Some guiding questions on curriculum design...

The following set of questions comes from a course outline for a CTL course titled Teaching and Learning in Post-Secondary Education. The questions below are useful guiding questions for this course. As you continue your assigned readings, keep these in mind:

1. What decisions do teachers need to make prior to teaching?
2. How do teachers organize ideas, knoweldge, and skills into meaningful course structures for teaching purposes?
3. What organizing elements do teachers consider when developing courses?

• scope
• sequence
• continuity
• balance
• big ideas
• key questions
• assignments
• assessment procedures

4. How are course elements balanced to achieve curriculum consonance?
5. What instructional tools and resources are available to teachers?
6. What organizing elements do teachers consider in their planning for everyday classes?

1. group interaction
2. guided discovery
3. inquiry
4. concept attainment
5. critical thinking
6. problem based
7. active experience based
8. direct instruction
9. lecture-discussion
10. questioning
11. demonstration
12. other

What organizing elements do teachers consider in their planning for everyday classes

1. descriptive course data
2. guiding questions/themes/objective
3. learning strategies and procedures
4. special considerations
5. notes
6. reminders
7. materials and equipment
8. assessment tools
9. reflective notes for improved practice

In addition, a qualifier to the above, should be that our focus at the advanced graduate level should be on depth more than breadth; on the deep dive rather than a superficial overview.
This is where the greatest challenge lies.