CDE

COURSE DESIGN

The overall aim of the course

why you should study it

The overall aim of the course is to teach you how to design and evaluate language courses, how to select and develop materials for them.

Outcome 1: Design and evaluate language courses

what you will be able to do in terms of syllabus design

Here's what you will be able to do after successfully completing Semester 1:

analyse learners' needs;
evaluate the context of learning;
set the goal(s) of courses and write intended learning outcomes;
apply research-based principles of course design;
sequence the material of your course;
prepare the course outline;
develop assessment tools;
choose appropriate format of your course;
design a motivational syllabus;
evaluate language courses.

Outcome 2: Select and develop materials for language courses

what you will be able to do in terms of materials development

Here's what you will be able to do after successfully completing semester 2:

create materials for teaching different skills (reading, writing, etc.) and systems (e.g., vocabulary);
adapt existing materials for your course;
transform authentic resources (e.g., movies, podcasts) into teaching materials;
design customised tasks based on available resources.

Semester 1: Projects

what will help you demonstrate your skills

The tasks are aimed at sharing your vision for teaching and providing basic information of a course you want to design.

1 Teaching philosophy

Share your vision for teaching
Write a one to three paragraph description of your teaching philosophy. Be sure that your writing answers the following questions:

What course(s) do you teach OR what course(s) do you want to teach (if you're not teaching now)?
Which approaches are the most relatable to you and the course you (want to) teach? Why?
What are specific principles of course design that you will stick to? Why are they relatable to your course?
Who will you be teaching? Elementary, middle or high school students / university students / business executives / etc?
How will your course best meet the needs of your students and motivate them to learn?

Due date: October 28, 2021
Upload your Google Doc files to Google Drive. Your last name must appear in the document's filename.

This task is to help you visualize your target audience, their needs, and the value of your course. The principles will form the theoretical basis of your course and define its most important domains (content and sequencing; format and assessment).

2 Course description

Provide basic information of the course

Course name (due date: October 20, 2022)
Target audience (due date: October 20, 2022)
Time and duration (due date: October 20, 2022)
Purpose, objectives, and outcomes (due date: October 20, 2022)
List of topics (due date: November 30, 2022)
Welcome statement (due date: December 10, 2022)

3 Final project: Course information & syllabus

Semester 1 Project: Assessment Rubric & Requirements

Format of the project:

Course description for the instructor: Google Doc
Course description for potential students: PDF / PPTX / Google Slides / etc.

Upload your projects to Google Drive (the link will appear in December)

2021 Example

Final project: Semester 2

what will help you demonstrate your skills at the end of the course

The main assignment is to present your course syllabus, its description (goals, principles, etc.), and materials developed for two units of the course.

Part 1. Learning outcomes & course syllabus
The overall goal / mission of the course...

is focused and attention-grabbing,
gives an idea of its possible content.

All learning outcomes...

support the course's mission / goal,
seem to be measurable: the achievement of each outcome can be checked,
are detailed and specific: each learning outcome specifies appropriate conditions for performance,
presented in a logical / structured way,
use an effective, action verb that targets the desired level of performance.

Present the syllabus grid and explain how...

it is connected with the course goal,
it is connected with the chosen ELT method,
the suggested topics / units may be of interest to the target audience.

Part 2. Course materials for a sample unit
Choose 1 unit from your course syllabus & write out its learning outcomes; align them with the course learning outcomes.
Develop materials for the chosen unit (with the previously stated outcomes).

Part 3. Alignment of the project
Present a table that clearly aligns the unit outcomes with the course outcomes and the developed activities with the unit outcomes:
Course outcomes —> Unit Outcomes —> Learning activities

Part 4. Learning events
Demonstrate the connection between your materials & the learning events. The unit materials include all the learning events.

Part 5. Instruction for teachers
The instruction includes:

answer keys for all exercises;
specific notes and comments about particular activities;
possible extension of particular activities / presented materials (links to additional resources, wordlists, manuals, etc)

Course Final Project: Assessment rubric & requirements

2021 Example

Assessment system

how the teacher will evaluate your work

Your score = points gained for:

active participation in seminars (presenting homework, answering questions, group work, etc.)
participation in group projects
dealing with your individual projects

The grading scheme ranges from 0 to 100 points

The credit = more than 50 points
The final assignment (a must) — 20 points max
Participation in seminars — 50 points max
Minor assignments (in the middle / at the end) — 20 points max
Attendance — 10 points max

Your scores are available in this file.

COURSE CONTENT

1. Instructional design: courses, syllabi, curricula

The main features of the course and its subject

2. Types of language syllabi

How language syllabi are connected with current methods of language teaching

3. Backward course design

Choosing an appropriate model of instructional design

4. Course design: Stages

An overview of the most important stages of language course design

5. Learning outcomes

How to formulate SMART learning goals and objectives

6. Environment & needs analysis

What you need to know before planning

7. Principles

Identifying the theoretical foundations of your courses

8. Sequencing

How to plan a logical syllabus aligned with the learning outcomes

9. Format & presentation

What to do to implement your syllabus

10. Assessment

How to assess your students & prepare assessment tools

11. Motivational design

How to make your syllabus a motivational and supportive tool

12. Evaluation

Why it is vital to evaluate your courses before, during, and after their implementation

COURSE SYLLABUS
Semester 1

1. INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN

The main features of the course and its subject

Theory & presentation

Pre-Course Questionnaire

Homework 1

Think about a dream language course you would like to design.
Consider the following aspects:

Goals / Type of language: General / Business / Exam preparation / etc;
Target audience: age, level, background
Format of teaching: online, offline, or blended / group or individual;
Context: where and when will you implement the course?

Why do you want to teach it?
What skills, knowledge, resources might you need to develop the course?

Homework 2

Read the review of major language syllabus types (pp. 17–42):

Grammatical
Notional-functional
Lexical
Task-based
Content-based

1 What are their advantages and disadvantages?
2 Which of them have you encountered in your practice (as a learner or teacher)?
3 Which of them would be the most useful for courses you are teaching or planning to launch?
4 Do you know any other language syllabus types?

2. Language syllabi types

How language syllabi are connected with current methods of language teaching. Different kinds of syllabuses are used in ELT. Some of them have been influential for the development of theory about course design, but now are included in multi-strand syllabuses.

Theory & presentation

Homework 1

Read the article and answer the questions:
1 What do the input, process, and output mean in terms of curriculum design?
2 According to the author, what are three possible models of curriculum design?
3 What are their main characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages?
4 What syllabus types can they match?
5 Which model(s) is (are) the most common in your culture? How can you explain it?
6 Which model might be the most effective nowadays? Why?

Homework 2

Read the case study and answer the questions:
1 In this account of course development, what stages of course design can you identify? Which model (forward, central, or backward) did the author use?
2 Who determined what the students' needs were? How were those needs defined?
3 The author describes two approaches to course design. In each approach, how were the students involved in determining needs?
4 What methods were used to design the course? What were the basic elements of the course: structures, functions, competencies, or something else?
5 Was the course successful? Why?

Classroom activity: Match syllabuses 1–5 with appropriate syllabus types

3. Backward design

Choosing an appropriate model of instructional design

Matching task

Theory & presentation

Homework 1

Read the introduction to Case Studies in Language Curriculum Design by P. Nation & J. Macalister (pp. 1–7) and answer the questions:
1 What stages does the authors' model of course design include?
2 What are the main aims of each stage?
3 How does the model reflect the principles of backward instructional design?

Homework 2

Read the case study and answer the questions
1 What is (are) the overall goal(s) of the author's course? Why did she decide to design the course?
2 One of the author's main challenges was how to formulate and organize the specific objectives of her course. Why was it so challenging?
3 What helped the author solve the problem with the course objectives? What did she need to do to find the solution?
4 What are possible advantages and disadvantages of her "matrix of objectives" (pp. 71–73)?
5 Imagine that you are explaining the goal(s) of the course you are designing to someone who knows little or nothing about teaching. How would you explain it (them)?

4. Course design stages

An overview of the most important stages of language course design

Theory & presentation

5. Learning outcomes

How to formulate SMART learning goals and objectives

Theory & presentation

SMART Outcomes: Practice

TASK: Goals & Outcomes

Homework 1 Group work

Use the learner's characteristics to formulate the overall goal and specific learning outcomes of the appropriate course
Learner: a temporary visitor to a foreign country
Purposive domain: tourist in a foreign city
Communicative needs: recreational, urban, unhurried
Interaction: consumer, customer, guest
Instrumentality: Spoken dialogue, face to face, low on complexity, range of forms, speed.
Use a link to a Google.Doc file to present the formulated outcomes.

Homework 2

Read the case study again and do the following:
1 List all the methods the author used to understand the learners' needs.
2 Define which type of needs analysis the author prefers:
- contrived (based on his assumptions about the target audience);
- derived (based on data received from the learners).
3 List the identified learners' characteristics that had an impact on the course content and format.
4 List all aspects of the course that were introduced or modified due to the characteristics outlined in 3.

6. Analysis

What you need to know before planning

Needs Analysis: Full worksheet

Needs Analysis: Groupwork

Theory & presentation

Groupwork:

Decide which instruments and techniques of contrived & derived needs analysis you could use to collect information about your peers.

7. Principles

Identifying the theoretical foundations of your course

Theory & presentation

Homework

1. Read the chapter about the essential principles of language course design.

— Which of them seem the most useful? Why?
—Which principles will you choose to base your own courses on?
—Which of them do you rely on in your teaching practice?

2. Complete the survey based on the text about principles (after reading it).

Groupwork

Match the twenty principles of course design (see above) with the nine rules of 'ultralearning' devised by Scott Young. Some rules can be coupled with more than one principle.

8. Sequencing

How to plan a logical syllabus aligned with the learning outcomes

Theory & presentation

Language Syllabuses: Examples

Syllabuses 1—4 for HW assignments

Homework 1

Study syllabuses 1—2 and answer the questions:
1 How might the overall goal of each course be formulated?
2 On what basis did the teachers organize their courses: What was the organizing principle or focus for each unit? On what basis are units sequenced?
3 What do you like about the way each teacher organized the course? Why? What don't you like? Why not? 4 Why are they so different?

Homework 2

Study syllabuses 3—4 and answer the questions:
1 How might the overall goal of each course be formulated?
2 On what basis did each teacher organize the course:
What was the organizing principle or focus for each unit?
Within a unit, what are the language learning components? (e.g., vocabulary, grammar, four skills, communicative skills, cultural skills, etc.)
Within a unit, how are the language learning components organized?
3 What do you like about the way the teacher organized her course? Why? What don't you like? Why not?

Seminar

Decide the order in which you would teach the items on the list in a way that makes sense:
A defining: writing about sleep problems
B comparing and contrasting: writing about a car purchase
C writing a memo: personal writing habits
D persuasive writing: writing about subcultures within societies
E classifying: writing about migrating to your community
F collecting and reporting data: consumer habits
G description and narrative: writing about personal success

Homework 3

Decide the order in which you would teach the structures on the list in a way that makes sense:
A be going to
B present continuous tense
C subject pronouns
D yes/no questions
E special questions (with when, where, etc.)
F present tense of be
G subject questions
H there is/are
I present simple tense
J past tense of be
K count / non-count nouns
L modal verbs (can/'t, must/n't, should/n't)
M prepositions of place

9. Format & presentation

What to do to implement your syllabus

Theory & presentation

Homework (see the next section)

10. Assessment

How to assess your students and prepare assessment tools

Seminars & Homework

11. Motivational design

How to make your syllabus a motivational and supportive tool

Group-generated syllabuses (see line 15)

Final project: Rubric

Motivational syllabus: Checklist

Focused on the student, not content
Language is not complex
Has a clear structure / organization
The design is engaging
Visuals are used appropriately
Clear design, not cluttered

Theory & presentation

Homework:

HW1 Use the checklist above to analyse the case-study syllabus in the presentation (slides 30–34). Summarize its main advantages and disadvantages.

HW2 Use the checklist to evaluate each of the syllabuses below:
1 Visual Literacy
https://ltlatnd.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/cmst137-2012.pdf
2 Northern Literature
https://northernlit.community.uaf.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/105/2011/05/350-Fall-13-Syllabus1.pdf
3 Senior Marketing
https://visual.ly/community/Infographics/education/champlain-college-syllabus
5 History II
http://www.tonahangen.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/112-Spr19.pdf
How can they be improved in terms of design and presentation?

12. Evaluation

Why it is vital to evaluate your courses before, during, and after their implementation

Seminar discussion:

Who evaluates the course?
What can be evaluated?
Why evaluate the course?
How can you evaluate it? (What are some ways to evaluate it?)
When can you evaluate it?
What is done with the results of evaluation

Theory & presentation

Homework