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Bring your online course to this workshop and get a framework for developing an online course plan. You'll use a framework and explore the QM Rubric to design one module for your online course.

Course Length: Two weeksDelivery Mode: Online (Asynchronous)Instruction: FacilitatedFee (Single Registration): $25 tech fee per enrollment (capped at 20 participants) Cost is being covered through the Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation (CTLI)Refer to the Schedule & Checklist for more information on the workshop requirements. Note that the Schedule & Checklist for Independent sessions may vary from the Schedule & Checklist provided here. 




The “Designing Your Online Course” (DYOC) workshop includes an overview of the QM Rubric and provides a framework for participants to design an online course plan. An integral element of the workshop is an exploration of the eight General Standards of the QM Rubric, focusing on learning objectives and overall course alignment. Participants will complete a Course Development Plan. The plan includes all of the essential Specific Review Standards (SRS) with a column for how the participant will meet the SRS in their course and what resources they will need.


Recommended For:

Faculty and Instructors who are new to online teaching 



Learning Objectives:

Recognize the foundational concepts of Quality Matters.
Apply the essential QM Rubric Specific Review Standards to online course design.
Discuss the structure to be used for organizing your online course.
Create a course plan for developing your online course.
Align one module for development.



What Participants Need:

A course you plan to develop for online delivery
8 to 10 hours of time per week to spend on achieving the learning objectives

Organization:
 
While your syllabus may have all the information necessary for the class, that doesn’t mean it’s easy to find. Reading this guide for example would be more challenging if it was given in paragraphs as opposed to how it is broken into sections. Often students repeatedly return to the syllabus to find key information about the course. This can also be a benefit to instructors because if their syllabus is well-structured, they’ll deal with fewer questions about details about the class and can focus more on details about the content of the class. Here are some things you should be adding to make your syllabus easier to read, and some examples of how one could implement them.  
 

Add headings and subheadings as needed.

Based on this guide you may want to create sections for:

Course Topics
University/Course Policies
Grade Scale
Contact Information
Important Dates
Major Assessments


You could also consider adding a brief introduction. Which could include:

Your teaching style/core values
Contact information 




Include tables/graphics where possible

Examples may include:

Grade Scale Table
A table of important dates
Flow Charts for course structure or learning outcomes
Concept maps
A table containing the class schedule




Adding bullet points or numbered lists:

Examples may include:

List of important dates.
List of Exams/Projects/Major Assessments.
List of Learning outcomes/course topics
Listing contents and where to find them at the beginning.




Reflections/Questions to Consider:

If you were a student, what information would you be looking for?

And how would you find it?


How long is this document?

If it is many pages, are students going to be able to engage with it, or will it feel intimidating?
If it is a single page, does it contain enough information for students?





 
Course Schedule:
 
The course schedule can be an extremely effective tool for helping students navigate the college experience. Depending on the school students may have 4, 5 or even 6 classes they are taking at a single time and knowing ahead of time when one class may require more attention is extremely helpful! However, it’s also important not to hide other key information of a syllabus within the schedule as it runs the risk of making the syllabus harder to navigate. Some recommendations about course schedules:
 
·         If you meet multiple times a week, don’t explain each class.
o   You want the schedule to be flexible to adjust for the needs of a class.
§  Perhaps you have a great plan for a particular topic, but it doesn’t end up panning out as intended.
§  What happens if your institution cancels a day of class? Is the entire schedule irrelevant from that point? Do you need to re-write it?
·         Create a schedule based on each week:
o   This will allow:
§  students to plan out the expectations of the course a week at a time.
§  you flexibility in the time it takes to present material.
o   Highlight Important Dates:
§  Include if there are due dates, exams/quizzes
§  If your institution has course drop deadlines, they should be outlined.
§  The final exam time at institutions is often at a different time than the typical class.
o   Moving forward this document will assume the schedule is broken down per week.
·         Outline Prep materials required each week.
o   Course Readings
o   Journal writings
o   Rough Drafts
o   Artifacts they should bring.
o   Reflective Questions they should consider before class.
o   Etc.
·         Stay Vague!
o   If you feel your schedule is becoming muddled, it most likely is. Attempt to keep descriptions brief and verify it’s easy to read.
                 
Descriptions of Assignments/Assessments:

Briefly outline the information in particular assignments/assessments. 
Reflections/Questions to Consider:

Projects:

Is this a group or individual project?
How much time do students have to complete it?
Is a rubric provided for the project to help guide student work?
What materials will be needed for the project?
What form should the final product take?

Presentation?
Poster?
Paper?
Etc.




Exams: 

What material will be covered?
If not stated elsewhere:

What percentage of the grade is it? 
When is it? 


What is the modality? 

Online? In-person? Take-home?


How will it be graded?


Assignments: 

What is the modality? 

Online? In-person? Take-home?


How many questions is the assignment? 
When is it due? 
What material is covered? 
What are the associated learning outcomes? 


Readings:

What do you want students to take away from the readings?
How will you use the information a student reads during class?





 
Expectations:
Every instructor has some level of expectations on their students. Often, this includes some degree of participation, attendance, completion of material, etc. However, are these expectations clearly outlined in the syllabus? If not, it can be extremely helpful.
 
Student Expectations:

Examples include:

How many hours they should expect to spend on material/reading outside of class.
How many assignments they’ll be asked to complete.
Rubrics: What are the expectations of a particular project/assignment.
Attendance.

How many days can a student miss before it affects their grade?
How should a student inform you that they are unable to attend.


Participation:

What does it mean to participate in your class?

Discussions? Asking Questions? Coming to office hours? Email?




Etc.



 
Teacher Expectations:
Students also want to know that if they follow through on your expectations, that you are also holding yourself accountable to them.

Consider communicating:

How long it will take to respond to emails.
When you’ll be able to grade assessments, projects, assignments.
What type of feedback you intend to offer students.
Any changes to the course schedule.
How students can reach out to you or get additional help.  



 
Outlining all of this information effectively begins the process of integrating the syllabus into the course itself. Making it a living document that grows/changes as the class does. Crafting syllabi to facilitate communication between educators and students helps set clear expectations and provides the instructor the opportunity to reflect on their own pedagogy by referencing their syllabi. 

 
Since the syllabus acts as an extension of the instructor, we want to begin to capture the values and teaching style of its author. Hopefully this will convey one’s identity as an educator as well as their approach to learning.
  
Teaching Style:
·         A brief description of your approach to teaching.
o   Be sure to include:
§  How you plan to organize/deliver your course content.
§  The type of learning environment you hope to create in the classroom.
§  The connection between your philosophy of education and your approach to instruction.
·         Reflections/Questions to Consider:
o   Is your teaching style explained in a singular location or weaved throughout the entire syllabus?
o   Do you feel the grade rubric/items are representative of your teaching philosophy?
o   How accessible is the course content for students?
§  Is that intentional?
o   How do you plan to develop your desired learning environment?
§  Should any of that be included in the syllabus itself?  
 
Teaching Values:
Look through your syllabus and decide if it reflects your values as an educator. I realize that this step requires an inherent sense of reflection, i.e. “What are your teaching values?”
Teaching values are the core beliefs and principles that guide a teacher’s decisions and actions for their class. To this end, this entire portion, as it pertains to the syllabus should be thought of as a reflective activity:

Are your core values as an educator ever stated in the syllabus?
If so, are they supported by the content of the syllabus:

Grade items, rubrics, point distribution, etc.
Classroom structure, student expectations, etc.


Does the syllabus accurately convey your attitude towards students?  

Do you want students to address you more formally or casually?
Do you want students to interact with one another?
How often do you want students to interact with you, and in what scenarios?
Etc.



The ways in which the syllabus can reflect you as an educator are endless. While this guide could write out dozens of reflective questions in this section alone, it is going to be an ongoing process throughout your time as an educator.
 
One common suggestion I’ve been given as a teacher is to give out a pre-course survey to students asking them to outline the information found in the syllabus. The design of this activity is to engage students with its contents and make sure they are familiar with the scaffolding you’ve developed for the class. I recommend taking this one step further and asking students some of these reflective questions:
 
o   What do you think are the core teaching values of the instructor?
o   Describe what you believe is the instructor’s teaching style.  
o   How do you feel this instructor feels about you?
o   Do you feel as though the grade of this course is fair for you?
o   Etc.
 
These types of questions may be hard to handle at first, but overtime will provide you with exceptional feedback you can use to develop your future syllabi.
 
Once you feel you’ve adequately captured both your teaching style and core values, I firmly believe you have a functional first draft of a course syllabus. All the details for the class are laid out and you’ve gotten the bulk of the purpose of the course communicated to its readers. While we’ve already begun to do some of this through our reflection, we’re going to push our exploration of the syllabus further and consider its other main purposes as a tool for learning and as a tool for future educators.  

 
The syllabus is often a document that outlines the rules of a particular class. To this end, it should be clearly communicated what the responsibilities are of the student and instructor and the consequences of breaking that contract.
 
Course Policies:
We’ve already drafted out the course policies in previous guides. So more important now is establishing the potential repercussions of a student violating course policies. While not an exhaustive list, here are some questions you should ask yourself regarding each policy:
 

If a student violates this policy, does it affect their grade?

If so, is the effect comparable to the offense?

For example, if you have an attendance policy, it’s unreasonable to fail a student for missing a single day of class.


If not, what are the consequences of breaking this policy?

For example, students talking when you are explaining something to the class may not influence their grade but still needs to be addressed.




If a student violates this policy, does it affect their academic status?

For example, violence in the classroom certainly shouldn’t be tolerated and needs to have clearly defined consequences.
Academic dishonesty is typically a topic that has consequences outlined by the institution. These may cause students to face suspension and thus those consequences should be outlined.


What happens after repeat offenses?

Are the consequences the same or do they get more severe?
Can a student "come back" from breaking a particular policy multiple times?  


How does one use the consequences of breaking a policy help students improve?

Do you have meetings with the student(s) to address concerns?
Is the institution involved? In what way? 
How much control do you have over the situation?
Etc.



 
The Intangibles: 
Previously discussed is that the syllabus outlines rules for the class outside of course policies. Make sure to detail what happens for students who miss due dates, or who aren’t spending enough time outside of class. Briefly discuss why you have these rules in place and what happens to those who are not fulfilling these expectations.
 
Additionally, what outcomes occur when the instructor does not follow their end of the “contract.” Here are some examples to consider:

What happens when an exam is coming up, but a student hasn’t gotten back any graded homework?

How can they be expected to improve?
What steps can they take to grow? 


Do students understand their current grade/standing in the class ahead of the end of the semester?
How will the instructor rectify being behind?

Communicate why it happened.
When a student can expect it to be fixed.
How that will affect the class.



 
Having the syllabus be used as a contract between insturctor and student communicates to students that the teacher takes the class seriously and is willing to make promises. That hopefully will cause students to be more receptive to suggestions. The purpose is not to try to accentuate perfection, but explain the cause/effect relationship of the course policies/rules and help students navigate college life and numerous courses.

Strategies for Designing Assessments in the Age of AI by Jay Loftus
 
Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash

 
“It’s not what you know, but who you know.” is one of the largest colloquialisms when it comes to career trajectory. In addition, a big part of attending higher education is to help propel student careers. While we may want to prepare students by just giving them the necessary knowledge for their future endeavors, we should also strive to take this time to help establish connections and reasonable paths forward for them as well.   
 
Engagement/Participation:
Student engagement is defined by how actively and enthusiastically students are involved in the learning process during class.  Meanwhile, participation refers to actual involvement of the students. So, it is possible for:  

A student may participate and not be engaged,
Or a student to be engaged but not participate.

This is important to consider when defining your pedagogical approach to classroom engagement and participation, and how you define it within your class. If you plan to award student participation, or your class heavily relies on discussion and active student engagement, you may even want to provide these definitions in the syllabus.
 
However, you may not directly explain these ideas and instead focus on whether ask these questions of your syllabus:

Does your teaching style facilitate your views of participation/engagement?
Is your syllabus communicating whether you want students to participate?
Is the syllabus itself engaging for students?
Do your assessments reflect your goals for participation/engagement?
In what ways is your syllabus contributing to student participation and engagement?

 
Peer-to-peer Interaction 
Students working together is crucial for learning and development. It helps students build necessary social skills, establish relationships between current/future colleagues, increases active participation and engagement and often increases student self-efficacy towards the course topic.
 
Therefore, it is encouraged that you construct course materials that facilitate peer-to-peer interactions and foster some sense of community within your classroom. As far as what to include in the syllabus, you should specify what types of activities you will hold that require peer-to-peer interactions, and what expectations you have of students during these interactions.
 
For example, the syllabus may contain:

A list of classroom rules that you or your class develops:

Developing them yourself lets you be in control of exactly what values you want accentuated in your class.  
Developing them as a class can communicate that students have autonomy over their learning and increase classroom engagement.  


Examples of peer-discussion techniques you use:

Whole Group Discussions:  

Ask your class to consider a question/topic and facilitate a group discussion on the topic, allowing students to speak freely and challenge one another.


Think-Pair-Share:

Ask students to individually consider a question/topic, discuss it with a partner, then share their insights with the whole class.


Mingle-Pair-Share:

Similar to think-pair-share, except students can move freely about the class and have discussions with multiple students.


Discussion Groups:

Breaking students into smaller groups to hold discussions on a question/topic, which can then be brought into larger group discussions.


Jigsaw:

Break down a larger topic into smaller pieces and allow each group to focus on an individual piece to share out in a whole class discussion.


Collaborative Assignments:

Students work together in small groups to develop material specified by a rubric or find solutions to laid out problems.


Socratic Seminar:

This is an open discussion based on an assigned set of readings. Instead of generating a question or specific topic you want students to consider, just allow them to openly discuss the material and explore at their own pace.





                               
There are numerous other ways you may facilitate peer-to-peer relationships and communication, but however you choose to do so, it is helpful to communicate that to students upfront and through the syllabus.
 
 
Instructor-Student Interaction:
Fair or not, how students reflect on course material, or a specific subject, largely depends on their (impression of)/ (relationship with) their teacher. For this reason, it’s important to have a positive relationship between an instructor and their student. The syllabus, again especially as a first impression, can help facilitate this relationship and help an instructor feel more approachable. For this reason, it’s important that your syllabus:

Sets a welcoming/positive tone:

Clearly communicate your enthusiasm for the course and the students participating.
Set expectations but don’t dictate them.
Include words with positive connotations

As an example, instead of describing student work as “acceptable” consider saying it is “valid” or “commendable”


Avoid negatives (such as “do not” or “unable to” as much as possible)


Encourages engagement:

You’ve explained what types of engagement you’re looking for, but now it is important to encourage that from students. To do so:

Give examples of your interactive content.
Engage in storytelling by sharing personal details you feel comfortable sharing.
Ask for and encourage student feedback.
Be authentic.




Promotes your own availability:

One of the leading reasons students don’t attend office hours is because they feel they are “awkward.” To break through this barrier, you might:

Explain the value office hours provide students:

Promote the benefits such as improved understanding and better test scores.
Highlight success stories


Offer flexible scheduling for office hours.
Consider Location/Modality:

Are you available via video or only in-person?
If in-person, where are you available to meet and how accessible is that to the students?


Set one-on-one meetings during the semester.

These can be informal and short to get students familiar with the process, or perhaps there is a specific purpose tied to the meeting.







 
Students who feel more comfortable with their instructor tend to perform significantly better in a course and have a stronger sense of confidence in their own ability. Fostering this relationship is one of the most crucial for the educator to create a positive classroom environment.
 
Provide Connections:
With the goal in mind that students attend college to increase career success, it is important to use our abilities and connections to help them achieve it. This will appear vastly different depending on the field of study, and possible career paths, but here are some forms this may take:
 
Connect students with other faculty: Perhaps another member of the department or institution you know has better connections that align with a student’s career aims, or areas of interest.
 
Have guest speakers: You can’t know everything, and having a guest speaker can help students gain exposure to the community around the topic they’re studying and form meaningful connections with them.
 
Utilize connections in the field: You more than likely studied this material at your own university/had a job in the field. Consider connecting students to relevant contacts or having them be a guest speaker.
 
Ask Alumni: If you’ve had students who have gone into the field, especially if you’ve stayed in contact with them, consider having them be a guest speaker or asking them to explain how your class helped prepare them for industry. What types of things could you change in your class to help make this transition more effective?
 

Earlier this year, I posted on the Hub blog about our experience working with faculty to put their courses online. I shared an infographic of two case studies of how faculty had decided to build their online courses. 
 

1) UDL is research-based
The Universal Design for Learning framework was developed by CAST (Center for Applied Special Technology) to guide the design of instructional goals, curriculum, and assessment that can be adjusted to each individual’s needs. UDL relies on what neuroscience research tells us about the way human beings learn. 
 
2) UDL is flexible
The UDL framework is not a cookie-cutter set of rigid rules, but rather a flexible approach to teaching that can be customized based on each teaching situation. It was initially designed as part of the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 as a framework to guide educational practices in order to provide flexibility in how information was provided and to allow students to demonstrate their learning in various ways. This was intended to “reduces barriers in instruction, provides appropriate accommodations, supports, and challenges, and {maintain} high achievement expectations for all students, including students with disabilities and students who are limited English proficient” (http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udldefined).
 
3) UDL is about learners
UDL focuses on student learning through proactive curriculum creation. That is, you as the teacher are responsible for removing the possible barriers that could prevent students from learning your material. This involves four components: goals, methods, materials, and assessments.
 
For instance, when I create a lesson plan, I need to reflect on the following:
Goals: What are the learning expectations? How can my lesson turn my students into experts learners? Goals are the knowledge, concepts, and skills that all students should master. When I apply UDL, I need to make sure that I acknowledge learner variability and differentiate the goals from the means. I need to offer options or alternatives, along with a variety of tools, strategies, and scaffolds to help learners reach mastery.
Methods: What instructional approaches or decisions can I follow to enhance learning? UDL helps us focus on teaching methods based on learner variability. This happens both within the context of the specific task, and the individual learner’s social/emotional context, along with the classroom’s atmosphere. My methods need to be flexible and varied, and adjusted based on a continuous monitoring of learner progress.
Materials: What media can I use to present the content and what media can the learner use to demonstrate knowledge? With UDL, materials are variable and flexible. They should offer different pathways to similar outcomes while including choices for the learner where appropriate, multiple levels of support and challenge, and alternative options to create interest.
Assessments: Are my assessments accurate? Are they comprehensive and articulate enough to guide instruction for all learners? When using UDL, I need to ensure that I focus on the goal, and provide different supports or scaffolds; and that I accommodate learner variability by reducing barriers to measuring learner knowledge, skills, and engagement with the content.
All this should be done following UDL principles of multiple means of representation, multiple means of expression, and multiple means of engagement.
 
4) UDL is a rich community of practice
Whether you are just interested in learning more about UDL, or are ready to start implementing it in your classroom, UDL possesses an extensive community of practice that can support you every step of the way. Below are some resources, ranging from theoretical to practical applications of UDL:
Tutorials: the National Center on UDL offers online media presentations that help educators to build UDL understanding, along with other supporting material.
Videos: CAST also has a Youtube channel where you can find updates and material related to UDL.
Forum: UDL Exchange is a place to browse and share resources or lessons related to UDL.
Social media: Follow #UDL and #UDLchat on Twitter