Teach Anywhere

Prepare Your Course Outline

Getting Started with Your Course

This page contains the essential items you need to know and reference to prepare your course outline.

A course outline may be considered as the “first impression” that your students receive about you and the course they are taking. Be sure to follow the NIC Course Outline Policy (3-35) for all the components and required sections. The template for a course outline can be found on Teach Anywhere page called Course Outlines. Check with your department to ensure that added information specific to your area is not missing.

As a first impression, think about making the course outline as inclusive and welcoming as possible. This may include thinking about writing in first person and not third and being as diverse as possible to meet the needs of all learners. The University of Calgary’s Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning provides more information on this topic and CTLI can help as well if you want to discuss further. Resource: Creating Inclusive Course Outlines

1.
AUTHORIZED COURSE DESCRIPTION (ACD)
  • All credit courses at NIC have Authorized Course Descriptions called ACDs.
  • The ACD is a document defining the educational components of a course, which have been approved by Education Council. The educational components in an ACD include course code, title, format, credit value, level, prerequisites/co-requisites, course description, content, learning outcomes, evaluation methods, and minimum instructor qualifications.
  • All sections of the course must adhere to the components as listed in the ACD for that course.
  • ACDs align NIC’s courses with transfer requirements or curriculum mandated by external bodies.
  • Resource: Find your ACD on NIC’s internal listing of all Authorized Course Descriptions – SharePoint page (NIC log in required if off-campus)
  • Resource: Your job is to translate the content contained in your ACDs into the NIC Course Outline Template – a course outline contains a bit more information and details about the course in addition to ACD material.
2.
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT (Evaluation)
  • Be clear and upfront with students about how they will be graded on their demonstrations of learning. The course outline must contain essential details on the assignments, tests, projects and other forms of evaluation.
  • Evaluation involves a formal review of students’ work to determine how well they’ve met learning outcomes.
  • Evaluation usually means assigning a grade or value to the learning object based on the quality of the work.
  • Resource: Reference Teach Anywhere Page – 20 Fair, Clear and Simple Ideas for Assessing Learning
  • Resource: Consider “how much is enough” in terms of evaluating learners (more is not necessarily better): Evaluating Learners: How Much is Enough?
  • Resource: Instructors should ensure their evaluations align with course outcomes and principles of quality evaluation: Teach Anywhere Webpage: Principles of Assessment and Examples
3.
COURSE OUTLINE RELATED POLICy
  • Make sure your course outline follows key policies at NIC related to aligning course outlines with ACDs, following the grade scale, and properly scheduling your assessments.
  • Resource: Policy 3-33 Evaluation of Student Performance
    • Principle #3: Evaluation of student performance will be aligned with course learning outcomes and is inclusive of diverse learning needs.
      • Procedure #1: The student’s final grade for a course must be comprised of a minimum of three evaluative components with no single evaluation worth more than 40%.
      • Procedure #2: Evaluations should be varied to ensure students can meet the courses’ learning outcomes.
    • Principle #6: NIC supports student success by not permitting evaluations worth more than 10% of their final grade to be assigned in the last week of classes.
      • Procedure #6: Evaluations totaling more than 10% of the final grade may be due in the last week of instruction as long as they were assigned prior to the final week of classes. Normally, assignments will not be due later than the last day of classes.
    • Principle #4: Students must receive adequate feedback (normally a minimum of 20% of the total grade) in advance of the academic withdrawal date for their program.
4.
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
  • Assessment (or formative assessment) involves providing students with opportunities to understand how they’re doing in their learning.
  • Formative assessment is different from evaluation in that it’s informal and intended to support student development.
  • Faculty should aim to offer many formative assessment activities in their courses to give students multiple opportunities to receive feedback on their learning.
  • Resource: Teach Anywhere Page – Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs)
  • Resource: Review Teach Anywhere Page: Principles of Assessment and Examples
5.
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
  • Learning activities encompass all the things students will do in a course to acquire the skills and meet the course learning outcomes.
  • This includes the preparation work, in-class or online tasks, assessments and evaluations.
  • Learning activities should be intentional and geared toward helping students to meet learning outcomes.
  • Consider adding a chart outlining each learning outcome and the aligned assessment and learning activities to show students connections and meaning for their work.
6.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
  • A learning outcome is a statement that identifies the knowledge, skills, and attributes students will learn in a particular lesson, course, or program.
  • Learning outcomes focus on what the student will be able to demonstrate.
  • Faculty should start planning their courses with the ACD approved learning outcomes in mind and build other parts of the course from there.
  • Resource: Teach Anywhere Page: Learning Outcomes (new learning outcomes can be created after a course has run and approved through governance processes)
7.
POLICIES
8.
Learning Strategies
  • Help students learn how to learn by pointing out key learning strategies that will help with the discipline/subject area
  • Point students to six evidence-based strategies that will help them with learning how to be an effective learner.
  • Resource: Learn Anywhere Resource Page (including 6 key): Learning Strategies
  • Resource: Learn Anywhere Resource Page: Tips for Digital Learning