Category: Course Design


Archive for the ‘Course Design’ Category

Nov 11 2009

Tips for Course Planning

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Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe provide helpful course design strategies in Understanding by Design. One of the most compelling portions of their work is their presentation of backwards design, a process that forefronts the results we want students to achieve and then works backwards through acceptable evidence that students have achieved those results and through learning experiences and instruction that support students’ progress.

  1. Backwards Design – Enduring Understanding
    Wiggins and McTighe begin backwards design by asking faculty to consider what students should develop an enduring understanding of, what is important for students to know and do, and what is worth knowing. In English 110, our objectives and shared experiences fit this category of “enduring understanding” and should serve as our starting point for our course planning. **Please list the course objectives – as they are articulated in your ENG 110 faculty notebook and on the course website – on your syllabus. This simple step helps demonstrate to students and others that we have shared learning outcomes for the course, even though we each may employ different assignments to support those outcomes. Thanks for your help!**
  2. Backwards Design – Acceptable Evidence of Learning
    The next step in backwards design is determining acceptable evidence. How do we know that students have met the objectives or achieved our desired results? What assignments and classroom activities might provide evidence that students have met learning outcomes (our objectives)?
  3. Backwards Design – Learning Experiences and Instruction
    Finally, Wiggins and McTighe encourage teachers to brainstorm what learning experiences and instruction students will need to successfully progress towards the desired outcomes. For instance, what do we need to teach students about source use and what types of practice can we provide them in order to help them prepare to synthesize research to support an argument? What learning experiences and instruction do we need to provide to prepare students to produce the assignments we identified in step 2 as acceptable evidence of learning?

Apr 09 2008

University Initiatives and English 110

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Each year, I receive over a dozen requests for English 110 to serve as an instructional site for a new initiative or for data collection. The two initiatives listed below could be implemented in select sections of English 110 while retaining a focus on the English 110 course objectives.

Common Reading

  • 2008-2009 Common Reading: Jonathan Kozol’s The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America
  • Selected by the Common Reading Committee (Jean Schwind is on the committee)
  • See final page of handout for Jean Schwind’s Common Reading assignment; Jean’s students will present their ideas at the 2008 College Writing Showcase.
  • A few ideas that retain a focus on English 110 objectives:
    • Profiles: Politicians responsible for relevant legislation, Schools in ABSS or in students’ hometowns, Kozol
    • Academic Arguments: Supporting or disputing Kozol’s representation of American schools, Proposing alternatives, Examining one of Kozol’s sub-points in more depth
    • Proposals: Calls for change at local, state, or national levels
    • Others?

Environmental Sustainability

  • Initiative to connect campus focus on environmental sustainability to academics
  • Centered in first-year core courses and General Studies
  • Pilot group has been meeting this spring with intention of implementing plans in select sections in the fall
  • Assignment and activity ideas noted in backwards design worksheet examples
  • Interested in participating or learning more? Contact Jessie Moore or Michael Strickland.

Apr 09 2008

Course Design Resources

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Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe provide helpful course design strategies in Understanding by Design. One of the most compelling portions of their work is their presentation of backwards design, a process that forefronts the results we want students to achieve and then works backwards through acceptable evidence that students have achieved those results and through learning experiences and instruction that support students’ progress.
Backwards Design – Enduring Understanding
Wiggins and McTighe begin backwards design by asking faculty to consider what students should develop an enduring understanding of, what is important for students to know and do, and what is worth knowing. The first worksheet in this packet is designed to help you consider these categories for English 110.

Backwards Design – Acceptable Evidence of Learning
The next step in backwards design is determining acceptable evidence. How do we know that students have met the objectives or achieved our desired results? The second worksheet in this packet is designed to help you brainstorm assignments and classroom activities that might provide evidence that students have met learning outcomes.

Backwards Design – Learning Experiences and Instruction
Finally, Wiggins and McTighe encourage teachers to brainstorm what learning experiences and instruction students will need to successfully progress towards the desired outcomes. For instance, what do we need to teach students about source use and what types of practice can we provide them in order to help them prepare to synthesize research to support an argument? The third worksheet focuses on learning experiences.

Shared Outcomes for English 110 (Objectives & Experiences)

Worth being familiar with…

Important to know and do…

Writing to persuade by analyzing, interpreting, researching, synthesizing, and evaluating a wide variety of sources

Writing to academic audiences, writing to non-academic audiences, and writing for one’s own purposes

Writing on the spot (determining the audience and purpose of given writing situations)

Opportunities for oral presentation of their work/writing

Enduring understanding…

A more sophisticated writing process—including invention, peer responding, revising and editing—that results in a clear, effective, well edited public piece.

A more sophisticated understanding of the relationship of purpose, audience, and voice, and an awareness that writing expectations and conventions vary within the academy and in professional and public discourse.

An appreciation for the capacity of writing to change oneself and the world.

Designing Your Course: Determine Acceptable Evidence

Shared Outcomes/

Learning Goals

A more sophisticated writing process—including invention, peer responding, revising and editing—that results in a clear, effective, well edited public piece.

A more sophisticated understanding of the relationship of purpose, audience, and voice, and an awareness that writing expectations and conventions vary within the academy and in professional and public discourse.

An appreciation for the capacity of writing to change oneself and the world.

Acceptable Evidence (Assignments, Projects, Graded Activities, etc.)

  • Brainstorm as many options as possible
  • Consider sequencing related assignments across objectives

Designing Your Course: Determine Acceptable Evidence – Example

This example reflects Jessie’s backwards course design, integrating the environmental sustainability initiative while remaining focused on the English 110 objectives.

Shared Outcomes/

Learning Goals

A more sophisticated writing process—including invention, peer responding, revising and editing—that results in a clear, effective, well edited public piece.

A more sophisticated understanding of the relationship of purpose, audience, and voice, and an awareness that writing expectations and conventions vary within the academy and in professional and public discourse.

An appreciation for the capacity of writing to change oneself and the world.

Acceptable Evidence (Assignments, Projects, Graded Activities, etc.)

  • Brainstorm as many options as possible
  • Consider sequencing related assignments across objectives
  • Students try and submit multiple process activities throughout the semester (borrow Paula R’s process checklist idea?)
  • Students provide well-developed and well-organized feedback to peers (peer response as a writing assignment; allot more time)
  • Students successfully manage a self-paced writing project near the end of the semester (perhaps an adaptation of Ashley H’s multi-genre project?)
  • Successfully adapt writing for different rhetorical situations: Carbon footprint research report (academic) vs. profile presented to class vs. report to profile subject (public); academic synthesis paper about proposal topic vs. proposal to stakeholders
  • Multi-genre project (on topic of student’s choice to avoid topic burnout and to extend self-management of project?)
  • Proposal to stakeholders on environmental sustainability topic
  • Potential audience reaction/response to carbon footprint report
  • Reflection on personal growth (regarding understanding of environmental sustainability?)

Designing Your Course: Plan Learning Experiences and Instruction

Objective 1 or Specific Assignment:

Objective 2 or Specific Assignment: Objective 3 or Specific Assignment:

What knowledge and skills will students need to participate in class activities? To master course content?

What activities will equip students with the needed knowledge and skills?

What experiences will help students meet the learning objectives?

Designing Your Course: Plan Learning Experiences and Instruction – Example

This example reflects Jessie’s backwards course design, integrating the environmental sustainability initiative while remaining focused on the English 110 objectives.

Objective 1 or Specific Assignment: Self-managed writing process

Objective 2 or Specific Assignment: Multi-genre project – rhetorical situations Objective 3 or Specific Assignment: Capacity of writing – proposal assignment

What knowledge and skills will students need to participate in class activities? To master course content?

  • Process strategies (planning, drafting, revising, editing)
  • Time management for writing tasks
  • Audience analysis
  • Adapting writing to purpose and audience
  • Genre analysis
  • Rhetorical strategies
  • Research strategies
  • Reflection on process and response

What activities will equip students with the needed knowledge and skills?

  • Practice with several process activities during earlier assignments
  • Practice with and feedback on peer response
  • Dedicated time for peer response, or should students gain experience building it into their own writing outside of class?
  • In-class audience analysis and practice during previous assignments
  • In-class genre analysis
  • Short activities writing for varied audiences/purposes and analyzing choices (Paul C’s President Lambert activity?)
  • Low-stake practice
  • Direct instruction in rhetorical strategies
  • In-class practice using strategies for proposal writing
  • Summary and synthesis practice
  • Argument analysis (such as Toulmin)

What experiences will help students meet the learning objectives?

  • In-class process activities
  • Required exploration of new process activities
  • Reflection on process
  • Rhetorical analyses of texts produced for different rhetorical situations
  • Structured assignments
  • Audience response (requires shifting proposal assignment earlier)
  • Reflection assignments

Feb 13 2008

Implementing Reflection in English 110

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Mid-Assignment Reflections

    These reflections help students assess their progress-to-date on an assignment. They also can be used to prompt revision. Paula Patch provided an example during her recent Teacher-Scholar presentation.

    End-of-Assignment Reflections
    These reflections help students consider how their work on an assignment meets course objectives. They also give students a chance to examine successful writing process strategies that they can reuse in future writing. See Barbara Gordon’s example on Blackboard, reproduced – in part – here:

      Submit a reflective letter to the Evaluating Committee which addresses the following:

      • Who is the audience? And how does the paper show that it is suited to that audience?
      • What were you trying to do in this piece?
      • Explain how all of the steps (prewriting, drafting, revising) assisted you in producing the final draft.

      Mid-semester or End-of-semester Reflections
      Often encourages students to connect course activities and their development as writers to course objectives. See Ashley Holmes’ example (attached).

        Portfolios
        By supporting ongoing revision, portfolios prompt students to continuously reflect on their progress on assignments and the rhetorical strategies that they are using. Portfolios typically include a reflective introduction that asks students to contextualize their work on assignments within the course goals and the section-specific activities.