A Template for Creating Course Alignment and Course Compression

Presented by: Deborah George,Instructional Designer Strategist, College of Continuing Education

Speaker Bio:

My passion and joy is designing education and training that people will not only find of value, but also find joy in the learning experience. Currently I am pursuing my passion at Sacramento State College of Continuing Education (CCE) where I am an instructional design strategist. I also have taught instructional design and project management in a Graduate Program offered through the College of Education Graduate and Professional Studies.

Session Info:

An important goal of the California State University (CSU) system is to increase accessibility in educational opportunities and graduation rates through online education. As part of this goal, a collaboration occurred between two departments at Sacramento State (the Center for Teaching and Learning and the College of Continuing Education) to support faculty in developing fully online courses for summer sessions, with a focus on high demand and general education courses. This presentation describes the process of compressing a 15-week regular semester course into a 6-week summer course using a template and a backward design approach. The team created an auto-populated spreadsheet to help faculty address critical alignment components. The worksheet contains the following components: 1) Course learning objectives; 2) Module learning objectives; 3) Assessments; and 4) Learning Materials and Tools. The template served as an evolving document throughout the course of the program as faculty analyzed their courses, one component at a time, following Backward Design Principles. The final deliverable was a comprehensive course alignment worksheet and a course template that reflected essential standards for high quality online course design including accessibility standards. We received positive feedback from faculty about the effectiveness of the template in helping them address course alignment and compress their courses for summer sessions. We will share the template, our process in its implementation, and demonstrate the feasibility of its use for other programs and institutions.

Session Outcomes:

• Recognize principles of backward design.
• Describe essential components of course alignment.
• Discuss advantages to using a template in creating course alignment.

Session Resources:

• ATemplateForCreatingCourseAlignmentGEORGE 6-30-22
• ATemplateExampleGEORGE.6.30.22
• ATemplateBlankGEORGE.6.30.22