An Overview of Course Design: Planning for Significant Learning

1. An Overview of Course Design:Planning for Significant Learning Muhimbili University School of Public Health and Social Sciences January 7, 2011 Prudence Merton, PhD Rob Schadt, Ed.D. Karen Tombs, EdD James Wolff, MD, MPH

2. Workshop Learning OutcomesParticipants will be able to 2 • Describe a process of course design • Identify the situational factors that effect the design of their course • Identify characteristics of effective learning outcomes • Write learning outcomes and evaluate their quality against those characteristics • Improve learning outcomes

3. Workshop Resources This session relies on “The Self Directed Guide to Designing Courses for Higher Level Learning”by Dee Fink, Director of the Instructional Development Program at Oklahoma University. Find it at: www.ou.edu/idp/significant/selfdirected1.pdf

4. What is Significant Learning? • Ask, “What would I like the impact of this course to be on students 2-3 years after the course is over?” • (“What would I like students who have taken this course to be able to do?”) Activity

5. Barriers to Designing Courses for Significant Learning • “I want to expose my students to…” • “I want to teach my students about…” • “I want to show my students that…”

6. Barriers to Designing Courses for Significant Learning • When we focus on content coverage • Course organization and syllabi are viewed as topic lists • Misperception that amount covered = amount learned • Assessments focused on reiteration • Assumption that content knowledge means that students can apply knowledge(problem solving ability)

7. Barriers to Designing Courses for Significant Learning • When we have laudable, but vague goals beyond content mastery • I want my students to think like scientists • I want my students to see that HIV-AIDS is a complex social, cultural, medical and political issue

8. Barriers to Designing Courses for Significant Learning • When we have a small “Teaching Toolbox” • If all you have is a hammer… • If the only teaching strategy you have is lecture… • When we view assessment as only tests

9. Barriers to Designing Courses for Significant Learning • When there’s a failure to think beyond the end of the module, course or program • Students: take exam, get grade, sell the book • Faculty: seldom ask themselves how they might help students be better prepared for future tasks.

10. IntegratedCourseDesign Learning Goals Learning Activities Feedback/Assessment: Situational Factors Activity

11. Lack of Integrated Course Design If exam asks content-based, and “thinking” questions… Learning Goal:Learn content and think critically Learning Activities Learning Goals Teaching/Learning activity: Lecture Feedback/Assessment Feedback/Assessment:Midterm exam with thinking and content-related questions

12. Lack of Integrated Course Design Learning Goal:Learn content and think critically Learning Activities Learning Goals Teaching/Learning activity: Lecture Feedback/Assessment Feedback/Assessment:Midterm exam only content-related questions If exam asks content-based, but not “thinking” questions…

13. What changes will be incorporated in the next course offering? What will the students know, be able to do with what they know when they complete my course? Are the students meeting the learning outcomes and succeeding? What is working or not working in my course? What evidence do the students and instructors have of success? How will I conduct class to assist students in their learning/success? Course Development CyclePersonal Instructional Strategy STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES & CHOOSE CONTENT Reflection Documentation SoTL Project Course Portfolio Assessment Syllabus Learning Activities

14. The Difference in Setting Student-Focused Overarching Goals • Teacher-focused view: Provide students with an introduction to the geology of environmental issues and geologic hazards. • Student-focused view: (Student will be able to -)Assess the hazard potential of an area and take that into account when choosing a piece of property for purchase.orEvaluate the validity of a news report related to the environmentorPrepare a scientifically sound argument on a local environmental issue to present at a town forum or in a town newspaper.

15. Goals Phrased as Students Being Able to Do Something • What do you want students to do after they have taken your course? • Which would you rather have? • I want my students to have a strong background in… • I want my student to use their strong background in order to do…..

16. Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning • Knowledge (meaning recall knowledge) • Comprehension • Application • Analysis • Synthesis • Evaluation Handout

17. Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning

18. Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning

19. Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning

20. Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning

21. Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning

22. Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning

23. Now it’s Your Turn… • Write one learning outcome for your course…

24. Module LOs Session Session Module LOs Session Session Course Learning Outcomes ModuleLOs Session Session Module LOs Session Session . . . . . . Overarching Learning Outcome Mediating Learning Outcomes Foundational Learning Outcomes

25. Some Guidelines for Writing Learning Outcomes 25 • Focus on the student as the performer • What is a student expected to be able to do? • How is a student expected to be able to think? • Contain a verb describing an observable action • The verb is selected based on the desired level of performance (e.g. Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive levels) • Can the outcome be assessed? (Must all our learning objectives for students be measurable?)

26. REVISED BLOOM’S TAXONOMYCreatingGenerating new ideas, products, or ways of viewing thingsDesigning, constructing, planning, producing, inventing.EvaluatingJustifying a decision or course of actionChecking, hypothesizing, critiquing, experimenting, judging AnalysingBreaking information into parts to explore understandings and relationshipsComparing, organizing, deconstructing, interrogating, findingApplyingUsing information in another familiar situationImplementing, carrying out, using, executing, charting, developingUnderstandingExplaining ideas or conceptsInterpreting, summarizing, paraphrasing, classifying, explainingRememberingRecalling informationRecognizing, listing, describing, retrieving, naming, finding, defining Higher-order thinking

28. 28 Activity Revise your first learning outcome and construct another learning outcome for your class

29. Dealing With “Understand” in Outcomes 29 • How do you write outcomes when you want students to “understand” a complex concept, system, or process? • Identify specific tasks that indicate “understanding” • Specify outcomes for each task • Similar comments apply to “know,”“appreciate,”“value,”“learn,”“demonstrate understanding,”“grasp”

30. Example: “Understand” in Outcomes 30 • In our computer architecture course we want students to “understand” a sample architecture made up of several modules • What would students be able to do if they “understood” (outcomes) • Students should be able to identify: All the modules and interconnecting signals Modules involved in a given system-level operation Output values for a given input values for each module Sub-module changes given a system level change …

31. Single, to Set, to Course Outcomes 31 • Many fundamental outcomes in a whole course can be overwhelming and unmanageable • Use a “piecemeal” approach, start with a “chunk” (modules, topical areas)

32. Writing a Set of Learning Outcomes 32 • For your course think of a significant chunk/unit of the course • Write down a set of learning outcomes for the chunk/unit. • Cardinal rules • Action verb • Student as the performer

33. Team Exercise 33 • Task • Write 3 or 5 guidelines for good set of learning outcomes • What are the common features of a set of learning outcomes? • What should a set of learning outcomes look like? • Method • Brain storm individually -- 2 minutes • Form teams of 3-4 people • Establish consensus as a team -- 8 minutes • Report team results in large group

34. Guidelines from Teams 34

35. Pair Exercise 35 Exchange your learning outcomes with another participant Provide constructive feedback based on guidelines we developed 10 minutes

36. Individual Exercise 36 Revise your learning outcomes based on guidelines and feedback Report on biggest improvement 10 minutes

37. What purposes do learning outcomes (goals/ objectives) serve? 37 • For students • For faculty

38. Learning Outcomes 38 • Outcomes help students: • Clarify personal learning goals • Relates course to big picture of profession • Provides a guide to learn against – measure success • Recognize significance of actions of instructor • Expectations, benefits, motivation and relevance • Something tangible/course deliverable • Reduce anxiety – improve studying • Outcomes help instructors: • Bridge courses • Milestones/guideposts for activities for measurement • Roadmap • Design/evaluate – homework/activities/assessments • Identify task/techniques to get the point across

39. A Taxonomy of Significant Learning Foundational Knowledge Caring Application Learning How to Learn Human Dimension Integration

40. A Taxonomy of Significant Learning • FOUNDATIONAL KNOWLEDGE • Understanding and remembering: • Information • Ideas

41. A Taxonomy of Significant Learning • APPLICATION • Skills • Thinking: • critical, • creative, • practical • Managing projects

42. A Taxonomy of Significant Learning • Caring • Developing new • interests • feelings • values • Become excited about a certain activity • Desire to be a good student • Developing a commitment to live a more healthy lifestyle

43. A Taxonomy of Significant Learning • INTEGRATION • Connecting: • Ideas • People • Realms of life

44. A Taxonomy of Significant Learning • LEARNING HOW TO LEARN • Becoming a better student • Inquiring about a subject • Self-directing learners • How to inquire and construct knowledge • How to be a good student • How to pursue self-directed learning

45. A Taxonomy of Significant Learning • Human Dimension • Learning about • Oneself • Others • Leadership • Multi-cultural education • Working as a member of a team • Embodying environmental ethics

46. Plan Major Assignments and Exams that Will Teach and Test the Learning You Want The “Assignment-Centered Course” • Review: What Learning Do I Want? • Create a Course Skeleton Showing Major Assignments and Exams That Will Teach and Test the Learning; Insert Them in the Week in Which They Are Due

47. Ask TheseQuestions about Assignments • Validity: Are the assignments likely to elicit the kind of learning you want? • Consider the context in which students produce work: time frame, level of foundation required, accessibility of help, likely work strategies (situational factors) • Workload: Are the assignments and exams manageable in terms of number, type, length, and spacing across the semester? It is better to concentrate on a few, well-chosen assignments and exams than to proliferate ill-conceived ones. Sometimes, “Less is more”

48. Consider Times and Spaces for Learning • Aspects of the Learning Process: • First exposure: student first hears/sees new information, concepts, procedures, etc. • Process: student applies, critiques, contrasts, synthesizes, argues, analyzes, etc. This usually results in a product: test, exam, assignment, lab or clinic performance, etc. • Response: Teacher, assistant, or peer responds to the product

49. Basic Mode: Traditional Lecture Method First Exposure Student(s) Alone Class Process Response Communication Teacher Alone

50. Basic Mode: Interactive Method First Exposure Student(s) Alone Class Process Response Teacher Alone