Ready to get to work? We have a course for that! Complete the PLAN: Inventory for a personalized guide through course content and activities based on your online teaching experience.
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.
Take the next step
What do you want your students to know, value, and do years after taking your course? What distinguishes your students from those that haven’t taken your course?
Try It
Where can I learn more about planning for enduring understandings?
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.
Take the next step
How do you plan assessment throughout the semester to support learning, reflection, and achievement?
The PLAN: Inventory provides tailored self-paced online training recommendations based on your experience planning online courses.
Where can I learn more about online assessments?
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 this 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 it 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.
Take the next step
Are you using established instructional frameworks to plan the right mix of active learning experiences for your students?
The PLAN: INVENTORY provides personalized self-paced online training recommendations based on your experience planning online courses.
Where can I learn more?
Browse our Online Course Essentials for planning your course using Absorb-Do-Connect Framework; Practical Inquiry Model, and QM Standard 5