Materials & Media
Lectures and course materials are accessible, multi-faceted, varied, and aligned with course learning outcomes.
Recommendation 5.3: Structuring Course Materials
Plan and structure all your course materials (course content) by making sure it aligns with the learning outcomes, other content, activities, and assessments.
Background Information
What is this?
Structuring course materials is a key part of efficient and effective course design. Using Backward Design strategies to clearly identify learning outcomes and align all course materials with those outcomes is an effective way to start. All course materials should align with the learning outcomes, be meaningful, and be structured to support student learning. If you record lectures, plan out what you are going to say in advance, and how you will reflect key ideas from what you say in the visuals and documents you share. Follow the plan and pace yourself to promote effective listening.
Why is this important?
Planning what you are going to teach can help to keep things efficient and relatable, making it easier for students to follow. Students learn more effectively when they can see the connection between new ideas and other things they are learning; when a real-world context or application is provided; and when they engage actively with the material. Following a clear structure can also help you to plan out the visual supports that help students keep up with new concepts and vocabulary.
How to implement?
In CITL, we use several planning and course design tools in MS Word to plan the entire course before we build it in the LMS. Doing this allows us to edit, review, and revise efficiently. Many instructors write their plan on paper, in Word, or in the notes section of a slideshow. This may also be shared in whole or in part through Canvas.
Synopsis from Self-Review
Plan what you want to talk about in advance, use it to build up your supportive visuals, and follow your plan. This will help you to keep your presentation clear, succinct, and well-paced. It helps learners to connect what you are saying to the rest of their learning and understand its relevance in the “real world.”
How to Put into Practice
Make Context & Connections Clear
Make the content relatable for students by providing real-world context or showing how to observe or apply the ideas in the real world. When possible, connect it to your own or their own experiences.Best practices for recording lectures or presentations
When recording yourself, control the pacing by speaking slower than normal and remember to pause. Use signposting language (e.g., “First…” or “Next…” or “Now we turn to…”) consistently and intentionally to make important ideas and the overall flow of ideas stand out. Many students will struggle with listening to a long video and may watch your videos several times, so when possible, break your content into logical chunks and present several short videos (e.g., 6-9 minutes) rather than one long video. Keeping your videos short also helps if you run into technical difficulties because you don’t have to re-record as much content.Encourage Active Listening
Try to include some reflection or prediction questions where you ask students to pause to jot down their ideas. Create space in the flow of interactions for a given unit or week by asking students to take in information for 10 minutes and then ask them to take an action (like note-taking, finding resources, reflecting) for 2 minutes before moving to the next information-intake part of the class meeting or online content. This “10 and 2” approach helps students retain information better.Provide Visual Support
Course visuals and videos do not need high production values to be valuable. Effective slides or other visuals provide an important support to students, inspiring thought, providing connections and context, and helping them to acquire information accurately, which can be difficult when only stated aloud. Think about how many slides you need. Some effective practices include:
- Provide a brief outline of the lecture as an aid to taking notes.
- Define important concepts, key vocabulary, or names.
- Relate words to images.
- Encourage prediction, critical and analytical thinking, and/or application.
- Connect ideas to related content.
- Share your slides before or after class.
Additional Resources
- Learn about how to use Kaltura in Canvas to record and upload videos.
- Get tips on recording online videos.