Composite photo of various school items arranged on a desk.

Shifting Your Course to 14 or 7 Weeks

2025年,学历将改为每学期14周. 这是为了让秋季、春季和夏季学期更加一致. It will also allow the addition of a mid-semester break in the Fall, matching the structure of the Spring semester, giving the ability to split each semester into two 7 week terms. If you currently teach in a 15 week format, 你会想把你的课程改为14周,这样学生的学习才能最大化. Courses in an 8 week format will also shift to a 7 week format. 

ITDS提供课程设计咨询以协助这种转变! 

Schedule a 1-on-1 Consultation with an Instructional Designer

要开始进行这种转变,请查看以下推荐的策略:

Prioritize Coursework Based on Learning Outcomes

The learning outcomes should be the same for a course, irrespective of the delivery format or the number of weeks. 当从15周转换到14周或从8周转换到7周时,你必须重新审视你的学习成果,以确保你专注于帮助学生实现目标的活动和内容, and have the opportunity to reframe the assessments in the course.

As you consider what needs to change in your course, prioritize the course content, 与你的学习成果密切相关的活动和评估. It may be helpful to map (remap), utilizing backwards design to re-envision the activities or assessments in the course.

Rank the topics in your course on this scale:

1. Must Know
Prerequisite knowledge attained prior to the course.
满足课程目标和整个课程学习目标所需的基础知识.
2. Need to Know
Less critical at the moment but must know later.
在不使学习者处于直接危险的情况下,减少对非必要知识和技能的强调.
3. Nice to Know
是否可以在不损害基线知识的情况下将其放在较低的优先级.
这通常是增加主题或技能的内容、广度或兴趣的信息.

Modify Assignments to Align with the New Timeline

Make necessary adjustments to assignments, 在保持学习目标的同时,合并作业或减少作业的长度. 及时提供作业反馈,确保学生在正确的轨道上. 整合真实的评估,将学生的学习与现实世界的场景联系起来. 每周发布公告,包括学生的待办事项清单, 和/或总结一周的工作是在整个课程中保持学生参与度的方法.

Review Your Course’s Workload

当你从课程中抽出一周的时间时,你可能会发现回顾学生的工作量是很有价值的. 这可能会说明您可以在课程的某个区域进行修剪或在另一个区域进行减少以平衡工作量. The Wake Forest University’s Course Workload Estimator is a useful  tool to use to ensure that the workload is consistent, even after you have adjusted the coursework to 14 or 7 weeks.

Maximize Instruction Through Effective Teaching Strategies

采用能让你最大限度地利用教学时间的教学方法. 以下是一些策略,可以帮助你弥补一周的损失.

  • Flipping the Classroom翻转课堂是一种教学策略,它利用混合学习模式来实现它的名字所暗示的:“翻转”传统的课堂模式. 翻转课堂的主要好处之一是利用课堂时间与教师直接互动, peer students, and the material rather than passively listening to a lecture. 学生们积极参与的活动,将很难在孤立,或在家. Traditionally, 实时同步课程在独立时用于信息传递/讲座, asynchronous time was used for activities and homework. A flipped classroom is structured as the opposite, 让学生第一次接触课堂外的课程, often by reading or online video lectures. Once in class, 教师通过课堂活动引导学生更深入地理解课程材料,课堂活动通常通过积极的学习(讨论)来强化课程概念, group work, jigsaw exercises, think-pair-share, and more.
  • Active Learning主动学习是一种以学生为中心的学习方法,在这种方法中,学生通过相互交流或对课程材料作出反应,以一种超越传统讲座的方式参与课程作业. 如果有效使用,这种方法可以节省你的课堂时间,提高学生的学习效果. 研究和当代学习理论批判了传统讲座对学生表现的影响,并提倡主动学习方法(Freeman等)., 2014).  主动学习策略和技巧可以帮助提高学生对课程的参与度, assist students in gaining a deeper understanding of the material, and strengthen their problem-solving skills (Grunert, 1997).
  • Teamwork, Collaboration and Student Presentations: Teamwork, 合作和报告也有助于在指定的课堂会议时间之外扩展学习. Students may work in teams outside of class time, while developing their problem solving, communication, and critical thinking skills. 这也让他们有机会与同龄人一起工作并向他们学习. 学生的报告也可以部分或全部在线进行,在课堂以外的时间. 视频录像可以在Canvas上发布到网上,这样上课时间就可以用来讨论演示或提供反馈.

Leverage Assessment Tools in Canvas to Make Grading More Efficient

Canvas有一些工具可以帮助你和你的助教给学生的作业打分. 更有效地评分绝对是有益的,尤其是在改变课程形式的时候. 考虑以下建议来节省时间,同时支持学生学习.

  • Rubrics: 评分标准帮助学生理解作业对他们的要求,同时简化评分过程. They can save you time when grading student work. 可以在Canvas中创建一个标题,并链接到自动点计算的分配.  Learn how to create rubrics in Canvas.
  • Canvas Comment Library: Another way to save time when grading is to use the Canvas Comment Library. 注释库允许教师在SpeedGrader中保存和重用常用的文本反馈. 作为讲师,您可以在评论库中添加新的评论和删除现有的评论. 您添加到评论库中的评论可以从您注册为讲师的每个课程中访问. 想了解更多关于如何在评分时节省时间的提示和技巧,请注册一个 Canvas workshop or review grading tips in our Canvas Faculty Orientation course.

Additional Resources