A short guide to preparing Course Profiles

Duncan D Nulty

© Duncan D Nulty, 2005. Apart from fair dealing as permitted by the copyright law of your country, this work may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-profit educational use, provided correct attribution is given. Abstracting with credit is permitted. Other uses should be discussed with the copyright owner.

© Duncan D Nulty

Outline of this session Intro to GU course profiles Intro to Curriculum Design Step by step through

preparing a course profile (for Course Profile System technical guide refer to https://intranet.secure.griffith.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/197794/course-profiles.pdf)

Questions and discussion throughout

How do I write a course

profile?

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The Course Profile System Stipulates the elements a course profile

should contain Presents them in a progressive and logical

order Helps you to present a succinct course

curriculum design• which helps you with your teaching and,• helps learners with their learning

So, what about curriculum design?

Linear Curriculum Design?

Rationale/ Description

Aim

Content

Desired Learning Outcomes Griffith Graduate Attributes

(Discipline knowledge and skills + generic skills)

Organisation & Teaching Strategies

Assessment

Texts & Supporting Materials

Context:1. Your teaching team (esp. you)2. Your Students3. Your Teaching Environment

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Rationale+

Aim+

Desired Learning Outcomes

Content+

Context(incl. resources)

+Teaching & Learning

Strategies

Assessment

Relational Curriculum Design?

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The Course Rationale or Description:

Provides reasons for the course Captures the whole point of the course Justifies the course States the real world need for the course

(~the value this course has for society) Is the single most important aspect

and (partly) informs all your choices regarding the

design and delivery of the course.

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A good rationale Includes words like "need" or

"requires". Takes the form:

Professionals in this area do certain things. Doing these things well requires certain knowledge, understanding and skill.

Leads directly to an aim of the form:This course aims to meet the needs/requirements identified in the rationale.

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Example 1: In order for business to operate successfully in

today's global market place, its practitioners will need to become knowledgeable about aspects of the international business environment.

Aim: This course aims to make you knowledgeable about relevant aspects of the international business environment.

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Example 2: Students wishing to be employed in the

hospitality industry in Japan will need to have a thorough understanding of and fluency in appropriate terms of address in Japanese.

Aim: This course aims to develop your understanding of and fluency in appropriate terms of address in Japanese.

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Example 3: The effective implementation of programs and

policies in early childhood education requires teachers to have sound knowledge of current theory and research in early childhood development.

Aim: This course aims to equip you with sound knowledge of current theory and research in early childhood development.

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Aims and Desired Learning Outcomes (DLOs) Aims are not the same as desired learning

outcomes … aims should relate to the combined impact of

the curriculum, the pedagogy and the assessment of the various elements ...

… desired learning outcomes, … need to be student oriented, and should point to the knowledge, skills, competencies and attitudes of those students who successfully complete the course.

DLOs are referred to in the Course Profile System as ‘Learning Objectives’.

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Aims and Objectives So, aim statements are… broad and

all encompassing. The big vision stuff.

While, … desired learning outcomes are specific, behavioural, student- focussed statements.

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An alternative angle on aims and desired learning outcomes/ objectives

Aims are what you want to achieve

desired learning outcomes are what your students should achieve

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Example of the difference between aim and desired learning outcomes Economics

The aim of this course is to introduce you to fundamental economic concepts and terminology with a view to providing you with a clearer understanding of the workings of the national and international economy.

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Example continued … DLOs/ Learning Objectives

Upon the successful completion of this course, you will:

1. be aware of key institutions that operate in the Australian economy, and the roles these institutions play;

2. have a clear understanding of the relationships between a number of important macroeconomic and microeconomic variables;

3. be able to identify, analyse, and understand the importance of the key economic concepts and measures introduced in this course;

4. be able to evaluate, critically, some of the economic policies that aim to address contemporary economic problems.

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Note about DLOs/ Learning Objectives You should NUMBER them (in the course profiling

systems the objectives are automatically numbered as you enter them into the profile).

This will help you when you come to the assessment section because you should state which DLOs/ Learning Objectives each item of assessment relates to.

You will need to map these in the new Course Profile System to the Graduate Attributes (for more information refer to http://www.griffith.edu.au/gihe/teaching-learning-curriculum/graduate-attributes)

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Graduate Attribute/ Generic Skills

In 2009 the University approved new Griffith Graduate attributes as follows:

• Knowledgeable and Skilled in their Disciplines• Effective Communicators and Team Members• Innovative and Creative, with Critical Judgement• Socially Responsible and Engaged in their Communities• Competent in Culturally Diverse and International Environments

for help designing course-level learning opportunities for students to develop the Griffith Graduate attributes refer to http://www.griffith.edu.au/gihe/teaching-learning-curriculum/graduate-attributes

For help with using the new CPS to map graduate attributes to course-level learning objectives refer to https://intranet.secure.griffith.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/197794/course-profiles.pdf.

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Alignment: Rationale Aim DLOs/ Learning Objectives

Your rationale should be directly aligned with your aim and your aim should be directly aligned with your DLOs/ Learning Objectives - each element should lead to or relate to the next - and to each other.

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Content, Organisation and Teaching Strategies

All I can say about your choice of content is:

Make sure it relates to the rationale-aim-objectives

Make sure it takes your teaching context into account. (Where context includes:Your students; Your; environment; Your teaching team -including you)

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Your Teaching Strategy

Choose your methods of teaching with a strategy for helping students' learning in mind. Ensure that there is alignment between your rationale, aims, DLOs/ Learning Objectives, choice of content, and context:

Ask: If this is what I am trying to achieve, and this is the content that is relevant,

and this is my context, what strategy can I have for my teaching that will lead to the learning outcomes I want?

The Course Profile System requires you to map the Teaching and Learning Strategies/ activities directly to the DLOs/ Learning Objectives (for more information refer to https://intranet.secure.griffith.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/197794/course-profiles.pdf).

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Your Teaching Strategy's Theory

Think also about the theory behind your strategy.

Ask yourself:If this is my strategy what is it about it

that makes me think it should work?

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Students' perceptions of your teaching strategy AND... think about your students' perceptions of

your teaching strategy.

Ask yourself:Will it be obvious to the students why I am using

this strategy? Will they understand how it should work? Can they always see the connection between what they are doing and the point or significance of what they are doing?

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Constructive approach:

Whenever teaching, you should try to: build upon the students’ prior

knowledge; take a constructive approach; seek a progression from content

knowledge, to understanding, to application.

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The 3 stage learning model(Traffic Light Model)

Acquisition

Understanding

Application

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And lastly… AssessmentIt's unfortunate that people think of assessment last when: it should be an integral part of your teaching strategy (in a

sense, it is a teaching method)

it should relate directly to your rationale+aim+DLOs/ Learning Objectives (and can therefore be used as a validity check on your overall design)

The Course Profile System asks you to map assessment to Learning Objectives directly (for more information refer to https://intranet.secure.griffith.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/197794/course-profiles.pdf).

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Before choosing your assessment methods, ask:

What forms of assessment will help the students to acquire, assimilate, transform, understand and apply the material?

How can I structure different assessments to support the whole process?

When should I require assessments to be conducted to maximise learning and feedback (to both students and myself)?

Advice about assessment of the Graduate Attributes is covered in each of the toolkits provided at http://www.griffith.edu.au/gihe/teaching-learning-curriculum/graduate-attributes

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Some assessment principles Assessment should provide feedback to

your students and to you Assessment should relate to the

rationale+aim+DLOs of the course Assessment should be constructive (start

small and build) Assessment should provide equity of

opportunity

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Using assessment as a curriculum validity check. Ask:

Does the assessment relate directly to the DLOs/ Learning Objectives? If the assessment includes items not in the

objectives check the objectives. If they are ok then modify the assessment, if not then modify the objectives.

If the assessment misses items in the objectives check the objectives. If they are ok then modify the assessment, if not then modify the objectives.

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A good assessment section: Provides:1. Types of assessment (eg Essay)

2. Weight given (if summative)3. Due Dates(eg Due by Friday Week 5 at 4.00pm)

4. Brief description of each task (eg You will need to write a 2500 word essay on a topic to be chosen from a list of 5 possibilities which you will be provided with in week 4. The essay will allow you to develop and demonstrate your written communication skills and your understanding of the issues in your chosen topic. You will be given constructive feedback on the essay before you have to undertake the following item of assessment.)

5. State which of your DLOs/ Learning Objectives this item of assessment relates to (the Course profile system does this automatically).

6. Uses student focussed language throughout.NB. The Course Profile System structures the provision of this information explicitly (for

more information refer to https://intranet.secure.griffith.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/197794/course-profiles.pdf)

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Assessment: essentials Formative and summative assessment

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Formative assessment Formative assessment is where the

assessment is used solely for the purpose of providing the students with feedback that will guide their learning.

It helps students to "form". It is in-form-ative. It provides in-form-ation.

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Summative Assessment Summative assessment is where

assessment is used solely for the purpose of contributing to, or determining, students' final grades.

It sum-marises. It sums up.

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In reality...… assessment usually combines the two: usually all tasks that are assessed result

in some marks that count towards the final grade

and, usually all tasks provide the student with

some guidance on why they got the mark they did and how they could get a better one.

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Texts and supporting materials

If there are texts that students must have to study the course then separate these out from the rest of your list.

The Course Profile System has a section to record course resource requirements (for more information refer to https://intranet.secure.griffith.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/197794/course-profiles.pdf)

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Further Support and Policies at GU:

Help, Advice and Support http://www.griffith.edu.au/gihe/teaching-learning-curriculu

m/graduate-attributes (GIHE Graduate Attributes)

https://intranet.secure.griffith.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/197794/course-profiles.pdf (Course Profile System Workbook)

GU policy library: http://www62.gu.edu.au/policylibrary.nsf?opendatabase

Phone: +617 3735 6813

e.mail: d.nulty@griffith.edu.au

In person: Room 4.11b, Block M10, GIHE, Griffith University, Mount Gravatt

http://www.griffith.edu.au/gihe/staff/duncan-nulty

Comments/Suggestions/ Questions?

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