6 hrs. average time, 5 readings, 1 activity
A fragmented course can limit students ability to learn, which is why mapping out any course is valuable to ensure proper alignment to learning outcomes, materials, activities, and assessments. Why do fragmented courses hinder learning? How does one align a course? What strategies should be used to ensure students reach the desired learning outcomes? We'll focus on providing answers to these questions and more! In this module, you'll review course mapping as a strategy to align all aspects of your online course.
Course mapping is the process of aligning all key course components together. A course's module-level or weekly learning objectives must be specific and measurable, and align with the course learning objectives. The other course components such as learning materials, learning activities, and assignments must support students' achievement of the stated learning objectives.
Course mapping directly connects to alignment in that when we map out our courses, we need to ensure that other course components such as learning activities, learning materials, and assessments all work together to support student's achievement of the stated learning objectives. While Honolulu Community College's divisions develop unique course learning objectives, you, as the instructor, do have control over your module learning objectives and weekly learning objectives. When writing out module learning objectives, it's essential to describe outcomes that are measurable and consistent with the course-level objectives.
Also, when writing your weekly learning objectives, please keep in mind the following in mind: 1) Your weekly learning objectives should be more specific than your course-level learning objectives, and 2) Though there is no limit on the number of learning objectives per week, please consider keeping your list for each week short. The purpose of presenting weekly learning objectives is to help your students focus their learning efforts. If the list is long, it is doubtful that your students might feel overwhelmed. If you do have a long list of learning objectives for each week, please consider grouping them together.
Like a traditional, face-to-face course, many online instructors chose to use textbooks and other items such as articles and videos. While many of the learning materials within an online course are the same as face-to-face courses, perhaps the most significant difference between online course content and in-class course content is that course content in an online class should be developed and posted well in advance. Some instructors teaching in-class courses develop and prepare for their upcoming courses a week-in-advanced. However, in the online environment, instructors must gather or build and chunk or sequence learning materials and post those materials, ideally, before the start of the course. Online students need all their learning materials, activities, and assessments posted, so they are able to complete their work. Course mapping is a particularly valuable practice for online instructors because it allows them to begin to piece together the materials needed for their online course components.
EFFECTIVE COURSE DESIGN AND ALIGNMENT [video]
WRITING MODULE/WEEKLY OBJECTIVES FOR YOUR COURSE [Google doc]
WRITING LEARNING OBJECTIVES USING BLOOM'S TAXONOMY [video]
ALIGNING LEARNING ACTIVITIES AND ASSIGNMENTS [Google doc]
CHUNKING MODULE/LESSON CONTENT [web article]
