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COURSE OUTLINE. INSTRUCTORS, FACULTY AND COMMITTEES MUST PLAN WHERE WE WANT THE STUDENT TO GO. THE COURSE OUTLINE GUIDES THE STUDENT ON WHERE TO GO AND HOW. For the lecturer. A teaching/learning management tool A written trace of your teaching approaches
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COURSE OUTLINE INSTRUCTORS, FACULTY AND COMMITTEES MUST PLAN WHERE WE WANT THE STUDENT TO GO. THE COURSE OUTLINE GUIDESTHE STUDENT ON WHERE TO GO AND HOW.
For the lecturer • A teaching/learning management tool • A written trace of your teaching approaches • Your first effort to assist students to learn the course • Your vehicle to convey the learning tone to the students • Your plan of activities in the course for the semester
For the lecturer cont. • Your guide to students on what assessment to expect. • Your communication to the university on how you are doing your work
A good course outline should: • Define student responsibilities • Provide clear statement of goals and student outcomes • Establish standards and procedures for evaluation and assessment • Define your role and responsibilities to students • Acquaint students with course technicalities
A good course outline should: cont. • Help students to assess their readiness for the course examinations • Describe the learning technologies available • Connect the student to the lecturer. • Assure the university that the correct level of teaching/learning is taking place.
For the student • A contract with the lecturer on what the course will cover. • A delimitation of content to be covered in the course • An indication of what skills and knowledge that the student will acquire by going through the course • A guide on what literature to peruse in preparation for examinations.
For the student. Cont. • A source of information on the course requirements and assessment procedures.
Structure of course outline • General information:-course code, course title, venue, duration, Lecturer name and contact details. • Course objectives: statements of intended goals and outcomes. • Course content or course syllabus • Coursework details • Assessment • Reference details (list of texts and resources)
Sources of Course materials • Programme regulations • Course synopsis • Lecturer knowledge • Reference texts • Students’ prior experiences • Other lecturers and department chairperson
Course objectives • Should be in tandem with one or two of programme objectives • Should be stated in a way that is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Result oriented and Time specific. (SMART) • Should be of higher order (according to Blooms Taxonomy of objectives) • Must be linked to the course content
Course content • Should start with the known progressing to the unknown • Should progress from the simple to the complex • Should be guided by the course synopsis • Must be focused on the course objectives. • Must be set at the appropriate level i.e. undergrad or post grad
Course content cont. • Should be related to the available space and other resources. • Must be free from lecturer bias in as far as distribution of content is concerned. • Topics, themes and subtopics must be carefully thought out to avoid misleading the student. • Time allocation for topics is optional but students may find it useful.
Coursework • Should be explained to the student here • This could be in the form of a project or just questions to be answered. • The work could be group pair or individual depending on the type of work • Mark allocation and weighting should be given however the marking scheme should be availed to the students separately
Assessment • Describe any other assessments that will be done e.g. In class tests, end of semester examinations, Laboratory work ,etc. • Show mark allocations or weightings for these activities
Reference lists • These should be carefully selected according to course coverage • Should be the most recent and should be available to the student • Some departments have local libraries where such copies are kept • You could have ‘must read’ and ‘optional’ texts. • Free e-books can be accessed from “bookboon.com” and other sites.