NESCent Postdoc Professional Development Series on Effective Teaching and Learning

NESCent Postdoc Professional Development Series on Effective Teaching and Learning Session 3 – Planning Your First Course April 28th, 2006 NESCent - Durham, NC

Overview • Where do you start? • Course objectives • Course syllabus • Course textbook • Course activities • Preparing for an individual class session • Final thoughts…

Imagine, if you will… • You are an Assistant professor in your second year… • Last year, they decided to take it easy on you and only make you teach one course – Intro Bio. • The syllabus was already set, the textbook had been selected (the same one they’ve used for years) and you were given all the PPT presentations and exams. • Now, the honeymoon is over! You must create and teach an upper level course “in your field”, from scratch… • This course will be highly specialized and has never been taught (or even existed) at your institution before…

What do you do? Where do you start? • You must complete the paperwork to create the course, i.e., get it “on the books” • You must select a textbook • You must develop/design a syllabus • You must devise a grading strategy (Number of tests? Makeup exams? Homework? Curve? etc.) • You must create a course website • How many students will you admit? Waitlist? • What are the prerequisites? • Is there an attendance policy? • What technology will you use? Powerpoint? Chalk? Podcasts?

Oh yeah – One more thing… You need to create/ prepare all of your lectures for the entire course and have them ready to go by the first day of the semester!

Piece o’ cake, right? What are some of your concerns? Questions? Challenges? Fears? Nightmares?

Seriously…I’m frightened, confused and clueless…where do I start? • Course Objectives (aka Instructional Objectives) • Syllabus (big picture…don’t sweat the details…YET) • Textbook? • NOW sweat the details! • Grading scheme and exams • Assignments and projects • Group work? Student presentations? • Course website, technology • Logistics (enrollment, attendance, prereqs, etc.)

Why do I need to define course objectives? • Identify critical course material and identify and delete extraneous course material • Let students know what your expectations of them are • Facilitate construction of in-class activities, out-of-class assignments, and tests • Provide a study guide for students • Tell faculty colleagues what they can expect students who pass your course to be able to do R.M. Felder and R. Brent, Effective Teaching, North Carolina State University, 2003

Designing Course Objectives • “By the end of this course, you will….” • Examples: • Unacceptable: “…understand the principles of macroevolution” • Good: “…be able to list examples of macroevolution” “…be able to explain how macroevolution relates to speciation” “…be able to design expts that demonstrate macroevolution” “…be able to evaluate models of macroevolution for ability to…” • Where have I heard this before?

Bloom’s Taxonomy Remembering: Student can recall or remember information (define, duplicate, list, memorize, recall, repeat, reproduce, state) Understanding: Student can explain ideas or concepts (classify, describe, discuss, explain, identify, locate, recognize, report, select, translate, paraphrase) Applying: Student can use the information in a new way (choose, demonstrate, dramatize, employ, illustrate, interpret, operate, schedule, sketch, solve, use, write) Analyzing: Student can distinguish between the different parts (appraise, compare, contrast, criticize, differentiate, discriminate, distinguish, examine, experiment, question, test) Evaluating: Student can justify a stand or decision (appraise, argue, defend, judge, select, support, value, evaluate) Creating: Student can create new product or point of view (assemble, construct, create, design, develop, formulate, write)

Remember… • The details can change slightly throughout the term, as can the syllabus. • In fact, flexibility is a key to successful teaching! • (One exception: students (and their parents) might not appreciate you switching textbooks midstream!  ) BUT… • Your course objectives should be fixed and rigid, so TAKE YOUR TIME, GET FEEDBACK AND DO YOUR BEST TO GET THEM RIGHT THE FIRST TIME!

What should be in it Course #, name, semester Instructor name, office location, office hours TAs (names, contact info, office hours) Course objectives Prerequisites Textbook info Policies and procedures What may be in it Description/overview of course Outline of topic, concept map Test dates Assignment due dates References Additional reading, supplemental texts ??? Designing a syllabus

As with your course objectives… Don’t rush through this job…it’s one of the most important aspects of course design! Look for examples on the web and from your colleagues. Identify things you like and things to avoid. Get as much feedback as possible. A good syllabus is an important key to a successful course! Designing a syllabus

Choosing a textbook • Scope? Depth? Focus? Context? • Are there good visuals? • Are there “real world” examples? Case studies? • Does it have self tests or study guides at the end of each chapter? • What additional materials are available to instructor and/or student from publisher? • Financial issues – do you really even need a textbook?!? • Tip: Read a chapter or two on a subject with which you are less familiar. Is it clear to you? R.M. Felder and R. Brent, NC State Univ.

Selecting activitiesfor your course • Everything takes longer than you thought it would! • Be mindful of students’ resources when designing activities (e.g., do they all have laptops?). • An average student can pay attention and stay focused on a standard lecture for approximately 11 minutes. • Some students like to talk…others hate it. Similarly, some students love group work and others do not. • Remember to complement/appeal to/address multiple learning styles.

ACTIVE LEARNERS Discussion, Debate, Group Work REFLECTIVE LEARNERS Journals, Time for Reflection VISUAL LEARNERS Diagrams, Movies, Demonstrations VERBAL LEARNERS Writing Projects, Oral Reports SENSING LEARNERS Real-world Applications, Hands-on INTUITIVE LEARNERS Concept Maps, Connections SEQUENTIAL LEARNERS Outlines, Flow Charts GLOBAL LEARNERS Overviews, Connections to Other Material, “Big Picture” Teaching To Learning Styles

Preparing for an individual class • Think of it as a “microcourse” • Determine your learning objectives in advance (and feel free to state these at the start of the class) • Determine what you would like to cover in that class, but know you probably won’t have enough time • What do they need to read? In advance or as follow-up? What assignments are associated with this class? • Provide an outline at the start of class…students like to know what they will be covering. • Prepare the class, walk away from it for a while, and then revisit it with a fresh eye. • Should you “rehearse”?

Final Thoughts… • It won’t be perfect the first time you teach it. • …or the second time or the tenth time, or ever! • It may get “worse” before it gets better. That’s okay, too, as long as you’re learning. • Take your student evaluations to heart. Learn from them, but try not to get discouraged by them. Collect early- or mid-semester comments. • Be flexible, have fun and remember what you love about the topic. The best way to get a student excited about the material is to be excited by the material!

Some Good Resources… • McKeachie - Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research and Theory for College and University Teachers • Davis - Tools for Teaching • Gonlund - How to write and use instructional objectives.Prentice Hall Pub. • Instructional Objective Writing Assistant (IOWA) – http://epitome.ce.gatech.edu/iowa/index.html

NESCent Postdoc Professional Development Series on Effective Teaching and Learning