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Foundation for Developing A Student Centered Learning Syllabus for Your Course

Foundation for Developing A Student Centered Learning Syllabus for Your Course. Acknowledgement This presentation has been adapted with permission from Dr. Gayle Brazeau , the State University of New York at Buffalo. Outline. Designing your course and developing your course syllabus

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Foundation for Developing A Student Centered Learning Syllabus for Your Course

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  1. Foundation for Developing A Student Centered Learning Syllabus for Your Course CASE/Summer 09

  2. AcknowledgementThis presentation has been adapted with permission from Dr. Gayle Brazeau, the State University of New York at Buffalo. CASE/Summer 09

  3. Outline • Designing your course and developing your course syllabus • Developing course outcomes and objectives • Important considerations in your course syllabus CASE/Summer 09

  4. Resource List • Books • Web Sites • Teaching and Learning Centers • Other Programs CASE/Summer 09

  5. Key: Effective Syllabus • Work Done Prior to Putting Syllabus On Paper • Anticipate Student Questions and Concerns • It is Your Blue Print for Success! CASE/Summer 09

  6. Best Teachers“Promising Syllabus” • Provides the promises and opportunities the course offers to students. • Provides the students with a description of what they will be doing to achieve these promises. • Provides students with the methods by which they can understand their learning. “Learner Centered Syllabus” CASE/Summer 09

  7. Key QuestionsPrior to Organizing Your Class • Where does the class fit into the curriculum of your department/ college/ school? • What is the level of your students? • What are the courses your students will have prior to your course? • How many students will you be involved with in this course? • What are the desired learning outcomes for your course? CASE/Summer 09

  8. Where Does Your Course Fit? • Course Ability-based Outcomes • Department Educational Outcomes • Mission Statement of the College Accreditation Standards Guidelines • Mission of the College CASE/Summer 09

  9. Teaching Goals Inventory • Developed Thomas Angelo and Patricia Cross • Goal for Faculty Members • Become more aware of what you want to accomplish with your course • What are the best classroom assessment techniques and activities • Starting point for discussion with faculty • Community of Educators • Online: • http://fm.iowa.uiowa.edu/fmi/xsl/tgi/data_entry.xsl?-db=tgi_data&-lay=Layout01&-view CASE/Summer 09

  10. What are Ability Based Outcomes (ABO)? Knowledge Integration of knowledge,skills,and attitudes/values objectives Attitudes/ Values Skills ABO CASE/Summer 09

  11. ABO is NOT anObjective/ Competency ABO Objective/ Competency Integration of knowledge, Relatively specific, atomistic skills, values and discrete. and attitudes. Often one and/ or two component/s of an ABO CASE/Summer 09

  12. CASE/Summer 09

  13. Starting Point ABOWriting Objectives---ABCD Approach • A for Audience—Who are your learners? • B for Behavior– What do you expect them to do? • C for Condition—What will the student be given or expected to know to accomplish learning? • D for Degree—How much will be accomplished or needed to be performed? CASE/Summer 09

  14. What about Class Activities? • Outcome – Clear picture of what the student will be able to do • Practice – The assignments or opportunities to practice what you want them to be able to do • Criteria – Are indicators of what will be a successful performance • Feedback – Recommendations on how the student could improve CASE/Summer 09

  15. Choosing Learning Activities • What type of facilities or classroom do you have? • How large is the class? • What is your own teaching style or personality? • Where are you in the semester? --Takes time for students to get use to these techniques. CASE/Summer 09

  16. General Guidelines - Syllabus Focused on “Student Learning” • “You” versus “The Student” • Being involved or an active participant in the course • Clear • Easy to read and follow • Organized with appropriate headings CASE/Summer 09

  17. Goal: Enhance Student Learning • Provide the foundation for the course • Pre-Requisites and other knowledge or skills you assume students know prior to this class • Facilitate Student Learning • What is needed for successful completion? • Logistics of the course • How long will assignments take in your estimation • Reduce test anxiety and exam taking skills • Sample Examination • Sample examination with components of the syllabus • Assignments, Activities, Concerts, Programs • Relevant Handouts or Readings CASE/Summer 09

  18. Syllabus is Not a Static Document • Can change over the semester • How change should be outlined early • Cautious • Too much change • Better to wait until next year CASE/Summer 09

  19. More is Better?Personal Decision • Departmental Expectations • How much you incorporate in the syllabus? • Clearer the syllabus • Avoid Student Confusion • Avoid Issues with Grading • Avoid Issues with Assignments or other activities • Too much – does it limit your flexibility during the semester? CASE/Summer 09

  20. Before Final Version and Class • Ask a colleague review your syllabus- Is it clear? • Discuss your course outcomes with others! • Develop syllabus • Put away and come back to see if you are missing anything or is it clear • Look at it from the your student’s perspective • Check for errors – This is your student’s first impression of you and your class! • Post or make available for the first day of class! CASE/Summer 09

  21. In Class – Day 1 and Beyond • Day 1 is Critical • Spend time - explain the format and design • Go over pertinent points • Beyond and into the semester • Make it a living, useful document • Are you heading towards the course outcomes? • Refer to syllabus as needed for assignments and grading • Modify components as needed CASE/Summer 09

  22. Remember You are NOT ALONE • Like research - share and discuss teaching issues, dilemmas and successes! • Work Together! • Ask questions! • Read! • Attend local or national meetings of similar educators • Teaching and curriculum is an evolutionary process • Incorporate new technologies • Implementing new techniques can involve scaling the wall and taking risks! CASE/Summer 09

  23. Resources Centers • Teaching and Learning Center, University at Buffalo http://etc.buffalo.edu/ • The Center for Teaching and Learning, Stanford http://ctl.stanford.edu/ • Center for Teaching and Learning, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill http://ctl.unc.edu/ • Center for Teaching and Learning, University of Illinois at Chicago http://teaching.uchicago.edu/ • Center 4 Teaching and Learning, Wright State University http://www.wright.edu/ctl/ • Center for Teaching and Learning, University of Minnesota http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/ • Center for Teaching and Learning, Cornell University http://www.clt.cornell.edu/ • Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, Harvard University http://bokcenter.fas.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do • The Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning, University of Florida, http://www.fctl.ucf.edu/ • Center for Instructional Development & Distance Education, University of Pittsburgh, http://www.cidde.pitt.edu/fds/ • Other Available Programs • Case Studies in Teaching, The National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science Case Collection, University at Buffalo http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/projects/cases/ubcase.htm CASE/Summer 09

  24. Resources Books • K. Bain, What the Best College Teachers Do, Harvard University Press, 2004 • S.A. Baiocco and J.N. DeWaters, Successful College Teaching, Allyn and Bacon, 1998 • R.A. Berk, Humor as an Instructional Defibrillator: Evidence-Based Techniques in Teaching and Assessment, Stylus, 2002 • R.A. Berk, Professors are from Mars, Students are from Snickers, Stylus, 2003 • B.G. Davis, Tools for Teaching, Jossey Bass, 1993 • J.R. Davis Interdisciplinary Teaching: New Arrangements for Learning, Oryx Press, 1995 • R.M. Diamond, Designing and Assessing Courses & Curriculum: A Practical Guide, Chapter 13 Developing a Learning-Centered Syllabus, Jossey-Bass, 1998, 191-202 • W.J. McKeachie ad M. Svinicki, McKeachie’s Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research and Theory for College and University Teachers, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006 • D. Kennedy, Academic Duty, Havard University Press, 1999 • P. Palmer, The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Mind, John Wiley and Sons, 1997 (10 Year Anniversary Version with CD • R. Pausch and J. Zaslow, The Last Lecture, Hyperion Books, New York 2008, http://www.thelastlecture.com/index.htm Web Sites • Writing Course Objectives and Program Objectives http://www.lco.edu/facstaff/curric/writing_course_objectives.htm • How to Write Clear Objectives - Penn State http://tlt.its.psu.edu/suggestions/research/Write_Objectives.shtml • Bloom et al.'s Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/cogsys/bloom.html • Teaching Goals Inventory • http://fm.iowa.uiowa.edu/fmi/xsl/tgi/data_entry.xsl?-db=tgi_data&-lay=Layout01&-view CASE/Summer 09

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