Assignments for the 2006 Online Workshop Designing Effective and Innovative Courses in the Geosciences

Assignment #1: due by 2 pm EDT on Monday, July 31

• As indicated in the online workshop introduction, we will be using the new Cutting Edge Online Course Design Tutorial for this workshop. Please start by reading the Tutorial Introduction and the Tutorial Overview
• Go to Part 1.1: Articulating Course Context and Constraints, download the worksheet, and complete tasks 1.1a, 1.1b, and 1.1c in the tutorial. Record your answers on the worksheet, and save the worksheet. You will not post this assignment, but you will need it for the remainder of this assignment.
• Go to Part 1.2: Setting Overarching Goals, download the worksheet, and complete tasks 1.2a, 1.2b, and 1.2c in the tutorial.
• You will make two posts to the discussion forum.
• Post #1:Create a new thread with the subject "Your Name: Goals 1". In this thread, enter the following:
• Your course title
• Your name
• Your institution
• Number of students in the course
• Course level (e.g., intro, required course for majors, upper level course)
• Prerequisites, if any
• Whether your course serves as a prerequisite for other courses and, if so, which ones.
• Any other context or constraint information that you would like us to know about so that we can provide better feedback to you on your overarching goals.
• the first draft of the overarching goals from Task 1.2c. Please paste these into your post. Do not send them as an attachment
• Post #2: Choose a topic or question related to course design, teaching strategies, challenges, or course context/constraints that you would like to see discussed on the forum. Browse the topics already posted, and be sure to post a topic that does not have an existing thread. Be sure that your topic line is short but makes it clear what the topic of the thread is.

Comments or suggestions

If something is not working for you, or if you have a suggestion for how to make the on-line workshop function better, please send an e-mail to Barb Tewksbury.