sue sheerin coherent course design: translating your educational vision into classroom reality

Coherent Course Design

Translating Your Educational Vision into Classroom Reality

www.eaquals.org

Why is Coherent Course Design Important?• Course design impacts on teaching and

assessment. • To ensure implementation of your educational

approach and course design in a systematic way• To ensure that there is continuity and alignment

between what is stated as global course learning outcomes and what is taught week by week and lesson by lesson in the classroom

• To ensure valid assessment of what is taught and learnt, which flows from stated intended learning outcomes

Sue Sheerin, [email protected] 2

Course Design

• “There is a statement of the institution’s educational philosophy and written descriptions of its learning programmes, including course objectives and content”

• “All language course programmes are specified by levels which refer to the CEFR, and learning objectives are related to the global descriptors of the CEFR”

www.eaquals.org

Eaquals Standards

• “The institution’s educational philosophy and pedagogic approach are sound, coherent and documented and familiar both to staff and in an appropriately comprehensible form to learners”

• “There are written descriptions of • framework of levels referenced to CEFR• practical learning objectives for each level using

‘can do’ statements • language knowledge and skills e.g. in grammar,

vocabulary, communication skills will be covered at each level

• organisation and timing of content to achieve objectives

www.eaquals.org

Detailed Indicators

Coherent course design

All levels of planning – from the LEC’s educational approach to individual lesson plans – need to be interconnected and related in a way that is transparent

Coherent course design is alignedIf global learning outcomes are ‘can do’ statements:•each level of description should develop these ‘can do’s in ever greater detail•intended learning outcomes are stated in ‘can do’ terms at each level of description

www.eaquals.org

Eaquals International Conference, 21 – 23 April 2016

Course design – stage one:Basic approach & beliefs about language educationGlobal learning outcomes in broad terms for each level of each course

Course design – stage two:Detailed learning outcomes derived from the global learning outcomes of stage 1Inventory of what successful learners will be able to do / know / understand ata given level by the end of the course or learning period

Work plans / schemes of work (weekly? monthly?): Detailed learning outcomes: Selection, specification, ordering and timing of together with materials to be used

Lesson plans:Learning outcome(s) for the lesson – what will the learner be able to do?What knowledge / understanding / skill(s) will be needed?What materials, activities will be used to achieve the learning outcomes?

Eaquals International Conference, 21 – 23 April 2016www.eaquals.org

Global Learning Outcomes (GLOs)

GLO 1 GLO 2 GLO 3 GLO 4 GLO 5

Sub-units a, b, c, d, e etc.

Sub-units f, g, h, i, j etc.

Sub-units k l, m, n, o etc.

Sub-units p, q, r, s, t etc.

Sub-units u, v, w, x, y etc.

ExampleGLO 1 Spoken Language A1:Has a very basic repertoire of words and simple phrases related to personal details and particular concrete situations

Sub-unit a) Can engage in very basic transactions to obtain goods and services A1:•Can ask people for things and services and give people things•Can handle numbers, quantities, cost and time

Weekly scheme of work: Can ask for things and services – Domain: Café, MarketLesson plan: LO – will be able to order and pay for food & drink in a café Enabling Phrases: ‘I’d like’, ‘Can I have’, How much is x’Enabling Lexis: Food and drink in café scenario e.g. ‘a cup of tea’

Detaile

d LO

s

Alignment

Ensuring Implementationin the Classroom• From the whole to the part:

• Educational approach Course programme Scheme of Work Weekly plans Lesson Plans

• This hierarchical structure is logical and enables consistency

• Input or checking from academic manager in the process?

• Monitoring and support systems as appropriate to the context e.g. teacher experience

• Facilitate use of ‘good’ textbooks and other appropriate resources

9Sue Sheerin, [email protected]

Successful Course Planning …• Focuses on goals, i.e. intended

learning outcomes• Distinguishes between ‘ends’ and the

‘means’ to the ‘end’• Makes it clear that grammatical

structures and lexical topics are means to an end – not the end in themselves

• Makes it clear that activities are processes, not objectives

www.eaquals.org

How are ‘can do’ statements linked with grammar & lexis?

• CEFR global descriptors and lists of structures, lexical areas etc. need to be linked in a hierarchical way

• What linguistic features will need to be learnt to achieve the ‘can do’ statements? (Inventory)’

• Avoid unconnected lists of ‘can do’s’, structures etc. as such lists suggest ‘past perfect’ is a valid learning outcome

www.eaquals.org

What is a ‘learning outcome’?• A statement of what a successful

learner is expected to KNOW and / or UNDERSTAND and / or BE ABLE TO DO by the end of a defined period of learning

• Describes and quantifies the targets for the end of the teaching and learning process, and not the process itself

• May apply to a single teaching session or a course programme


Why is it important tostate ‘intended learning outcomes’?

• Clarity - more precise than ‘aims’ or ‘objectives’

• Focused on what is the successful learner going to achieve?

• Helps to prioritize the ‘ends’ to be achieved rather than the means to that end


Well-formulated intended learning outcomes …• Are measurable and stated in

terms that can be assessed• Contain within them the evidence

for whether the learners have achieved the intended learning outcomes

Sue Sheerin, [email protected]

• Learning outcomes - even for language learning - may well include knowledge and understanding, but then you must think of what the evidence would be, so verbs like ‘know’ and ‘understand’ will not do.

• How will ‘knowledge’ and ‘understanding’ be demonstrated?

“The learners will be able to describe routines e.g. a daily journey to school or work (demonstrating knowledge and understanding of the form and use of the present simple)”

www.eaquals.org

Well-formulatedLearning Outcomes can:

• Help learners develop a more sophisticated understanding of their own learning

• Help learners focus on clear goals• Assist in the choice of effective teaching

and learning strategies• Assist in assessment design• Assist in giving learners clear and helpful

feedback on their performance

www.eaquals.org

Coursebooks• Coursebooks are tools, not masters• Selection – look for ‘best fit’

coursebooks• Analysis – Prioritize ‘can do’ objectives

in each unit• Adaptation, Omission, Supplementation

• What is unnecessary / not appropriate?• What is missing?

www.eaquals.org

Other Resources & Materials

• How will teachers get access to other teaching and learning materials needed to deliver the curriculum• Material banks and / or indexes• Sharing resources and ideas• What do you want to say about use of

IT?

www.eaquals.org

Include Transferable Skills in Course Design?

• Think also about transferable skills not directly related to language learning e.g. learning to learn, becoming an independent learner, communication strategies, cultural competence etc.

www.eaquals.org

Task1. Select a non-linguistic skill to include in

your course design2. Formulate the skill or part of it as a global

learning outcome at one of 5 levels (1 = low, 5 = expert)

3. Formulate one sub-unit of this GLO as e.g. part of a scheme of work

4. Formulate part of this sub-unit as the intended learning outcome of a lesson plan

www.eaquals.org

Example:• “At the end of the course / term etc. the

successful learner will be able to• interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly

and clearly and is prepared to help;• understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very

basic phrases aimed at the satisfaction of needs of a concrete type (asking for something in a shop, ordering a meal, etc);

• ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, what he/she does, people he/she knows and things he/she has.

• write simple texts mainly consisting of isolated sentences.• More detailed for sub-unit, for example:

• “By the end of the first week the successful learner will be able to:ask and answer questions about themselves and other people, where they live, people they know and things they have”


Rolling Enrolment• What can you do in two weeks?• Think about non-linguistic learning

outcomes• Break the year up into smaller periods

e.g. 3 months?• Weekly plans in the longer period do

not have to happen a strict order?• Self-access ‘catch up’ packs?

www.eaquals.org

Maintain Flexibility• Design your curriculum to facilitate

flexibility so that teachers can:• Vary learning outcomes according to the

group of learners they have in front of them• Depart from plans if there is a good reason to

do so• Checklists, pick-lists or inventories

are more useful in this regard than very detailed specifications


Where to Start?Course Design Support• Common European Framework of

Reference (CEFR)• EAQUALS website resources:

• EAQUALS - British Council Core Inventory for General English

• EAQUALS Descriptor Bank:• Checklists, levels & scales

• EAQUALS CEFR Induction Overviews:• Curriculum, assessment, grids, salient features

• EAQUALS CEFR Self-help Guides:• Curriculum & Syllabus Self-help Guide with Case-

Studies


Key Stages of theCourse Design Process• “A. The school’s educational philosophy: what does this school

believe about learning a language? • B. Objectives: What should students be able to do, (CEFR Can Do

statements) and what do they need to know at any given level in order to do it? How does this relate to exams used in the school?

• C. Methods, techniques: how is this learning to be achieved? What methods and techniques should teachers use in their classrooms?

• D. Syllabus; schemes of work; progress: what language and micros-skills will be learnt? How long is a level likely to take? How are specific periods of teaching (week, month, term) planned? How are lessons planned? How are learners informed about planning?

• E. Assessment: pre/during/post: How are learners placed in classes? How and at what intervals is progress assessed? What assessment is there at the end of the course? What form of certification is given?”

Taken from EAQUALS CEFR Guidance Sheet 225

Sue Sheerin, [email protected]