Course Design
Designing a course is like planning a trip, a learning journey designed to take your students to a new place of knowledge and understanding.
Course Design Expectations
The amount of course designing (“trip planning”) you need to do varies by program. Some programs have common syllabi, where the assignments and weekly content topics are already designed. In that scenario, you would only need to design the weekly class sessions. Check with your program director to determine what you need to accomplish.
Online Courses
If you are teaching an online course, chances are that we already designed it for you. If you are asked to design a new online course, our partners at Wiley or our in-house faculty development team can guide you through the course design process. Contact your program director for more information.
Blended and Face-to-Face Courses
If you are teaching a blended course (a mix of online and face-to-face learning) or a face-to-face course, there may be a previous syllabus already that you could revise. Contact your program director or the CELT director for more information.
Designing Your Course
You can begin planning your “trip” by designing your course. For your students’ “trip,” you will need to decide:
- Where you want them go (student learning objectives)
- How you will get them to their destination (instructional experience you design)
- How you will know when they arrive (course assignments as assessment tools)
- How you will communicate their travel plan (course syllabus)
The Big Picture
We will walk you through the process for designing and teaching your Saint Mary’s course. During this process, you will need to: