Chapter Three - Planning for Teaching: The Course Outline
Planning for Teaching Resources
Adjunct Faculty Handbook
Home page, Table of Contents
Student Learning Outcomes
Collegewide outcome goals and targeted achievements
The Course Outline
Develop a well-designed course outline
The Lesson Plan
Five sections of a lesson plan
Classroom Management
General guidelines and information for teaching activities
Assessment & Grades
Testing Center, Letters & Scale, Reporting, Submitting, and Changing Grades information
Planning is more than getting ready for next week's class. Planning for teaching is giving direction and reason to the course and the teaching of the course. We may have been faced with a class in the past where we were left with two weeks to go in the term and there were still four or five weeks of material to cover. With the rising expectations of students, faculty members who do not adequately plan will have a difficult time being effective and respected. Seminole State students typically have multiple roles and non-academic commitments that must be honored in order for successful teaching and learning to take place. A well-designed course outline helps both the teacher and the student plan effectively.
Students must be given a course outline at the first-class meeting.
The Course Outline
- Usually a formal document with topics and subtopics. The purpose is to make sure that all major topics are recognized and addressed during the course.
Chronological and Content Outlines
There are two types of outlines commonly used in teaching:
- The chronological outline - lends itself to time and historic development. Even mathematics, which is sequential, may lend itself to this type of outline.
- The content outline - is used with topics to be covered in a specific content order. This allows some flexibility. Often, we use the outline of the textbook.
The simplest way to give the students a course outline might be a schedule of events (calendar) with topics and assignments, test dates, etc., included.
Lesson Plan Development
Once they have developed a course outline, successful instructors plan their activities thoroughly by using Lesson Plans. These will help provide consistent, organized, and effective lessons that will meet the objectives that have been established. Once a lesson plan is developed, it is a simple task to revise and update the next term. Your teaching can be focused on the activity in the classroom rather than the organization of the lesson.