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Getting started with course design

Developing and refining your course design skills not only helps you prepare for teaching responsibilities, but also helps clarify your approach to fostering student learning and enhance your potential for impact as an instructor.
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What is course design?Ìý

So much more than selecting and organizing content, course design is a process of thoughtful engagement with a range of pedagogical questions, such as: Ìý

  • What should students be expected to know, value, and do? Ìý

  • How will the instructor and students know if the learning outcomes of the course are achieved?ÌýÌý

  • What strategies will support engagement in learning?Ìý
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Current Â鶹Çø instructors:ÌýView our course design offerings for instructors. Ìý

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Workshop series for students:

Getting started with course design

Part 1: Alignment

Part 2: Learning outcomes

Part 3: The course outline

Upcoming workshops

There are currently no events available.

Workshop descriptions

Part 1: AlignmentÌý

Want to learn how to design a course that promotes learning, but not sure where to get started? This workshop will introduce the basics of learning-centered course design and address the importance of alignment in the context of course design.ÌýÌý

Learning outcomes:ÌýÌý

  • Identify learning-centered elements of a courseÌý

  • Explain the concept of alignment in the context of course designÌý

Part 2: Learning outcomesÌý

Want to learn how to design a course that promotes learning, but not sure where to get started? This workshop will workshop will address the role of effective learning outcomes as a starting point for designing courses that promote learning.Ìý

Learning outcomes:Ìý

  • Describe the characteristics of a well-written learning outcomeÌý

  • Draft learning outcomesÌý

Part 3: The course outlineÌý

Want to learn how to design a course that promotes learning, but not sure where to get started? This workshop will unpack what goes into the course outline, reinforce its value as a learning tool for students, and help guide you in drafting a course description.ÌýÌý

Learning outcomes:Ìý

  • Identify the components of a course outlineÌý

  • Draft a course descriptionÌý

Course design resources

Information and resources at Â鶹Çø

Information and resources from other teaching centers

  • | University of Western Ontario, Centre for Teaching and LearningÌý
  • | University of Waterloo, Centre for Teaching ExcellenceÌý
  • | Carnegie Mellon University, Eberly CenterÌý
  • | Harvard University, The Derek Bok Center for Teaching and LearningÌý
  • | Concordia University, Centre for Teaching and LearningÌý
  • | University of Toronto, Centre for Teaching Support & InnovationÌý
  • | Stanford University, Teaching CommonsÌý

Articles, books, and PDFs

  • Dechief, D. and Brulé, V. (2021). Setting the tone: how you write your syllabus can make a big difference. Office of Science Education, Â鶹Çø.ÌýÌý
  • Ferris, J. (2023). . Teaching for Learning, Â鶹Çø.ÌýÌý
  • Parent, J. (2019). . Teaching for Learning, Â鶹Çø.Ìý
  • Wiggins, G. P., & McTighe, J. (2005). . Pearson Education, Inc.ÌýÌý

Asynchronous learning modules tools

  • | This open-access module from the University of Calgary’s Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning provides an overview of adaptable course design to support providing continuity in times of potential disruption and transitions between learning environments.Ìý
  • | This tool can provide some insight into estimates about the time it might take students to complete academic tasks in your course.Ìý
  • | This open-access module from the University of Calgary’s Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning provides a guide to creating meaningful assessments and intentional course design.Ìý

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Questions? Contact learntoteach [at] mcgill.ca.

Â鶹Çø is on land which has served and continues to serve as a site of meeting and exchange amongst Indigenous peoples, including the Haudenosaunee and Anishinabeg nations. Teaching and Learning Services acknowledges and thanks the diverse Indigenous peoples whose footsteps mark this territory on which peoples of the world now gather. This land acknowledgement is shared as a starting point to provide context for further learning and action.

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