Plan Field Guide
Planning creates the foundation for an effective online course. By identifying what students should learn, how they will demonstrate learning, and how they will engage with course content, you can make intentional design decisions before your course begins. Use this guide to explore key planning considerations and discover resources to support your work.
Start with the End
Focus on what matters most
Well-crafted learning objectives clarify intended outcomes for students and set the direction for your entire course. What ways of thinking and core skills should students demonstrate as they enter your discipline or profession? What evidence will you need to determine their level of success? Every journey starts somewhere, the learning objectives you draft can, and often do, evolve as you iteratively refine your designs.
Why alignment matters
Align assessments with your meaningful learning objectives to increase course clarity and connect student learning with real-world application.
How planning ahead helps
Avoid two common missteps: overstuffing your online course with too much content and the student perception of busy work in your course. Prioritize content and activities that directly guide them toward your learning objectives.
Reflect
How do you ensure your online course's assessments, assignments and activities transparently support and reflect your learning goals?
Try It
LEARN MORE: Online Course Planning Strategies
Browse our Online Course Essentials for planning your course using the Backward Design Process, Bloom’s Taxonomy, and Quality Matters Course Design Rubric (Standard 2).
Assessment is more than a final grade
Gain early insights that lead to better outcomes
Finals are the most prominent form of assessment on campus. We set aside a whole week for them each semester. Finals are indeed important, but only as part of a semester-long assessment cycle comprised of multiple feedback loops. Students first complete low-stakes assignments. They then receive feedback from you with guidance on how to improve. The cycle ends only after you’ve prepared them to demonstrate key skills and knowledge.
Why varied assessment matters
Assessment at the end of a course measures learning. Varied assessment throughout your course creates learning. Repeated across the course, the assessment cycle intentionally builds student capacity toward measurable achievement that you have clearly defined at the end of the semester.
How ongoing assessment helps you and your students
Ongoing assessment doesn't have to mean more grading. It’s better information about student learning, sooner. For example, automated quiz feedback can reduce your grading and feedback workload during the semester while still providing students with timely guidance.
Reflect
Do your current assessment strategies include low-stakes formative assessments with feedback to prepare students to demonstrate their knowledge?
LEARN MORE: Effective course planning strategies
Browse our Online Course Essentials for planning your course using the Backward Design Process, Bloom’s Taxonomy, and Quality Matters Course Design Rubric (Standard 2).
Plan ahead for interaction
Foster meaningful connections to drive engagement
What is the right mix of passive and active learning in your course? Reflect on your course context to find the best fit, including your preferences as an instructor and student interest and confidence with course topics. There are established instructional frameworks you can use for designing learning interactions in both introductory and advanced courses.
Why meaningful interaction matters
Students are motivated to learn when they see how relevant your course is to their lives. Connect course activities and content to students’ prior experience, interests, and professional goals to engage them in the process of learning.
How planning for engagement helps
Label the beginnings, middles, and ends of course lessons and units using your chosen framework as a guide. This increases student engagement by scaffolding their learning and building trust and commitment to the learning process you’ve designed.
Reflect
How do your interaction strategies fit your course context, support active learning and reflect student relevance?
LEARN MORE: Building engagement into your course
Browse our Online Course Essentials for planning your course using Absorb-Do-Connect Framework; Practical Inquiry Model, and QM Standard 5.