In my previous blog post, I introduced the notion of certain “nutrients” or vitamins being beneficial to your course’s health. In this post I’ll focus on the powerhouse vitamin G.
Meet G, The Course Vitamin Superhero
Vitamin G gives the course direction. Without vitamin G, you might as well tell your students “Meet me in Asia.” This statement is so broad that it does not help you and the students get together.
A more successful statement might be “Meet me at the American Airlines gate at Augusta regional airport at 10 am on March 13, 2017.” That is specific enough and you can also measure if students get to the correct place at the correct time.
Thus, vitamin G is essential to your course’s health and to the students’ success. It is also essential to your course taking its intended place in the student’s curriculum sequence and even in the accreditation of the program to which the course belongs.
What would a Vitamin G deficiency look like?
If a course is Vitamin G deficient, the main symptom is that the course does not have a clear and measurable direction. Students may learn about useful matters on the topic (e.g., airports, airlines, Asia) but not get what they signed up for – the guided trip to Asia, beginning with packing up a suitcase/passport and meeting the course guide at the American Airlines gate at Augusta regional airport at 10 am on March 13, 2017.
How can a Vitamin G deficiency be treated?
If you suspect that a course you are working on is Vitamin G deficient, schedule a FAC-TEACH 3, Instructional Muddy Point Troubleshoot appointment with me and be sure to fill out the intake form with the prefix and number of the course and a few words about what is happening in the course. If you feel this is a severe case of vitamin G deficiency, add more time to the appointment.
During that appointment, I’ll ask you to please give me a history of your course and tell to me about the symptoms you have noticed. I’ll recommend the treatment that best meets your course’s needs. Each course and situation is unique but the most common treatments for vitamin deficiencies in general are the following three types of appointments that I offer:
- FAC-CURRICULUM 1, Gap Analysis
- FAC-CURRICULUM 2, Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)
- FAC-CURRICULUM 3, Course Development Plan (CDP).
Stay tuned for more blog posts on other essential course vitamins.
Related Topics:
