As the Fall semester kicks into full gear, faculty committees around the United States also launching into another time-honored tradition on campuses – no, not the Fall Ball or the kickoff to football season, though they may join those festivities as well – course redesign! At Junction, we have our own list of tips and tricks that we’ll share in a future post, but a good place to start is often NCAT’s (National Center for Academic Transformation) course redesign guide. So without further ado, here are 8 key elements that should all be present in any redesign initiative:
1. Redesign the whole course for greater consistency
Involve all faculty currently teaching the course in the redesign effort. This ensures that all students taking the course have the same learning experience – irrespective of instructor or location. Assess students on common outcomes, using common assessment methods. The result? Improved course coherence and tighter quality control. Make sure to spend time on training for both full-time and adjunct faculty before the redesigned courses go live.
2. Require active learning
In a traditional, lecture-based, format students spend hours each week sitting and watching or listening to a lecture given by someone else. Instead, see how some of that time could be reused to actively engage students with the course material. The key change for faculty? Moving from the ‘sage on the stage’ towards the ‘expert guide on the side’. One key here is finding the right instructional software and other Web-based resources to engage students leveraging a healthy mix of video lessons, explanations with examples, discussion boards, exercises, formative assessments (with feedback) and links to/embedded ebooks.
All resources are in the same online location and can be accessed anywhere, anytime. And students can work on assignments from any computer with Internet access.
We happen to know of a certain software platform that helps drive the required student focus and meets these requirements nicely.
3. Increase student interaction
Make sure to include more class discussions and group work when undergoing a redesign effort to help turn big lecture halls into smaller learning communities. Stuck with the large lecture hall? Try using online polling tools or clickers and have students break into small groups to discuss results or even work on small, 10-15 minute long, in-class projects. Students learn from each other already, formalize it as part of the course experience.
4. Build in assessments with automated feedback
Course redesign leveraging computer-based assessments provides an opportunity for immediate feedback to students. Ideally, the software used will also provide individualized guidance and direction to students as well. The combination of the two not only improves instructor and student efficiency but facilitates focused time on task resulting in improved learning performance.
5. Provide students with 1:1 assistance, preferably on-demand
If students get frustrated or discouraged, they are more likely to not complete the task at hand. Office hours provide a way for students to get help outside of the lecture hall, but that doesn’t help students at time of need and for working students a scheduled hour or two each week may not even be possible to attend. Automated tutorials aren’t sufficient, human interaction and support matter. On-demand assistance does not need to be provided by full-time faculty – peer mentors and course assistants can help address most questions and issues as well.
6. Ensure sufficient time on task
Without technology, it’s often difficult, if not impossible, for an instructor to determine how much time a given student is devoting to a specific course. An attendance policy is a minimum, participation is better but combining those with time management assistance is best. Clear schedules (and we’d add benchmarks) help keep students focused and on track for timely completion.
7. Monitor student progress, intervene when necessary
Attendance and participation policies and points are helpful, but insufficient in that monitoring and followup are also required.
Which students are lagging behind? Which students are not coming to class and not doing the work? Second, once those students have been identified, follow-up is crucial. Someone must consistently contact them—by e-mail, telephone, text, or tweet or in person—and indicate clearly that they are expected to come to class and do the work.
We should mention that all Junction courses come with an embedded early warning system, at no additional charge, that not only tracks online attendance and participation but automates alerts to student – via email and SMS – saving instructor’s time. If you haven’t checked out the new Faculty Insight Center, it’s certainly worth a look.
8. Measure learning, completion, and cost
Measurement matters, not just immediately after a redesigned course is launched, but on an ongoing basis. Course redesign efforts, done properly, should improve learning outcomes, increase success / completion rates and reduce instructional costs. Often, results improve after the first semester of use for a redesigned course so keep up the measurement!
For more details directly from NCAT, see the link below.
How to Redesign A College Course Guide: Chapter I
