1. What do you want your students to be able to do or produce by the end of the course?

2. Formulate these ideas into learning objectives. The Quality Matters Standards describe effective learning objectives.

3. Then go backwards. By following Backwards Design you can build your course based on what you want your students to learn.

Create a map or blueprint to align your course activities, materials, and assessments with your learning objectives.

1. Activities. Engage students throughout the class session to improve learning. Search for activities by Bloom’s levels or class time on Pathways to Pedagogy.

2. Materials. Print, recorded lectures, presentations, visualizations, open educational resources, discussions, or lectures.

3. Assessment. Include diagnostic, formative, and summative assessments to measure student learning. For example: a misconception check could be your course diagnostic; a concept map activity would show a student’s current learning or formative assessment; and a final podcast project would be a summative assessment.

4. Mode. Consider the mode of delivery: will your students be in a classroom with you? will you be teaching a DLC course with students in the room and some joining through Zoom? If it will be a mixed mode course, watch this video tutorial on active learning strategies for teaching to the room and to Zoom.

Create a student center syllabus and include York’s Supplementary Syllabus Information to meet Penn State’s required statements.

Ensure that your course is accessible to all students by following accessibility and usability best practices. 

Review, or ask a peer to review, your course following the Quality Matters Standards.