Evaluation and Assessment | Teaching Practices |Teaching with Technology| Sample Course Evaluation Forms
Teaching Tools
2. Teaching Practices
2.2. Course Objectives
Strategies for Common Difficulties in Planning Courses
How can I obtain enough helpful information about my students' knowledge and skills to ensure I cover the appropriate material, keep a good pace and provide enough feedback and support?
- Obtain assessments of particular student cohorts from senior faculty.
- Build in mechanisms in case your initial assumptions about your students are inaccurate. For example, identify material to potentially add to or drop from the course as needed, and serve one or two classes per semester to catch up or add special topics as needed.
- Administer simple diagnostic tests in the first week of class or use standard assignments to benchmark and compare across several years.
- Because of the wide range of student backgrounds in any class, you might want to consider including supplemental instruction like review sessions, flexible office hours, additional reference material, sample problems and solutions, and models of outstanding student works.
How can well-written objectives enhance student learning?
- Our objectives often focus on what we will do in a course instead of what we want students to achieve. Write student-centered objectives in terms that are observable and measurable (for example, whether students can provide examples of concepts or solve a particular class of problems).
- Consider a broad spectrum of learning activities (such as case studies, interactive multi-media, project courses, simulations, small group discussions and student presentations ) to help students more effectively practice and efficiently achieve course goals.
- Be sure the variety of learning activities included in the course matches the range of objectives. For example, consider the types of thinking involved in each of your objectives (e.g., comprehension, application, analysis) and check how well the learning activities can accomplish those.
- Consider talking with students about how to use objectives to monitor their own learning.
What types of feedback mechanisms are both efficient and effective?
- Determine the nature of the feedback students will need to master the concepts and skills for each assignment. For example, feedback may be individual or group, more or less detailed, descriptive or evaluative as well as oriented toward short-term or long-term change. Based on the form of feedback you choose and the resources you have (e.g., graders), estimate the time required to provide the feedback and, if needed, adjust your plans for the nature or number of learning activities.
- Select some assignments that will be turned in but not graded. For example, ask students to categorize rather than solve problems, generate an example of a concept or application, or summarize an author's argument. A quick read can enable instructors to identify common themes or errors and provide prompt feedback to the class as a whole. These assignments can provide an opportunity for students to be creative and receive feedback without the risk of a low grade.
- In courses with studios or presentations, consider providing immediate feedback to groups rather than individuals. After observing several students' work, instructors might comment on both the common strengths and weaknesses so students see shared difficulties and don't feel the awkwardness of being critiqued in front of a group.
- Provide more detailed solution sets to reveal the appropriate underlying reasoning, to identify potentially misunderstood concepts or principles, and to elaborate how common student errors followed from these misunderstandings.
How can I cope with the limited time available for teaching complex subjects?
- Review the learning activities planned in the course to determine how efficient various activities are likely to be in achieving particular objectives. Both class time and students' time out of class are limited, so we want students to devote their time to the most productive activities. Often we teach concepts in class that would be learned more effectively in another medium; for example, assigned reading is sometimes the best choice for conveying detailed explanations because students can control the pace and reread as needed. You could then use strategies to make students accountable for the reading.
- You might consider different combinations of familiar learning modes. Lectures can complement reading assignments by elaborating or providing alternative views, especially when students have read strategically. You might use brief writing assignments to prepare students so that discussions are more productive.
- Give students some explicit directions for combining their learning strategies effectively. For example, lectures can sometimes introduce complex readings that students should study further. Or you might tell students that careful reading in advance is necessary to provide background information for in-class applications.
- Based on course objectives and the students in the class, distinguish between different levels of material and their importance for different groups of students. The core elements of the course should be taught so that they can be mastered by everyone. Provide additional material to promote deeper understanding if time permits, especially for students with special aptitudes or plans to continue in the field. Use supplemental readings, projects and other resources to challenge highly motivated, interested students.
Adapted from the Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence at Carnegie Mellon University
