Reviewing Course Outlines

ASB Workshop
31 January, 2008

Dr Tom Cockburn, Academic Fellow in Learning and Teaching, ASB

Carolyn Cousins, Learning & Teaching Adviser, EDU
Please share:

!  What I’d really like to get out of today’s workshop is …

!  Aspects of the ASB Course Outline Template I would particularly

like to discuss are …

!  An issue I am concerned about regarding course outlines is ….

Workshop Learning Outcomes

!  Identify issues in writing effective course outlines

!  Be able to explain to colleagues the UNSW and ASB policies and requirements in
regard to course outlines

!  Be able to explain to colleagues how to use the ASB Course Outline Template to
address the UNSW requirements and criteria

!  Develop colleagues’ understanding of the key elements of course design and

course outlines and of the principles of student-centred learning and
constructive alignment that underlie them

!  Use the UNSW Course Outline Assessment Sheet to critically review a course
outline

!  Provide feedback to colleagues on their course outlines and offer suggestions for
improvement

!  Discuss and plan ways of improving the standard of ASB course outlines
Recommendations for ASB Course Outlines from the LTPI Review

Graduate Attributes and learning outcomes

"  Stronger connection between course aims / student learning outcomes
and UNSW Graduate Attributes, which have been contextualised for the
discipline

Assessment
"  Clear alignment between student learning outcomes & assessment
"  Greater assessment detail e.g. rationale, criteria

Program coherence
"  Staged development of skills (e.g. graduate attributes) through a program

Course evaluation and improvement of student learning

"  Communicate to students how their feedback and course evaluation inform
course development and improvement (‘feedback loop’)
Revisions to the ASB Course Outline Template, Dec 2007

For staff:
"  Additional guidance for staff on key learning and teaching areas [in square
brackets]
"  Examples from ASB course outlines (for Sections 2-5)
"  Links to additional staff resources

For students:
"  Information on Graduate Attributes
"  More detail on assessment, including criteria
"  ‘Continual Course Evaluation and Improvement’ fore-grounded (to 4.)
"  Updated ASB policy on Special Consideration and Supplementary
Examinations (5.6)
"  Updated information on student support services (8.2)
UNSW Course Outline Assessment Sheet: Part A: Educational components

Component Score Criteria

Course aims • are stated clearly & concisely

• provide an overview of the course
• convey the general purpose of the course as it relates to
Out of course content
1 • note how the course is related to other courses and
the relevant program(s)
Student learning • list what students should know, understand, and be able to
outcomes do by the end of the course
• are specific
Out of • are measurable via assessment tasks
2 • include notes about the way they relate to relevant
UNSW graduate attributes
 Part A: Educational components

Component Score Criteria

Teaching strategies • lists the teaching strategies that are used in the
course

Out of • briefly outlines how the teaching strategies support

the course aims and student learning outcomes
2
 Part A: Educational components
Component Score Criteria

Assessment • lists the marks or weighting assigned to each assessment

task

• describes the criteria by which grades will be

Out of
assigned to each assessment task
2.5

• lists the dates for submission and/or scheduled times and

dates of assessment tasks

• includes a brief explanation of the rationale for

each assessment task, including the relationship
between assessment and student learning
outcomes

• offers advice regarding both the procedure for

submitting work and the policy for late submission
 Part B: Administrative components
Component Score Total
Course staff
Out of 0.5
Units of credit
Out of 0.5
Parallel teaching note (if relevant)
Out of 0.5
Plagiarism box
Out of 0.5
Course schedule
Out of 0.5
Course resource list
Out of 0.5
Course evaluation and development
Out of 0.5
A student-centred approach to course design

A student-centred approach to course design:

‘focuses first on what the student needs to do in order to learn, rather than
on the content the course should contain or the information the teacher needs to
convey.’

based on principles of student-centred learning:

!  Learning is an active search for meaning by the learner, constructing knowledge
rather than passively receiving it.
!  Students construct new knowledge and skills by building on their current
knowledge and skills.

and the model of ‘constructive alignment’ (John Biggs,1999):

!  Real learning occurs when students actively construct meaning and knowledge
through engaging in appropriate learning activities.
!  The key elements of course design – learning outcomes, learning
activities and assessment tasks – must be aligned to each other.

(UNSW Learning & Teaching Unit, ‘Course design’)

 Constructive Alignment

Intended Assessment
Learning
Learning methods and
Activities
Outcomes criteria

3.1 Course Aims 5. Learning Assessment

3.3 Approach to learning
3.2 Student Learning 5.1 Formal Requirements
and teaching
Outcomes 5.2 Assessment Details
3.4 Teaching strategies
5.3 Assessment Format

John Biggs: Teaching for Quality Learning at University,

Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press, 1999, 2003.
 Course Design and the ASB Course Outline Template
Course Design
Who are the students?
What do they need to know and
be able to do?
How am I going to help them
get there?
How will I know if I’ve
achieved what I set out to do
and the students have achieved
the learning outcomes?
Reflections:
How can I evaluate the course?
How can I improve the course?
ASB Course Outline Template
2.4 Relationship of This Course to Other
Course Offerings
3. Course Aims and Learning Outcomes
3.1 Course Aims
3.2 Student Learning Outcomes
3.3 Approach to Learning and Teaching
3.4 Teaching Strategies
5. Learning Assessment
5.1 Formal Requirements
5.2 Assessment Details
5.3 Assessment Format
4. Continual Course Evaluation and
Improvement
UNSW Core Principles of Assessment

1.  Assessment should guide and enhance student learning.

2.  Assessment should be aligned with and directly related to the aims and
expected learning outcomes for each course, the course structure, and the
teaching methods employed [constructive alignment].

3.  Expectations regarding assessment, including criteria for grading,

should be transparent and clearly communicated to students.

4.  Assessment should be progressive and should provide opportunities for

feedback.

5.  The weighting of individual tasks should reflect the relative importance of the
learning outcomes they are designed to achieve as well as the size, timing, and
level of difficulty of the task.

(UNSW Learning and Teaching Unit, ‘Guidelines for Assessment’)

Practice

1. Review the COMM5001 Course Outline using the Assessment

Sheet
2. What feedback might you give the LIC?

3. Review the ECON 5331 Course Outline.

4. What feedback might you give the LIC?

If time,
5. Review a colleague’s course outline and provide feedback. OR
6. Review your own course outline and explain your reflections.
2.4 Relationship of this course to other course offerings

!  Program coherence and skill development:

#  How does the course ‘fit into’ the major or program?
#  Does the course build on or apply skills / knowledge from
previous courses?
#  Does the course develop skills / knowledge that students will use
in other courses in this or another discipline?

!  Students’ prior knowledge:

What do they know? What can they already do?

!  Pre-requisites
3. Course Aims and Student Learning Outcomes

3.1 Course Aims (from teacher’s perspective) =

A broad statement about the educational intent or purpose of the course.

What you as the teacher set out to achieve.

Operationalize these goals

and express them as

3.2 Learning Outcomes (from students’ perspective) =

What students should know and be able to DO by the end of the course.
What students must demonstrate.

(Knowledge, Skills and Graduate Attributes, including relevant UNSW Graduate

Attributes, contextualised for the discipline)
Writing Student Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, you should be able to …

Do What Specifically
Explain how risk is quantified using economic principles.
Use matrix algebra to represent and solve systems of equation.
Critically the frameworks used to describe organisational phenomena.
analyse

!  Use an active verb + noun.

!  Avoid vague terms like ‘Understand’.
!  Write learning outcomes which are: specific, clear , measurable, achievable.
Tip: Number the learning outcomes (for easier cross-referencing later).
3.3 Approach to learning and teaching
This section explains:

!  your approach to learning and teaching (or teaching philosophy) which underpins
the course aims, design and delivery

Articulating your approach:

#  What creates effective learning and teaching in higher education?

#  How can you best prepare students to practise or research in your discipline?
#  How do you aim to promote effective learning?
#  How do these beliefs and aims inform the teaching strategies and assessment?
3.4 Teaching strategies

This section:
!  Provides a ‘rationale’ for and explanation of the different types of teaching
strategies and learning activities
!  Informs students how skills and learning outcomes will be developed through
the course
!  Sets expectations

Articulating your teaching strategies:

#  What are the roles of the lectures, tutorials and other study contexts?
#  What sort of learning activities will students undertake (and why)?
#  How do all these strategies fit together to assist students in achieving the
learning outcomes?
4. Course Evaluation and Improvement

Action research approach to course development & improvement

(Kolb, 1984; Carr & Kemmis, 1986)
Course evaluation and improvement

!  Use multiple sources of feedback and evaluation:

–  CATEI
–  Informal feedback from current and past students
–  Student performance outcomes
–  Peer feedback from colleagues

!  Analyse, reflect and improve

(‘reflective practice’ or a ‘scholarly approach to learning &
teaching’):
–  Analyse and reflect on evaluation and feedback
–  Implement changes or improvements and evaluate again
–  Document your reflections and course development
–  Research and compare with current best practice and the literature
– ‘scholarship of learning and teaching’

!  Communicate process to students (close the ‘feedback loop’)

5.2 Assessment Details

Include:
#  Rationale / aim of the assessment

#  Clear expectations

#  Alignment: how the assessment evaluates specific course aims/

learning outcomes
(Show how graduate attributes are assessed in this course)

#  Criteria for grading (including marking schedules)

#  Marks/weighting assigned to each component

#  Dates of submission
 Part A: Educational components
Component Score Criteria

Course aims • are stated clearly & concisely

• provide an overview of the course
(3.1. Course Aims) • convey the general purpose of the course as it relates to
Out of course content
1 • note how the course is related to other courses
and the relevant program(s)
(2.4 Relationship of this course to other course offerings)
Student learning • list what students should know, understand, and be able
outcomes to do by the end of the course
• are specific
(3.2 Student Out of • are measurable via assessment tasks
Learning Outcomes) 2 • include notes about the way they relate to
relevant UNSW graduate attributes
 Part A: Educational components

Component Score Criteria

Teaching strategies • lists the teaching strategies that are used in the
course
3.3 Approach to learning
and teaching Out of • briefly outlines how the teaching strategies support
3.4 Teaching strategies the course aims and student learning outcomes
2
 Part A: Educational components
Component Scor Criteria
e
Assessment • lists the marks or weighting assigned to each
assessment task 5.1
5. Learning Assessment
5.1 Formal Requirements • describes the criteria by which grades will be assigned
Out
5.2 Assessment Details to each assessment task 5.2 (possibly 5.3)
of 2.5
5.3 Assessment Format
5.4 Assignment • lists the dates for submission and/or scheduled times
Submission Procedure and dates of assessment tasks 5.1 or 5.2
5.5 Late Submission
5.6 Special Consideration • includes a brief explanation of the rationale for each
& Supplementary Exams assessment task, including the relationship between
assessment and student learning outcomes 5.2

• offers advice regarding both the procedure for

submitting work and the policy for late submission 5.4-6
 Part B: Administrative components
Component Score Total
Course staff
1. Out of 0.5
Units of credit
2.2 Out of 0.5
Parallel teaching note (if relevant)
2.3 Out of 0.5

Plagiarism box
6. Out of 0.5

Course schedule
9. Out of 0.5
Course resource list
Out of 0.5
8.1
Course evaluation and development
4. Out of 0.5