IV.1 The instructional materials support the stated learning outcomes, and have sufficient breadth, depth, and currency, for the student to learn the subject.

● REQUIRED STANDARD

Expectations

• 1. In general, placing lectures, lecture slides--ideally using cloud-based document management tools, or both in their native format and as PDFs-—in your course, as well as any lecture notes, websites, course outlines, or other materials used in the instruction of the course, will satisfy this review standard.

  2. The instructional materials you select should be easily accessed on line. You should also provide instructional on how to access them, and, if applicable, instructions on how to obtain technical support for said materials.

  3. Be sure to let students know up front if any software or other materials (including texts) need to be purchased for the course. You may also need to alert your bookstore to have the materials available for the distance students.

  4. Materials should be kept up to date. If you link to external websites, you should audit these links prior to the course starting, to ensure that they still working.

Examples

breadth

The course materials are robust and create a rich learning environment for students. You should provide meaningful content in a variety of way including the textbook, PowerPoint presentation, websites, lecture notes, outlines, and multimedia.

depth

The level of detail in supporting materials is appropriate for the level of the course, and provides sufficient depth for students to achieve the learning outcomes. For example, an upper-level capstone course should include significantly deeper materials than those required for an introductory general education course.

currency

The materials represent up-to-date thinking and practice in the discipline. Some examples: an introductory computer course should include recent trends such as podcasting; an English writing course should discuss the purpose of Internet search; a chemistry course should include computerized models to demonstrate chemical structures and reactions.

References:

• • QM FIPSE rubric IV.1