Mastering Course Design: Achieving Alignment for Student Success (Full Transcript)

Speaker 1: This video focuses on the core of the course design process, which is alignment. As course designers and instructors, we want to get into the habit of intentionally practicing alignment throughout all components of our courses. This video will clarify what that means. The concept of alignment itself is relatively simple, but accomplishing it in a course can be difficult. The overall goal of alignment is to provide a roadmap for students to follow on their way to achieving the course learning goals. But what does that mean? It means that there is a clear connection between the course outcomes, learning objectives, course materials, and activities and assessments. The connection is that the assessments are the learner's opportunity to demonstrate the achievement of the learning goals at the course level, which were listed in the course outcomes, and at the module level, which are outlined in the module objectives. The course materials provide the skills and knowledge necessary to achieve these goals. When students successfully achieve these goals, your course is aligned. How is this accomplished through course design? The best way is to start with learning goals. First, write course outcomes. These outcomes should outline what you expect students to be able to demonstrate at the end of a course. These are high-level goals. Next, write learning objectives. Those are organized into units, which we can refer to as modules. Each module also has a set of goals for the student, which are the module-level learning objectives or just learning objectives. These should work together with other module learning objectives to help students accomplish the course outcomes. Next, think about how students will obtain the knowledge and skills necessary to accomplish the learning goals. This is when you choose the course materials. Finally, design activities and assessments that allow students to demonstrate what they have learned or the skills they have acquired. These activities and assessments should follow the knowledge level of the associated course outcomes and learning objectives. Starting with the learning goals in mind makes it possible to build a course that maximizes student success in achieving these goals. Student can be communicated in the course design through clearly listing outcomes and objectives so that students know up front what they should know and what skills they should gain by the end of each module and by the end of the course. It is also helpful to refer to course outcomes and learning objectives in each module and when possible in activity and assessment instructional language so that students see how these activities contribute to the overall learning plan. Using these signposts, let them know that you have built your course with their success in mind.