Building a vision
The Building a Vision section is the first entry point in this Online Course Map Guide. Start here if this is the first time offering your course or if you need to start from the beginning with a curriculum analysis. If you already have your learning outcomes and an established curriculum goal, skip to Mapping Your Course.
Building a vision for your course establishes the purpose and the goals in context of the academic program and field of study. Vision-building creates direction for course development and ensures a clear roadmap for learner-centered course delivery.
curriculum analysis
Creating a vision for your course begins with curriculum analysis, in which you evaluate how your course aligns with the curriculum of a program or a sequence of courses. In curriculum development, courses are typically organized around a common set of outcomes that make up a program of study. Analyze the program in which this course is included. Even if your program does not have formal program learning outcomes, the program chair or faculty leadership often has a vision and understanding of all the overall goals of the curriculum. To determine the purpose of your course within the context of the curriculum or the program, consider the following questions:
Professional goals
What professions and roles does the program of study prepare learners for?
How do those goals relate to learners’ fields of practice and future professions?
What kinds of experiences outside of the classroom might support the professional goals of this course?
Program outcomes
What are the overall goals and outcomes for the program of study your course is a part of?
What external standards, if any, do the program outcomes align with?
When do learners take your course in the program sequence?
Course Learning oUTCOMes
What skills, knowledge, and attitudes does this course equip students with?
What are the prerequisites for this course?
Are there any core proficiency skills or competencies that are addressed in the course?
It is important to consider these questions and to take notes as you evaluate the goals and vision for your course. Utilize these notes when determining the competencies, course learning outcomes, and module learning outcomes in the next few steps.
definitions
For the purposes of this course map guide, read the definition of terminologies used in this course map guide. You will notice that competencies, course outcomes, and module outcomes all address the educational targets for the learner; however, pay attention to the scope, time to achievement, and the purpose for each. At the competency level, the scope is much broader and may take more time to accomplish, while outcomes are more narrow and should be attainable by the end of the course or the end of the module.