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Quality Course Design

Overall Scheme Tutorial Objectives

Upon the successful completion of Module 8, you will have integrated the course structure and instructional strategies for your course.

Overall Scheme of Learning Activities

At this time you need to dynamically integrate the course structure and the instructional strategy for the whole course. It can be helpful to create a diagram of the course structure and the instructional strategy—and then find ways to enhance how these two components work together. Your scheme might look like this:

Overall Scheme diagram

The above figure is an example of only one possibility.  The overall scheme of learning activities must be adjusted to fit the allotted time for the course, reflect differentiation in terms of variety of learning, and illustrate a pattern of development in complexities challenging students over time. 

Differentiation can be reflected in these ways:

  • Variety in the type of learning activities from day-to-day, within each 1-3 week block of time.
  • Development in the complexity and challenge of the learning, from course topics I-IV.

Integration should be reflected both within each topical unit of time and in the progression through each of the topical units.

Activity 8: Creating a Course Structure

At the conclusion of this, you should be ready to lay out a week-by-week schedule of activities for the whole semester. As you do this, consider these questions:

  • What activities need to come first, i.e., how should the course begin?
  • With what activities do you want to conclude, i.e., how should the course end?
  • What sequence of activities will enhance learning in the middle of the course?

Use Worksheet 8: Creating a Course Structure to pace out the sequence of learning activities for the course.

References

  1. Fink, L. D. (2003). Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to designing college courses. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.