the types of Activities participants will engage in. In the course plan, there is a drop down menu of activities to select from. Start by clicking on the arrow and the various types of activities will appear including discussion, presentation discussion, video discussion, presentation assignment, video assignment, synchronous session, alternative to synchronous session, quiz, peer review, multimedia, final assignment, and choice assignment.
- Activity Info: This section provides an overview of all of the aspects of the activity. Be sure to enter the corresponding activity number for each activity (e.g. [1.1] Introduction to Etymology, [1.2] The Essential Elements of Etymology, etc.).
- Interactions: This section describes the types of Learner Interactions. When designing courses and learning experiences, it’s crucial to consider various forms of interactions to enhance engagement, deepen understanding, and promote effective learning. This section is a drop down menu of different interactions to choose from including:
- Learner-to Learner: Learners interacting with their peers can be highly beneficial for collaborative learning. Group discussions, team projects, and peer assessments encourage learners to share their perspectives, debate ideas, and learn from each other. This type of interaction promotes critical thinking and social skills.
- Learner-to-Instructor: This interaction occurs between the learners and the instructor or facilitator. It can take place through in-person sessions, virtual classrooms, discussion forums, or one-on-one meetings. Instructor interactions provide personalized guidance, answer questions, and offer feedback, which fosters a supportive learning environment.
- Learner-to-Others: This type of interaction refers to the communication and engagement that takes place between an individual learner and other individuals in a learning environment inside our outside of the Adler community. This type of interaction involves learners interacting with their peers, instructors, facilitators, or other members of the learning community.
- Learner-to-Content: This interaction involves the learner engaging with the course content directly. It includes reading textbooks, watching videos, listening to lectures, and interacting with multimedia elements. When learners actively interact with the content, they are more likely to comprehend and retain the information.
- Assessment & Grading Category: Design assessments, such as quizzes, tests, assignments, or projects, to evaluate learners’ progress and understanding. Ensure that assessments align with the learning objectives and provide valuable feedback to participants.
- SRP Essentials: This section is dedicated to ensuring that course designs address the Socially Essential Practitioner Essentials which include the following: 1) Learn about and engage with a diversity of people, 2) Learn about historical and contemporary inequities, 3) Build relationships to promote solidarity for social justice, 4) Gain knowledge and skills to promote social justice, 5) Confront and resist interpersonal, institutional, structural, and social oppression, 6) Work to restore justice, and 7) Make reparations and reconciliation to those aggrieved.
- Activity Settings: Activity settings include two area: Turnitin and Complete/Incomplete. If students are expected to write a 3-page or more research paper/paper, be sure to check the Turnitin box. If students are only expected to participate and not earn points for the assignment, check the box Complete/Incomplete box.
Weekly Resources: Identify the necessary learning resources, such as textbooks, articles, videos, or online materials. Ensure the resources are accessible and relevant to the course content.
Weekly Teaching Notes: Weekly teaching notes are a set of detailed guidelines and instructions for instructors or facilitators to follow throughout the duration of a course. These notes are organized on a weekly basis, providing a structured plan for each week of the course. The purpose of weekly teaching notes is to ensure consistency, coherence, and effectiveness in course delivery, as well as to help instructors achieve the intended learning outcomes.