The Course Ajar: Principles and Practices for Multi-Section Program Design

Ed NagelhoutDepartment of English

UNLV Faculty Research Institute ● 5 March 2010

When is a class not a class?

When is a course

not a course?

When it’s a program

Program

Planning

Program Design

Program Thinking

Program Design

Program Design

no matter the teacher or platform

All students should

have basically the

same experience

in every

section

Program Design

Form (rules

and

structure)

for freedom to exist.

are necessary

Program Design

All sections of English 407A use WebCampus as the primary delivery of course content.

~75 sections per year (~1500 students):

•10-15 traditional face-to-face sections•25-30 hybrid sections•25-30 online/distance ed sections

English 407A: Business Writing

Program Design

To Meet Programmatic Goals, the Business Writing Program employs:

•Common Syllabus•Common Outcomes•Common Projects•Multiple Assessment Measures

• Standards for Excellence

• Pedagogical Aims• Teacher Agency

One question about program design:

Think about time spent in class:

•Lectures?

•Discussions?

•In-class work?

Think about time spent outside class:

•Reading?

•Assignments?

•Homework?

•Writing?

What features of your current course design lend themselves to programmatic thinking?

Student Workload

never having to say,

“I’m sorry.”

Assessment

means . .

.

Outcomes should focus on . . .

Student Workload

Knowing What and Knowing How

Student Workload

Assignments

must be

flexible

for students AND teachers.

English 407A Outcomes•Write to multiple audiences, for various purposes

•Plan and manage short- and long-term writing projects

•Draft, design, revise, and edit documents•Design and implement appropriate research strategies

•Write collaboratively (co-authoring, peer revising)

•Follow and adjust to business writing conventions

•Design documents for both content and visual appeal

•Use writing to help prepare and deliver oral presentations

•Write ethically and responsibly

Student Workload

Student Workload

•Introductory Project (2)•Major Group Project (3)•Case Project (4)•Employment Project All have multiple deliverables

Common Outcomes

Common Assignments

407A Process•Invent/Plan•Draft•Peer Review•Revise•Teacher Response•Revise •Edit•Evaluation

•Evaluation Criteria •General Criteria•Project-Specific Criteria

•Based on outcomes

Student Workload

Programmatic Assessment

Analyze Findings By•Outcome•Criteria for a Single Project •Criteria across Projects•Platform•Section or Across Sections

Analyze Findings For•Student Learning•Teacher Effectiveness•Teacher Support•Program Effectiveness

One question about assessment:

What do you want to know?

Think about student success:

•Outcomes?

•Skills?

•Consistency?

Think about course success:

•Goals?

•Program?

•Coherence?

Teacher Workload

Teacher expectations must be clearly articulated

professional development

time

time responding to student work time in

office hours

class prep time

time in class

Teacher Workload

Teacher

Support

Teacher Choice

Teacher

Effectiveness

Teacher Responsibility

Teacher Strengths

Teacher Efficiency

Teacher Workload

Teacher Support Structures

•10-Hour-Per-Week Commitment•New Teacher Mentor Program•Staff Meetings

•Norming/Response Workshops•Professional Development Workshops

•Course Materials•Online and In-Class Handouts•Project Notes and Samples•Student Writing Samples•Daily Message Samples and Prompts

Teacher Workload

Case Project Staff Meeting (sample)

General CriteriaFormatAudienceDepth of ThoughtArgumentBusiness StyleGrammar and Correctness

Project-Specific Criteria

Fix the ProblemMaintain RelationsQuality of Internal DocumentQuality of External Document

1) Start with criteria

3) Strategies for discussing criteria in class

2) Define criteria

4) Respond to samples w/ criteria5) Evaluate samples w/criteria

Final Summary •To achieve consistency and coherence, you must think and plan programmatically.

•A commitment to assessment leads to robust outcomes which lead to flexible assignments which lead to applicable assessment measures.

•Effective and efficient teachers develop from a clear set of expectations and diverse support structures.

•Be PATIENT!

Final Questions?

Ed NagelhoutFDH 628895-5073ed.nagelhout@unlv.edu

For more information and to view samples, please visit:

http://www.unlv.edu/faculty/nagelhout/service/courseajar/