Friday, October 24, 2014

Graphical Representation of the Syllabus

Interesting idea--making a graphical representation of your syllabus. I came across this idea by clicking on a link within a Tweet from someone I follow on Twitter. It led me to this site: http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/graphic-display-of-student-learning-objectives/27863?sid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en.

The article is worth the read and isn't very long. It includes examples of what it actually could look like. It provides a clear reference to outcomes and connections of specific assignments to those course outcomes. The author of this article goes on to say that using a graphic display is a way to "keep student learning in focus". There are benefits for the students as well. "Graphical displays are clearer to visual learners, they show how a course is organized, and they function as a map to a course."

Note: Click on the link to the article to view examples of the graphical display.

How can this apply to your online course? Sometimes online students don't seem to "get it". They 
appear to just wander through the course without making the connections, in spite of our best efforts, to the course objectives/outcomes/essential learnings. Providing a visual representation of those connections to specific assignments may be enough to get the learner to focus their learning and they will see that "none of the course assignments are random or arbitrary."

Challenge: If you are thinking about revising your online course, think about adding a graphical image of your course objectives and assignments. It could be just what you and your online students need to move their learning, and yours, forward.

Talk to me. What do you think? Worth trying?

 Peggy Steinbronn, Ed.D.
AEA PD Online Instructional Designer



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