QUICK CLICKS:

Higher Ed Home

Table of Contents
June 1999

Advocate Online

They're talking on campus...

On the Road

Action Line

In the Know

From Capital to Campus

NEA Affiliates in Action

Thriving in Academe

Higher Education News

Money Savvy

The Dialogue

Speaking Out

A Class Organization Checklist

Some questions to ask yourself about course organization

Do your course objectives, evaluation methods, and instructional activities form a seamless web for learning?
Too often we have lofty course goals that bear little or no relation to the way we evaluate student learning or the way we conduct day-to-day classes. These three components should be consistent to help students understand the organization of the course.

Does your course hang together in a way that would be obvious to a beginner?
Research in psychology has shown that experts and novices see the same problem in very different ways. What is obvious to the expert is hidden from the novice.

Be sure you communicate the relationship among the course components to the students early in the semester. One useful way to do this is by creating a flowchart or concept map that gives a visual representation of the relationship among the components of the content. The process of preparing such a chart is also a good way to think through the structure yourself. You can even have students create their own charts as a good study strategy.

Research has shown that students whose concept maps more closely resemble the instructor's have a better understanding of the content and perform better on measures of achievement.

Have you designed efficient routines for handling the minutiae of the course?
The more you can routinize the business of communicating back and forth with students, the more time there will be for learning. Many instructors are turning to the Internet as an efficient way of keeping students informed and updated. Put a class Web site up for each class in which communicating with the whole class quickly is difficult.

Do you project an image of having things under control, or do you cherish being thought of as an absent-minded professor?
As beloved as that image might be, it evokes, at best, tolerance on the part of students and, in the worst case, a sense of frustration and anger. Students are uncertain enough about their own performance without having to take care of the instructor as well.

This does not mean being so controlled that you become inflexible. It simply means that you are aware of what is going on with your students and you care about their progress.

Above all, relax!
Organization doesn't have to be rigid to be effective. The idea is to create a backdrop of calm against which learning can take place.

References and Resources

The following provided information for this article and should serve as resources for organizing teaching and learning.

Feldman,K. "Identifying Exemplary Teaching: Using Data for Course and Teacher Evaluations." In Honoring Exemplary Teaching, edited by M. D. Svinicki, and R. J. Menges. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, no. 65 (spring). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1996.

Halpern,D.and Associates. Changing College Classrooms. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1994.

Menges,R.J.and M. D. Svinicki. College Teaching: From Theory to Practice, New Directions for Teaching and Learning, no. 45 (spring). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1991.

Additional Resources

Brookfield, S. The Skillful Teacher. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, Inc., 1990.

Davis, B. G. Tools for Teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1993.

Duffy, D. and J. Jones. Teaching within the Rhythms of the Semester. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995.

Lowman, J. Mastering the Techniques of Teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1984.

Lowther, M., J. Stark, and G. Martens. Preparing Course Syllabi for Improved Communication. Ann Arbor, Mich.: National Center for Research to Improve Postsecondary Teaching and Learning, 1989.

McKeachie, W. Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research and Theory for College and University Teachers. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998.

Ryan, M. P. and G. G. Martens. Planning a College Course: A Guidebook for the Graduate Teaching Assistant. Ann Arbor, Mich.: National Center for Research to Improve Postsecondary Teaching and Learning, 1989.

Post your comments on our "Thriving in Academe" discussion board.

Back to Thriving in Academe