Topic 1: Course vision

Driving Questions: 

• What do you want students to know, do, or be 5 years from now as a result of the course?
  How can we improve the alignment between institutional/course outcomes, assessments, and activities?

• Course vision permeates every aspect of your course. Consider what you want students to retain from your class far into the future. Invite students to change for the better through participation in this course.

Supplemental Questions

• How can we focus more on what students need to learn rather than what we need to cover? 
• How can opening day and course materials inspire and motivate students? 

Relevant and Transferrable Outcomes

• Why should students care about your course? Do your outcomes inspire them?
• How will they use what they learn in their personal lives, profession, and other courses?
• What knowledge or skills are learned in this course that will transcend this specific class?

Aligned Activities, Assessments, and Outcomes

• On which institutional learning outcome(s) should the focus be for this course?
• How could you create outcomes that better align with the real vision of the course and inspire students?
• Do the activities and assignments help students develop the skills they need for this discipline?
• Do the assessments truly measure student achievement of the outcomes?
• What professional standards need to be aligned to the course for accreditation purposes?

Topic 2: Assessments

Driving Question: How can we design assessments to be more effective, authentic, and meaningful?

Supplemental Questions

• What is the Purpose of Assessments

  • Where can we have a common assessment(s)?
  • Do our course assessments align with the course outcomes?
  • Do the assessments demonstrate that our students are achieving our key learning goals?

  What Types of Assessments Can I Use?

  • What alternative forms or formats of assessments can we design? 
  • What formative assessments are designed into the course?
  • How can we use formative assessments to provide more meaningful feedback to students? 
  • How can we use peer assessments effectively?
  • How can we use low-stakes assessments to help students master the course content and skills?
  • When is the appropriate time to use formative assessments?

  Quantity versus Quality of Assessments

  • Will we have enough time to grade the assessments?
  • How can we balance it with the prescribed workload?
  • How will this impact my section versus other sections if I change my assessments?

Topic 3: Structure & Shareability

Driving Questions: 

• How can the course design and navigation better support student learning?
• How can the course design improve sharing with other instructors?

Supplemental Questions

Course Layout

• How can we structure the course to scaffold mastery of course knowledge and skills?
• Is the course organization easy for students to understand?
• How will we make the course easier to navigate? 
• Will the students know when to access each assignment and when it is due?
• Will the students know how and when to access the required materials?

Shareability

• What measures can be taken to set up the course to be sharable with other instructors?
• Does the course layout support faculty autonomy?
• Will other faculty be able to easily navigate my course layout?
• Are we designing the course to be scalable to reach more students?