Designing a CBE course

Obstacles

At the Institutional Level:

1. Current LMS may pose challenges (Bb doesn't allow for easy tracking of students' progress)

2. Financial aid for students who take small number of credits each semester (sometimes in increments of 0.25 credit)

3. Advising and tracking students

At the Instructional level:

1. Supporting students who are all at different points in the curriculum

2. Keeping track of everyone’s assessments and progress

3. Providing distance learning instruction, assessments and assignments without compromising the accountability and integrity of the course

4. Flow and coherency of the content and design through modules

Solutions

1. “Regular and substantive interaction” between an instructor and a student via emails, discussion posts, and video/audio conferences.

2. High organization of the course layout which clearly points to forums, discussions, resources for each competency.

3. Course/project design that scaffolds material for each competency, allows many intermittent formative assessments (smaller projects, quizzes, etc.) as well as authentic, accountable, reliable and flexible (in terms of time and personalized learning) summative assessments for each competency.

4. Use backwards design: assessments first, learning materials second.

5. Stay on top of new technology and tools. Involve Instructional Designer. Adhere to QM standards.

Creating Curriculum with Backwards Design -Assessments – Diagram from: Wiggins and McTighe

Backwards design:

1. ID skills and tasks you think students must be able to do to demonstrate proficiency. Think what is it that you want students to remember and be able to apply a semester after they leave a course? What are the big ideas that transcend the course? What should students know, understand, and be able to do? What is worthy of understanding? What is the bare minimum content students need to succeed?

2. Organize outcomes and career essentials into modules that address identified skills/competencies (outcomes can be re-organized into modules not necessarily following a traditional order). Think what pieces of learning or bundles of learning go together. Can all learning outcomes be linked together?

3. Think how can you assess each competency and career essential (do not limit yourself with multiple-choice tests - think creatively).

4. Assign credits for each module and let that guide the depth of activities and assessments.

5. Create authentic evidence-based assessments for each module. Determine acceptable evidence . How will you know if students have achieved the desired results and how do you ensure accountability? (see "six facets of understanding" and "designing effective assessments" below)

6. Create learning experiences and resources for each module: readings, videos, tutorials, simulations, hands-on activities, labs, informal checks in class and online, observations and discussions, formal quizzes and tests, face-time sessions, on-the-job assignments, reflections and self-assessments, peer-evaluations, academic prompts, and open-ended assignments... Decide what content will be initially available and what content will be remediation. What activities will equip students with the desired knowledge and skills?

7. What online and in-person support/training/tools do you and students need to effectively implement CBE? Do not limit yourself to what's available to you and students now. Dream big and we will see if MATC can support it.

Designing Effective Assessments:

What are the minimum criteria for passing? What do students have to do to demonstrate the competency? Have you communicated them to students? Would another assessor be able to judge using these criteria?
Are your directions clear? Do not confuse instructions/directions with criteria: direction are more specific and are not related to content, such as: "write a two-page essay (700-900 words), either single-spaced in Times New Roman 12 or 1.15-spaced in Calibri 11", etc.)
Is your assessment multidimensional (integrates both, learning outcomes and career essentials)? Can students display it in different contexts/ scenarios? Does it allow students to experience a variety of assessment modes?
Can students use it on the job or in real life after they are done with the course? Does it simulate real-life experience for students outside the classroom?
Is it linked to the bigger program outcomes?
Does it allow for demonstration of higher order ability for students who can exceed minimum expectations?
Is it observable? Reliable?

Faculty Perspectives:

Creating CBE content:

How will your teaching help students learn, practice and prepare for assessments?
Consider Bloom's taxonomy: to what extend/depth do you need students to learn a skill/concept?
Divide modules into: Read it, Watch it, Do it
Consider by-pass assessments in the beginning to allow students who can exhibit competency to move to the next module

Choose Instructional Design model

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