Designing Courses for Higher Education

by Toohey, Susan

• ISBN13: 9780335200504
• ISBN10: 0335200508
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-07-01
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Summary

Susan Toohey focuses not on teaching techniques but on the strategic decisions which must be made before a course begins. She provides realistic advice for university and college teachers on how to design more effective courses without underestimating the complexity of the task facing course developers. In particular, she examines fully the challenges involved in leading course design teams, getting agreement among teaching staff and managing organizational politics. She also explores the key role played by academics' own values and beliefs (often unexamined) in shaping course design and student experience. In doing so, she offers course designers both an understanding and a framework within which to clarify their own teaching purposes.

Designing Courses for Higher Education is an accessible, jargon free text, providing practical assistance and enlivened by many examples of innovative practice and interviews with academics involved in course design. It is a key resource for college and university teachers.

Author Biography

Susan Toohey is a senior lecturer in the Professional Development Centre at the University of New South Wales.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	vi
Introduction	1	(3)
Pressures for Change	4	(17)
The Course Design Process	21	(23)
Beliefs, Values and Ideologies in Course Design	44	(26)
Thinking about Goals and Content	70	(21)
The Structure of the Course	91	(22)
Making Learning Opportunities More Flexible	113	(17)
Deciding on Goals and Objectives for Units of Study	130	(22)
Choosing Teaching Strategies	152	(15)
Assessment	167	(20)
Implementing the New Course	187	(18)
References	205	(7)
Index	212	(5)
The Society for Research into Higher Education	217