Course Design | A - Z Teaching Resources

Engaged pedagogy does not seek simply to empower students. Any classroom that employs a holistic model of learning will also be a place where teachers grow, and are empowered by the process."
—bel hooks in Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom

Featured Resources

Teaching with Metacognition

The founding collection for this new Teaching with Metacognition Repository was created June 2017, with a second issue published June 2018. The repository contains concrete examples from a variety of instructors in one of three categories:

Developing metacognition skills in our students
Practicing metacognitive instruction
Applying metacognition practices beyond the classroom

Peer-Reviewed Activities

Self-Directed Guide to Backward Course Design

This is a guide to designing your course using Dee Fink's method of backward design. This method is geared toward building a learner-centered classroom. This link jumps to a 37 page document that is a shortened version of the ideas available in his books.

Self-Directed Guide

Additional Course Design Resources by category

Looking for a copy? Check out the CTL Resource Library. Resources may require Amherst login.

Assignment Design / Scaffolding

Active Learning Resources, an Amherst College Center for Teaching and Learning webpage.
Developing or revising a research-based assignment or course?, a Frost Library Resource Librarians' handout.
Formative Assignment Examples, an Amherst College Center for Teaching and Learning handout.
Questions to Consider When Designing Assignments, an Amherst College document.
Questions to Consider When Designing Research Assignments, an Amherst College document.
Scaffolding Assignments handout
Scaffolding Student Reflection for Experience-Based Learning: A Framework. Coulson, D. & Harven, M. (2013). Teaching in Higher Education, 18(4), 401-413. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2012.752726
Teaching with Metacognition Repository, concrete examples.
Using Active Learning Instructional Strategies to Create Excitement and Enhance Learning, a Jim Eison handout, University of South Florida, (2010).

Backward Design / Writing Learning Outcomes

Backward Design Template with Descriptions, an Amherst College Center for Teaching and Learning resource.
Course Learning Goals, an Amherst College Center for Teaching and Learning resource.
Steps in the Decoding Process, a Decoding the Disciplines resource.
Getting Started with Writing Learning Outcomes. (n.d.). Cornell Univeristy Center for Teaching Innovation. [Measurable action verbs to describe what students should be demonstrating]
A Primer on Writing Effective Learning-Centered Course Goals by Robert Noyd
The Three Most Time-Efficient Teaching Practices. (n.d.) Stanford University: Tomorrow's Professor Postings.
Understanding by Design (summary, Three Stages of Backward Design) by Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins
Understanding by Design - Chapter 1 What Is Backward Design? Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. [2nd Edition] by McTighe, J., & Wiggins, G. (1998).
Writing Learning Outcomes, an Amherst College handout.

Bloom's Taxonomy

Bloom's Revised Taxonomy. (n.d.). Iowa State University Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching. Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://www.celt.iastate.edu/teaching/effective-teaching-practices/revised-blooms-taxonomy/
Bloom's Taxonomy Action Verbs and Sample Question Stems
Bloom's Taxonomy graphic (revised)
Fink / Bloom's Taxonomy, a Teacher & Educational Development resource, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, (2005).
Measurable Verbs to Express Bloom's Taxonomy. (n.d.). Marshall University. Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://www.marshall.edu/assessment/files/2019/02/BloomsTaxonomyVerbs.pdf
A Model of Learning Objectives based on A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. (n.d.). Iowa State University Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching. Https://www.celt.iastate.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/RevisedBloomsHandout-1.pdf
Suggested Instructional Strategies for Use with Each Level on Bloom's Taxonomy.

Course Re-Design / Reflection

Course Design Overview, an Amherst College resource.
A Day of Guided Reflection and Exercises for Re-Designing a Course, a Mary Goldschmidt Instructional Consulting handout.
Follow-Up Reflective Prompts, a Mary Goldschmidt Instructional Consulting handout.
A Self-Directed Guide to Designing Courses for Significant Learning. Fink, L. Dee. (2003). Instructional Development Program, University of Oklahoma.
Teaching a January Intensive Course, an Amherst College Center for Teaching and Learning resource.

Examples of Courses

Example of a Well-Designed Course in: Literature. Designing Significant Learning Experiences. Http://www.designlearning.org/examples-of-design/examples/

Grading / Giving Feedback to Students

Alternative Grading and Assessment, an Amherst College Center for Teaching and Learning webpage.
Assessments, Assignments and Grading, an Amherst College Academic Technology Services webpage.
Assessment of Student Learning Resources, an Amherst College CTL webpage.
Giving Feedback to Students, an Amherst College Center for Teaching and Learning handout.

Group-based Learning

Commonly Asked Questions about Teaching Collaborative Activities, a 2007 PennState resource.
Identifying Group Roles Handout. Benne, K. & Sheats, P. (1948). Functional Roles of Group Members. Journal of Social Issues, 4(2), 41-49.
Types of Group-Based Learning, an Amherst College resource.

Threshold Concepts

Section 1: Introduction to Threshold Concepts: An Introduction to Threshold Concepts. Cousin, G. (2015). Planet, 17(1), 4-5. https://doi.org/10.11120/plan.2006.00170004
Further Resources about decoding and threshold concepts.

Center for Teaching & Learning Course Design

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