Part 1: Essentials of Course Design
Introduction
Successful course design boils down to effective student learning.
We learn through a process referred to as cognition. Teachers can’t make cognition happen. However, their curriculum design and teaching methodology can promote cognition by creating a learning environment that engages students. The following module will introduce you to the basics of cognitive theory and how that informs good course design for blended and fully online courses. You will also learn how to design your course so as to help students better interact with your course D2L site.
Learning Objectives
By the end of Part 1 you should be able to:
- Identify the basic functions of the cognitive process.
- Explain how the cognitive process can be used to promote student learning and engagement.
- Detail the importance of a well-organized online classroom.
- Write learning objectives.
- Organize your curriculum around learning objectives.
- Apply this organization to your online classroom.
- Apply this information to subsequent course design.
