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.

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.

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

GROUP PROJECTS

In the first semester, your practical work will take the form of group projects. As you get to know each other better, you will form 5–7 teams, each of which will carry out project assignments.
The teams must consist of 5–8 students.

The assignment will consist of the following steps:
1 Group formation (due date: September 26, 2024)
2 Ideas & hypotheses (due date: October 3, 2024)
3 Needs & context analysis (due date: October 24, 2024)
4 Learning outcomes (due date: October 31, 2024)
5 Syllabus & assessment system (due date: December 5, 2024)

Course information & syllabus
At the end of the semester, you will give a presentation of your group projects at the final conference.

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.

Course description provides basic information of the course:

• Course name
• Target audience & their characteristics
• Time and duration
• Purpose, objectives, and outcomes
• Principles of teaching, learning, and design you rely on
• List of topics & their sequencing
• Format of delivery
• Welcome statement & motivational description

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

2021 Example
2023 Example

While studying different principles of materials development, you will deal with group and individual assignments. They will be announced on the course LMS.

OPTIONAL GROUP PROJECT (10 points): Authentic Resources and Technology Integration (Final project, group) — June 2024, 10 points
• Objective: to explore and utilize authentic resources and technology to develop materials and corresponding lesson plans

Project Components:

I. Resource Selection:
• Choose one type of authentic resource (e.g., podcasts, videos, music) for language teaching.

II. Principles of Selection and Adaptation:
• Investigate and articulate the main principles guiding the selection and adaptation of the chosen resource.
• Provide a rationale for how these principles enhance language learning.

III. Contextualization:
• Define the context for which the instructional materials were developed.
• Consider learner characteristics, learning outcomes, and the format of instruction.

IV. Instructional Material Development:
• Collaboratively create a set of instructional materials based on the chosen resource.
• Explore and incorporate relevant technologies that aid in adapting and implementing the chosen resources.

V. Presentation:
• Present your materials in class.
• Include the following aspects in the presentation:
1 Characteristics of the chosen resource (e.g., podcasts).
2 Principles of its selection and adaptation.
3 Showcase instructional materials and explain how they reflect:
– Outlined principles of selection and adaptation.
– Teaching systems and skills.
– Technology integration: discuss how existing tools might enhance the language learning experience.

Submission Requirements:
• Group submission of instructional materials.
• Group presentation slides (to be shared in advance).

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

In the second semester, your practical work will revolve around group projects (in 4-6 project teams), which will consist of these identical steps:

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.

Group Project: Assessment rubric & requirements

2022 Example
2024 Example

Your score = points gained for:

• active participation in seminars (presenting homework, answering questions, group work, etc.)
• dealing with group projects
• final assessment

The grading scheme ranges from 0 to 100 points
— Compulsory part = 65 points max
• Participation in seminars
• Projects & assignments
— Final assessment = 20 points max
• Final (group) project = 10 points max
• Exam = 10–20 points max (1–2 questions to answer)
— Additional part = 15 points max
• Group project on authentic resources = 10 points max
• Attendance (more than 60 %) = 5 points max

4-point scale and the grading scheme:
less than 50 points = Fail
50—64 points = Satisfactory
65—84 points = Good
85—100 points = Excellent

The assessment rubric for the course will be available here.