A description of how to create an online course.

1. Katie Datko
COURSE DESIGN 101 11/30/12

2. COURSES SHOULD:
Integrate the students’ needs with the course
objectives.
Incorporate formative and summative
assessments.
Provide opportunities for interaction with the
instructor, other students and the course
content.
Allow students to engage in higher-order
thinking skills.

3. BASIC DESIGN PRINCIPLES
Learning is an active process and takes place
when students are engaged with the materials
in a meaningful way.
Students have learning style preference(s) –
visual, auditory, kinesthetic – that impact how
they process information. Course materials
and activities should reflect a balance of
different modalities to accommodate these
styles.

4. BASIC DESIGNPRINCIPLES (CONT.)
Students bring their own experiences and
background knowledge (schema) to the
course. Course activities should provide ways
to activate students’ schema about a topic
and use that information to scaffold (build)
upon their knowledge.
Students learn best when called upon to
integrate course materials in a way that has
real-world applications.

5. BASIC ASSESSMENT PRINCIPLES
Assessments should:
be aligned with student learning outcomes.
be integrated into the course design.
include both formative and summative
elements.
evaluate higher-order as well as lower-order
skills.

6. T YPES OF ASSESSMENTS
Formative
Summative
Integrated

7. FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
Assessment that is carried out in order to
form a picture of the learning process.
Discussion posts, journals and portfolio
reflections are examples of this type of
assessment.

8. SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT
Assessment that is used to measure what
students have learned/mastered.
End of the unit tests and term papers are
examples of this type of assessment.

9. INTEGRATED ASSESSMENTS
When formative assessments are used in conjunction with
summative assessments, they will provide a more complete
portrait of student learning. This is also known as continuous
assessment.
For example, instructor feedback on term paper outlines and drafts and peer reviews
can be used by a student for a final draft that receives a letter grade. In this process-
oriented approach to assessment, both the instructor and student adjust their teaching
and learning during the first part of the project, resulting in a final product that receives
a grade.

10. TRADITIONAL VS AUTHENTIC
ASSESSMENT

11. GETTING STARTED
Translate to
Performance
observable
SLOs Objectives
behavoir
(SPOs)

12. SPOS
In addition to content, skills you want
to assess:
Basic Skills (GE skill
sets/competencies)
Critical Thinking Skills
Problem-Solving Skills

13. 5 EASY STEPS FOR COURSE DESIGN
Conceptualize content
Determine projects/assessments
Sequence content
Scaffold skill sets for assessments
Organize & combine
content, assessments & skill sets

14. STEP 1 -- CONCEPTUALIZE
Introduction Roles & Identity
CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY
Values & Beliefs Development & Change

15. STEP 2 -- DETERMINE COURSE
PROJECTS/ASSESSMENTS/ASSIGNMENTS
Example assessments for a semester -long course:
 Ongoing Assessments:
 Article Summaries
 Portfolio Reflections
 Weekly Assignments/Homework
 Projects:
 Observation Report
 Midterm Presentation/Compiled Report
 Argument Paper
 Final Panel Discussion
 Portfolio

16. STEP 3 – SEQUENCE CONTENT (Example)
Individual Definition
of Identity
Roles & Identity
Schema-Building
Individual
Identities/Roles
Key Concepts
Understand Identity
in US
Content in Context
Social Roles in the
US
Application Expand

17. STEP 4– SCAFFOLD SKILL SETS FOR
ASSESSMENTS
Argument Paper Example:
 Summarizing skills (Review -- done in previous ongoing
assignments)
 Research skills (Review)
 APA citations & references
 Using databases
 Topic generation & development (Review)
 Argument & thesis statement (New)
 Organization (Review -- done in previous ongoing assignments)
 Composing (Review -- done in previous ongoing assignments)
 Editing (Review)

18. STEP 5 – ORGANIZE & COMBINE (Example)

19. WORKS CITED
 D e s i g n Fu n d a m e n t a l s :
1. “Online Learning Theor y and Design Principles .” Online Learning Theor y and Design
P r i n c i p l e s . D i v i s i o n o f I n fo r m a t i o n Te c h n o l o g y, U n i v e r s i t y o f W i s c o n s i n - M a d i s o n , 2 01 1 .
We b . 2 2 D e c 2 01 1 . h t t p : / / a c a d e m i c t e c h . d o i t . w i s c . e d u / o n l i n e - t e a c h i n g -
resources/designing/online -learning-theor y -and-design-principles.
 A s s e s s m e n t Fu n d a m e n t a l s
1 . H a r m e r, J e r e my. H o w to Te a c h E n g l i s h . 2 n d . E s s e x : Pe a r s o n E d u c a t i o n , 2 0 07. P r i n t .
2 . H u g h e s , A r t h u r. Te s t i n g f o r L a n g u a g e Te a c h e r s . 2 n d . C a m b r i d g e : C a m b r i d g e L a n g u a g e
Te a c h i n g L i b r a r y, 2 0 0 2 . P r i n t .
3 . N u n a n , D av i d . P r a c t i c a l E n g l i s h L a n g u a g e Te a c h i n g . N e w Yo r k : M c G r aw - H i l l , 2 0 0 3 . P r i n t .
 Formative & Summative Assessment
1 . C a r n e g i e M e l l o n A s s e s s m e n t Ta s k Fo r c e . A s s e s s m e n t E xa m p l e s a n d To o l s . E b e r l y C e n te r
fo r Te a c h i n g E x c e l l e n c e , n . d . We b . 6 Fe b 2 01 2 .
h t t p : / / w w w. c m u . e d u / t e a c h i n g / a s s e s s m e n t / i n d e x . h t m l .
2 . G a r r i s o n , C a t h e r i n e , a n d M i c h a e l E h r i n g h a u s . F o r m a t i ve a n d S u m m a t i v e A s s e s s m e n t s i n
t h e C l a s s r o o m . A s s o c i a t i o n fo r M i d d l e L e v e l E d u c a t i o n , 2 0 07. We b . 6 Fe b 2 01 2 .
h t t p : / / w w w. a m l e . o r g / P u b l i c a t i o n s / We b E x c l u s i v e / A s s e s s m e n t / t a b i d / 1 1 2 0 / D e f a u l t . a s p x
.
 Authentic Assessment & Course Design
1 . M u e l l e r, J o h n . Au t h e n t i c A s s e s s m e n t To o l b o x . N . p . , 2 01 1 . We b . 6 Fe b 2 01 2 .
h t t p : / / j f m u e l l e r. f a c u l t y. n o c t r l . e d u / to o l b ox / i n d e x . h t m .