Planning and Teaching a College

Course

Developed by Professor Terry Doyle

Ferris State University
Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning
Teaching is First and Foremost--

A human to human interaction

The Most Important Thing to
Remember about Teaching

Itis the one who does the work

that does the learning!
Learner Centered Teaching

 Each decision made about how the course

will be taught is made with the idea in mind
that the decision should optimize the
opportunity for the students to learn the
material.
The Two Crucial Parts
of Effective Teaching

Planning Building Relationships

 Learning Outcomes  Communication

 Learning Objectives  Supporting
 Action Plans  Challenging
 Resources
 Choice
 Assessments
 Feedback
Planning and Teaching a College
Course
Decisions about Teaching

Skills

Behaviors

Methods, Assignments
Evaluations
Content

Thinking
Planning and Teaching a College Course

 Three roles that a

college teacher takes
on:

 Planner

 Relationship Builder

 Evaluator

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Step One
What are Students Expected to Learn in this
Course?

 Identify all of the major elements ( content, skills,

behaviors and thinking processes) that you want the
students to learn.

Sources for Gathering this Information

 curriculum guide
 previous instructor’s syllabus
 discussions with other instructors
 textbooks
 self expertise
Major Elements of a Course

 For Example—Major Elements EDUC 443

 Developing reading guides
 Understanding how a child learns to read
 Understanding common reading disabilities
 Writing Effective Questions that promote proper
levels of thinking
 How to talk with parents about the reading problems
of their children(behavior)
 Step Two
Topics

 Make a list of the

Decisions about Teaching
topics, ideas,
concepts, skills Skills

and behaviors Behaviors

with in these Content

Methods, Assignments
Evaluations

elements you Thinking

think need to be
taught
Topics

 Example
 Major Element--How children learn to read

– A. Definition of reading
– B. Eye Health/physical health
– C. Text impact/syntax/vocabulary
– D. Home Environment
– E. Common Errors
Step Two -- Topics

 Refine the list

to include only
those topics
that are most
important

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Step Three
Sub topics

 From each of these topics break the information into

subtopics—these subtopics will become your daily
lessons
 Major Element How a child learns to read
Topic Eye health/Physical health
 Subtopics
 Common eye diseases
 Eye tests
 Language development
 Childhood diseases and reading
Step Four—Develop Learning
Outcomes for the Major Elements

 From these major categories write a set of learning

outcomes for the course

Learning Outcomes have four (4) parts

 Who will do the learning?
 When will the learning be completed?
 What will they learn?
 How will you know that they learned it?
Learning Outcomes

Examples
 By the end of the semester (WHEN) students
( WHO) will demonstrate through their written
work and class presentations (HOW) the major
steps a child takes in learning to read. (WHAT)

 By the end of the semester students will

demonstrate through tests their ability to use an
established clinical reasoning process to
diagnosis a patients illness.
Learning Outcomes

Most courses have between 5-10

learning outcomes
 Step Five
Develop a Course Time Line

 Organize the
Elements/Outcomes
into a course time line
—

 Which outcomes will

you teach first, second,
third and so on.

www.3squareassociates.com/ Resources/Lesson_PL .
Step Five

 For each Element

estimate the
amount of class
time you will need
to teach this
material— this
could be hours or
days
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Step Five

 Take each
topic/subtopic under
element one (for
example) and
estimate how much
class time you will
need to teach it.
 This is the first step in
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building a lesson plan
Time Estimates for Lesson Planning

 Major Category--The Reading Process

 Topics
 Reader’s Health -1 hour
 Reading Environment -1hour
 Text -2hours
 Reader’s Background

Knowledge -3hours
 * This time estimate should include assessment time
Time Estimates

A 3 credit course has only 45 hours of class

time so much of the learning the students
will do will be outside the class

 Planto use class time for the most important

elements of the course—those that need
your expertise
Step Six
Choose a Teaching Method

 For each topic under

element one decide what
approach you will use to
teach this material

 Example--Lecture-
The definition of lecture is to
talk to students about those
ideas, concepts etc. that
they cannot learn on their
own

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Step Six Other Teaching Methods

 Demonstrations
 Small or large group
discussion/activity
 Student presentations
 Guest speaker
 Film/video
 Field Trips
 Students Teaching
each Other

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Context in which the Course is Taught
Impacts Teaching Decisions

 Recognize that the Context of the Course will

influence your teaching decisions

 Number of students
 Design of classroom
 Role of the course in the curriculum
 Number of days per–week it meets
 On-Line or face to face or both
 Characteristics of the student population-i.e.
first-year or fourth year
Step Seven--Resources

 Then make a list of what

materials you will need to
teach this topic
 Lecture notes
 Picture/image/graphic
 Videos/movies
 Problems or cases
 Physical material
 Overheads/Power Points
 Handouts
Step Eight—Students’ Roles
 Next decide what the
students will do to learn
this material.

– Read in advance of the

teaching
– Read after the teaching
– Assignments that follow
the teaching
– Study for quiz/test
– Work in groups
– Make presentations
– Take Notes www.fotosearch.com/ comp/BNS/BNS197/UNV013.jpg
Step Nine
Evaluation of the Learning

 How will you evaluate the students’ learning of this

material?
 Formative Evaluations
 Ungraded feedback
 Class discussion
 Individual student questioning
 One to one interactions
 Classroom Assessment Techniques (CAT’s)
Step Nine
Evaluation of the Learning

Summative Evaluations
 Quizzes
 Tests
 Cumulative Exams
 Presentations/Individual or Group
 Portfolios
 Papers
 Cases/Problem Solving
Step Nine
 What will be the criteria for
the evaluation?

 Rubrics defining your

expectations
 Grading scale
 Peers evaluating peers
 Teacher expertise
 Predetermined standards
 National Standards
 Industry Standards

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Step Ten
Giving Feedback to Students

 How will you give

feedback?

 Written responses

 Orally individually or as a group

 Rubric with comments

 What will you ask the students

to do with the feedback?

 How will students use the

feedback to improve?

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Part Two - Teachers as Relationship
Builders

Relationships are the key to

Creating Classroom
Community

Know your students names

This is a sign of respect

It says I value the relationship

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Step One- Creating Community
 How do I create
community in the
classroom?
– Establish relationships—
teachers to students and
peer to peer

– Create an atmosphere of
safety and trust by giving
up some control and
giving students more
choices www.ayusa.org/images/ photos/community_rep.jpg
Step One- Creating Community

 How do I motivate my
students to want to
succeed?
Find out what is
already motivating
them.
(James Zull, 2002)

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Step Two-Gather Information

 Gather as much information as possible on

what your students know, how they learn,
and what the students think their role is in the
learning process.

 Don’t
assume that students enter the
course with the necessary background
needed to learn everything.
Ways to Gather Information

 Ice breakers
 Background Questionnaires
 Individual Conferences
 Pre-tests
 Writing about Strengths and Weaknesses
 Brainstorming
Step Three
Identify what will be Difficult

 Identify the complex

and difficult parts of
the course and look
for ways to make the
material connect to
students’
backgrounds.

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Step Four
Connecting to Students’ Backgrounds

 Work to develop
examples, analogies,
metaphors, images,
graphic organizers
and stories that
create bridges to the
students’ background
information.
Ask Students Questions

Continually ask student to be involved in their

learning :
 Ask students to explain things to each
other
 Ask what they need more help in

 Ask what is working or not working for

them
Ask Students Questions

 Askwhat are the best ways to evaluate

them

 Ask them how they know they are right

 Ask them to put the new information into

their own words* very important
Step Five
Keep Records

 Keep records of what

works

 Why did it work

 What if any changes need to

be made to make it better
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Part Three
Evaluation

 Nothing drives
learning more than
evaluation (Boud,
1995)

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Step One
Informal Evaluation

Use formative evaluation

processes.

 Learner–Centered means
using formative
evaluations—mostly
informal and ungraded
feedback that creates
growth and development
of the learner.

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Step One
Informal Evaluation

 Make the learners use

the feedback to
demonstrate they
have improved as a
result of the feedback

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Step Two Formal Evaluation

 Use summative evaluation

processes
that are in harmony with:
1. your learning outcomes

2. the skills and content that

was taught,

3. the cognitive level at which

it was taught.

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Step Two

 Develop evaluations
that tell you what you
want to know about
what the students
have learned.
 Make them as
authentic as possible

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Step Two

 Give enough
evaluations to have a
valid picture of what
the students have
learned.

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Step Two

 Give cumulative
evaluations to insure
students have truly
learned the
information.

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Step Two

 Try to evaluate
students through
methods that let the
students show you
what they know in
ways that are best for
them.

www.freemedia.org/videos/
choiceisyours.html
Grading Process

The Grading process

is socially constructed
and context dependent
—

meaning no system is
always right by
some indisputable
standard

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Grading Accuracy

– Complete objectivity
is a myth

– Our job is to render

an informed
and professional
judgment
to the best of our
ability www.students.vcu.edu/.../ newpaths/myths.GIF
Grading Assignments
– Spend enough time to make
a thoughtful and professional
judgment and then move on

– Studies show that faculty

within the same discipline
will grade the same work
differently

– Even the same professor

will grade a piece of a
student’s work differently at
different times

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Grading System

 Ferris has far too academically diverse a

student population to use normative grading
practices

 An appropriate grading system would be

criterion based— A grade is determined by
the degree of success a student had in
learning the outcomes established for the
course.
Grading Systems

 Thereis no university-wide required grading

system. There is published system that can
be used as a model

 Most faculty use a point system that weights

various assignments and test as percentages
of the final grade.
Grading

 Research on grading makes a clear point that no

single assessment is by itself, an accurate predictor
of what a student may have learned in a course

 The best grading systems have numerous

assessments of different kinds( papers, presentation,
discussions, quizzes, tests, cases etc.)

 A test or assignment is only a valid measure if it

elicits from your students the kinds of learning you
want to measure
Classroom Management

 Your first and most

important job as a
teacher is to maintain
the learning
environment of the
classroom so it is
always optimized for
learning
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Classroom Management

 The classroom should be a community of learners

 The community needs a set of guidelines that helps

it to function to its best ability

 These guidelines are best developed in consultation

with the students (the community members)
Classroom Management
 Key elements for effective management

 1.Enforce all rules equally to all members

 2.Do not ignore behaviors that disrupt the

learning environment

 3. Try to limit the number of changes that you make

in class structure (due dates, late work etc.)
Classroom Management

Never attribute to
malice what you can
attribute to ignorance
Writing Tests

 Eventhe most experienced college teacher

does not write tests that are highly reliable
and valid—

 Teststells us only about those items we ask

about—it is difficult to draw fair assumptions
about students’ understanding beyond the
items on the test
Writing Tests

 1.Write (or at least draft) tests questions the

day you teach the material

 2. Give students a practice test prior to the

first test of the semester—this will improve
the validity of the first test
Writing Tests

 3.Have a peer preview your test for clarity

and accuracy

 4.Don’t be afraid to throw out questions that

were misunderstood by students

 5. Test cumulatively
Syllabus

 A syllabus is a contract between the teacher and the

student

 It indicates what the teacher is promising to provide

to the student in terms of content and skills

 It indicates the ways in which the content and skills

will be offered and assessed
Syllabus

 It outlines the rules,

guidelines and
expectations for the
students—including any
activities that go
beyond the usual
classroom activities
 ( field trips,
conferences, service
learning activities)