NESCent Postdoc Professional Development Series on Effective Teaching and Learning

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NESCent Postdoc Professional Development Series
on Effective Teaching and Learning

• Session 3 Planning Your First Course

April 28th, 2006 NESCent - Durham, NC
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Overview

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

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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 theyve 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

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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?

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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!
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Piece o cake, right?
What are some of your concerns? Questions?
Challenges? Fears? Nightmares?
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SeriouslyIm frightened, confused and
cluelesswhere do I start?

• Course Objectives (aka Instructional Objectives)
• Syllabus (big picturedont sweat
• the detailsYET)
• Textbook?
• NOW sweat the details!
• Grading scheme and exams
• Assignments and projects
• Group work? Student presentations?
• Course website, technology
• Logistics (enrollment, attendance, prereqs, etc.)

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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

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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?

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Blooms 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)
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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!

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Designing a syllabus

• 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
• ???

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Designing a syllabus

• As with your course objectives
• Dont rush through this jobits 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!

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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.

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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 talkothers hate it.
  Similarly, some students love group work and
  others do not.
• Remember to complement/appeal to/address multiple
  learning styles.

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Teaching To Learning Styles
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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 wont 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 classstudents
  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?

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Final Thoughts

• It wont 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. Thats
  okay, too, as long as youre 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!

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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