Welcome

Learning is by design – by that, we mean that whether one is setting out to design a single course or an entire curriculum, one should begin by identifying what one wants one's students to learn from the experience. The instructional activities and assessment strategies one designs should follow from those objectives. Goals for any given course should be aligned with those of the broader program, so that student can transfer what they learn in cone context to problems or issues they might encounter in another. Curriculum design and development for 21st century learners should be student-centered. And all of this should be conveyed clearly to the students, so that they understand what they are being expected to learn and do and where it fits in the broader scheme of things.

Understanding Our Students

The programs and opportunities listed here are intended to enable participants to gain insights about the students we serve and about how to promote their success.

Instructional Design Models 

• Backward Design model  and Understand by Design (UbD) by Wiggins and McTighe

  • eBook of Understanding by Design by G. Wiggins & J. McTighe at the MLK Library; Chapter One

  • Backward Design template with guiding questions [doc]

  • What is UbD? Grant Wiggins Answers, with Video Case [online video]

  • UbD and Backward Design with Grant Wiggins [online video]

    One Blogger's Reflection on Backward Design

• ADDIE model

• Q&As in course design

Learning Taxonomies

• Bloom's Taxonomy

  • Bloom's Taxonomy Revised

  • Applied Bloom's taxonomy in Computer Science courses [pdf]

  • Bloom's learning domains and development of taxonomy

  • Verbs for writing learning outcomes for the knowledge learning domain [doc]

• Six Facets of Understandings

  • Description of the 6 Facets of Understanding [pdf]

  • Template for mapping 6 Facets of Understanding [doc]

  • Example of applying the 6 Facets of Understanding in teaching accessibility [pdf]

  • Rubric for assessing the 6 Facets for Understanding from Cal State Fullerton

Alignment of Learning Outcomes

• Toolbox for developing program goals to aligning curriculum with learning outcomes with reference to a program in business
• Bloom's learning domains and examples of outcomes
• Verbs for writing learning outcomes for the knowledge learning domain [doc]
• Guideline for developing a course syllabus (Beta) [pdf] Your feedback to this guideline is much welcome by the author before the final version is developed.

Text Books Alternatives

• SJSU Affordable Learning $olutions
• Affordable Learning Solutions initiative from CSU

Assessment

It is critically important to be able to see whether one's students are actually learning what we set out to help them learn. And it is critically important to be able to provide timely and useful feedback to students about where they are succeeding and where they still have work to do.

SJSU Syllabus 

• SJSU Senate Policy on greensheet (syllabus) and guidance on developing an accessible syllabus
• Guideline for developing and customizing your course syllabi (Beta) [pdf] Your feedback to this guideline is much welcome by the author before the final version is developed.

Examples of Syllabi

• Interactive syllabus design for learning activities [doc] | Snap shot of a schedule of interactive activities (Everhart, D., & Waterhouse, S.)
• Mathematics syllabi examples
  
• Integrated Marketing Communication [pdf] (Marilyn Easter, SJSU)