This sub-category relates to helping your students navigate how they interact with course content. At the end, you will find a video of some of the ways I have met these in my own courses.
1.8 It is clear how the course activities will enable learners to reach course goals and objectives.
5 points (Compulsory)
This standard is all about establishing relevance.
Meeting this standard means being very clear about why a student is doing what they are doing. You should be clear about why something is important, why it matters to them, and how it will help them reach course goals.
Meeting this involves providing clear instructions that explain the relevance of course activities and how they will help students meet course goals.
If you find yourself struggling to provide that or explain relevance (or if your explanation is very elaborate), it might be a good indication that the activity, content, or assignment may need to be adjusted. Content that fits well in a course should have easy to explain relevance. Effectively making the connection between an activity and broader course, and life, goals makes it more likely learners will invest their limited time and attention.
Steps to take
Explain why a student should work through content or do an activity/assignment. In other words, why does it matter? Provide a quick statement, but be sure it isn’t vague.
Explain why content/activities/assignments are important with meaningful examples.
Ensure it is clear how content/activities/assignments will help them fulfill objectives.
Provide context whenever you are introducing a course activity so they know why it is included, with clear instructions about what you want them to do.
1.9 Course design includes guidance for learners to work with content in meaningful ways (e.g., clear instructions, content outline, video, course orientation) and how to proceed
5 points (Compulsory)
Once you have ensured relevance by addressing the "why it matters" question from standard 1.8, the next step is to explain in clear detail how students will use it/interact with it, and in what ways. This can be a challenging area because you know the content very well and so how it relates seems intuitive to you.
Your goal is to ensure all those connections you are making in your head are explained to the student within your course. A very helpful exercise is to imagine you are a student and you are working with it for the first time (later you can ask someone you know will give you honest feedback to check).
This will help you lay guidance out step-by-step. For instance, don't just include a document, but explain how you want a student to use that document. Explain how activities or content in your course and items in a module interrelate. This will pay you many dividends, not just in meeting this standard, but also in increased student success and decreased procedural questions showing up in your inbox or taking time in class sessions.
Steps to take
Create a course tour video and place it in your “Start Here” section and ensure students know what early steps to take in your course.
Include module/unit level overviews that include objectives, activities with due dates, and an explanation of what they are doing and why (refer to standard 1.8 for relevance). Use the same naming convention (such as “Module 01 Overview”) throughout your course.
Whenever you assign materials, post files, or include assessments explain to students how you want them to proceed, what you want them to get from them, and what steps they should take.
Provide how-to resources, such as short videos, for difficult concepts or for when a student first encounters a new process (such as how to post to a discussion board).
Consider adding additional resources to a module, such as supplementary content for difficult concepts, answers to frequently asked questions about assignments, etc.
Exemplary in Action (Visual Examples)
This video will show you some visual examples of how I met these standards (4:30 in length).
Click here to continue on to Course Design: Technology Use (ECP 1.10-1.12).