Planning a course

1. Is it valid to plan without knowing the group of learners?

2. How much planning would you do before the first session?

3. How much of the course is determined by people other than the course tutor?

‘If you don’t know where you’re going, any bus will do.’

How would you plan a course?Pair work

1. Draw a line down the middle of a flipchart sheet so you have two columns

2. List in the left column things that you would consider when planning a course, e.g. ‘How will I deliver my course? Testing?’

How would you plan a course?

3. In the right column write down the stages of the training/teaching cycle

4. Draw lines connecting the stages of the training cycle to your planning steps

Identifying individual learners’ needs

• What things might we be looking for?Physical/sensory disabilities; literacy, language or numeracy needs, dyslexia, cultural background, previous education

• How could we identify these?Enrolment form, pre-course interview, rely on the student, initial assessment, on-going monitoring

Aims (what)

• General statements of the teacher’s intentions

• Describe the overall purpose of a course/session

‘To increase the personal safety and cycling skills of course participants’

Aims: suggested language

•To prepare•To improve•To equip•To encourage•To teach

•To explain•To stimulate•To develop•To train •To show

Objectives (how)

• Specific action statements• They express what the learner should

be able to do or say as a result of the learning/teaching event

‘ The students should be able to mount his/her bicycle from the kerbside and check for oncoming traffic without falling off’

Why do we need objectives?

• To provide structure for the learning event

• To help in planning• To inform assessment

Objectives describe not only the desired behaviour but also the conditions under which attainment is to be demonstrated and the criteria for success

When setting objectives follow the SMART criteria

• Specific• Measurable• Achievable• Realistic• Time scaled

Group work

Prepare a set of learning objectives for one of the session aims below:

• To teach the learners to make a Christmas card

• To improve the learners’ knowledge of how to bake potatoes safely

• To train the learners to wrap a parcel

Scheme of work

• A breakdown of what is going to be covered during a course

• Allows for knowledge and skill to be built up at an appropriate pace and in a logical order

• Allows for adequate time for revision and practice

Session plan

• A step-by-step breakdown of what is going to happen during one session

• Allows for a variety of activities, differentiation, assessment and resources

Group work

1. Compare real schemes of work

2. Identify their strengths and weaknesses

Evaluating a scheme of work

• What informed the SoW e.g. accreditation, negotiation, course book?

• Clear objectives?• Reference to individual needs?• Reference to activities and materials?• Reference to how objectives will be

checked?• Is it coherent? Links between its parts?