Curriculum development

Center for Excellence in Teaching

Module 2.1

Planning and Organizing your Course 1
University of Southern California

When should I begin planning for my course? How do I construct a syllabus? What should I do on the first day of class?
Two of the most important elements in good teaching are: 1) planning and organization, and 2) a demonstrated sense of commitment to students’ learning.While the latter will be addressed in the next module, we will discuss planning and organizing a course here. You may have heard some teachers say that they teach by staying one week ahead of the students. Yet if the teachers are successful, it is more likely that they have planned well in advance and are really just making adjustments each week to meet students’ needs. Careful preparation allowsyou to design a course that helps students learn and gives you a chance to handle the inevitable surprises that arise during the semester. As you read this module, remember these basic principles:  Your goals and objectives for student learning should guide how you structure the course. What do you believe students should learn and how will they achieve this?  Share your goals and the courseorganization with the students so they can understand your rationale. It is easier for them to learn if they know where you are headed and why.  Emphasize core concepts. Little details are quickly forgotten. Helping students grasp the big picture and broad concepts will give them a foundation in the discipline and a basis for future learning. Preparing for a Course If you are a TA in a “typical”situation, you are probably not responsible for designing an entire course. Therefore, working with the professor two to four weeks in advance (to define your role, learn his or her expectations, and begin to review the material) is sufficient. However, if you are designing a course yourself, you should begin doing so two to three months ahead of time. This might seem early, but consider all you haveto do:  Learn from past examples. If others have taught the course before you, talk with them. What successes and troubles have they encountered? Where have students stumbled? Ask for copies of their syllabi, tests, textbooks, etc. If you have taught the course before, what have you learned? Review your materials and course evaluations to plan for the future. If it is a completely new course,talk to others and review texts to explore the major topics the course might address (Davis, 1993).

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Module 2.1

2 Planning and Organizing Your Course
 Think about your situation. What knowledge will students already have and what prerequisites will your course require? How many classes will you have, how often will each class meet and for how long? How many students will be enrolled? Identify your goals. Think broadly at first, and ask yourself what you want students to learn. This can be related both to content (e.g. understanding specific equations) and noncontent (e.g. learning to present an oral argument) (Davis, 1993). Then, think more realistically; the limited amount of time each semester means you can only cover so much. Assume you will have a diverse range oflearners. What are reasonable goals?

Selecting Course Content
Even experienced teachers have difficulty narrowing down course content. We love our subject area and get excited to share it with students – this is what makes teaching fun – but organizing content is challenging. The points below may help you decide what your course will contain:  Davis (1993) recommends that you select content as youwould pack for a trip. First ask: what do I want to bring? Then ask: what do I need to bring? Your course content should be the material and ideas that are most necessary and that can fit into your structure. Trying to pack too much information into a course can hinder students’ learning.

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 You can differentiate between required (core), recommended and optional material in your syllabus,...