Course Development Guidelines
Contents
1. NOTE The Visual Text Box Editor sometimes causes problems for MAC users in the discussion board If a student using a MAC is unable to post to a discussion board have them set their Visual Text Box Editor to unavailable This will usually solve the problem User Manual this is a link out to Blackboard s student user manual This manual includes descriptions of all Blackboard tools some of the tools shown in the manual may not be included in your course template Copyright Charter Oak State College Course Development Guidelines Other Tools The following list identifies several tools that are not included in the template by default As the instructor you may turn on any of these features as you see fit Address Book Calendar Digital Dropbox Glossary Student Homepage Roster Tasks NOA It is highly recommended that you discuss your need for these features with the COSC DLO before enabling them This is a direct link to COSC institutional policies NOTE This section cannot be modified and must not be deleted by the instructor This is a direct link to COSC library and support resources NOTE This section cannot be modified and must not be deleted by the instructor This section is optional but recommended General information hyperlinks should appear here hyperlinks that appear in Course Documents should not also appear in the Webliography COSC recommends that you include a brief description2. or modules The purpose of not specifying dates is to allow the syllabus to be used in subsequent terms sessions with minimal modification Please keep in mind that the syllabus should cover all the requirements but in a general manner Do not personalize the syllabus with information related only to you That is COSC would like the flexibility to make this course available to another instructor in the event that you decide not to teach the course COSC would like to avoid revising the syllabus for each instructor term session semester etc COSC would like the syllabus to express to perspective students only what they need to know about the course requirements assignments and other details will be elaborated upon in the Course Policies section of the course shell 7 2 2008 Copyright Charter Oak State College 2 Course Development Guidelines Required Syllabus Information 1 Course Description this should be the Charte description that appears in the approved course proposal or course catalog 2 Course Prerequisites identify any prerequisite courses or experience necessary to be successful in this course If this is a first time course development or a re development please copy the course prerequisites from the approved course proposal Whenever possible the prerequisite should be a COSC course number If a COSC course does not exist a course title or permission of the instructor can be used If t
3. A A As 7 DISCUSSIONS EE 7 Other Contacta AA cee te 7 Gado r a a eset ese ae et ede ee eco ad erate Ahead 7 A eisai taihnd alee Moe iis tae eee tee dasiy eta nol sd ae reais 7 Gourse DOCU MENS iii diana aia dd a E dada tia 8 7 2 2008 Copyright O Charter Oak State College 1 Course Development Guidelines Table of Contents Continued Section Page AS sacesacecduduaddesecssesucicouadectuats sintcyodcestevedonedeusci seaseisectedea 8 COMMUNICATIONS s skssr annaa iaaea eenaa SEENEN ee 8 W ll lee e EE 8 B a ATE E EEE EAEI EE EEE EA EA dali ddr 8 Vu ER ee EE 8 DISCUSSION BOS EE 8 E E E E EE EE A 9 Oe EE 9 SONG ME EE 9 AN A 9 My Grades umi canaria da llar 9 Personal Ino Maio iii aia a laa sted 9 User El LEE 9 OME TOONS A A II wnat 10 COSG el EI eege EE 10 COSC ROSOUNCES dese ee 10 Webliograp TE 10 Pda EE 10 Supplemental Information sseessEEESRSEERSREEERKEEEEREEEEEREEEEREEEEEREEEREREEEREEEEEREEEEEREEEREEEEEREEEEERREEER KEREN KEEEEREEEEEn 11 Images in Your Course yerna aa a cancer 11 Adding Buttons Links to Your Menu 11 Adding Additional Weeks to Your Course 11 Controlling Release of Material nn nn ncnrnnr nan nonnnnrcnnrrrrnrnnn 12 Setting Date and Time Restrictions oooonnnccinnicinncconnccnnnccononccnnnrnnn narran cnn 12 Setting AvallabllilV caia A 13 Appendix A Course Development Matrix ooccncccnnncnnnncnnnccnccccncnnorn nono c cnc cnn rca 14 Appendix B Sample Syllabus A 16 Appendix C Guidelines fo
4. and SLOs 1 2 3 4 5 and 6 e Topic e Read assigned chapters e Chapter e Participate in the Discussions 5 2 7 e Review the Lecture material e Topic e Take the Practice Quiz not e Chapter 7 2 2008 Copyright Charter Oak State College 18 Course Development Guidelines graded e Read assigned chapters 2 coc e e Participate in the Discussions 7 i SES e Review the Lecture material KE e Take the Practice Quiz not e Chapter grades e Read assigned chapters 2 E E e Participate in the Discussions 7 36 SES e Review the Lecture material 8 Topic e Take the Practice Quiz not e Chapter grades Final Exam 8 Chapters etc SLOs 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 and 8 Provide any additional information that you believe is necessary for this syllabus Note that Instructor Information will only appear in the course shell under Faculty Information This master course syllabus will allow for additional instructors to teach the course yet use the same syllabus COSC will maintain a copy of this master syllabus on file Also note that COSC Policies and Library Resources will no longer be contained within the course syllabus but will be linked globally in each course shell Course developers and instructors will no longer be responsible for updating and including this information in their syllabi or course shells Please delete the text within these bracket
5. be accessed through the external email client A Course Tools The tool 1 7 2 2008 such as Yahoo Gmail Hotmail etc Group Virtual Classroom Chat amp Whiteboard EE Manage Groups amp COSC Best Practices lt Establish a standard for student instructor communication by choosing either the Messages tool or the Send Email feature and announcing your choice to your students This will eliminate confusion and ensure that students know where they can expect to find your messages The internal Messages tool is more reliable than using the Send Email feature When you send a message through the Messages tool a copy of your message is stored in your Sent folder for you to reference whenever you need Send Email messages are not logged or tracked in any way Also the Messages tool provides a centralized area for you and your students to find course related messages that is free of spam and personal emails s section of your course will contain minimally the following items My Grades a tool through which students can check their own scores on assignments These scores are pulled directly from the instructor gradebook Personal Information this feature allows students to update their account settings Some of the frequently updated items are student first 8 last name as it appears in Blackboard change password and set Visual Text Box Editor Options
6. have students vote for the day and time that works best for them and select a day based on student feedback E In your discussion board rubric you should build in a requirement that students respond to at least 2 of their classmates Some students do only what is required of them so if you do not require them to respond to each other the discussion may not take off F Establish a standard for student instructor communication by choosing either the Messages tool or the Send Email feature and announcing your choice to your students This will eliminate confusion and ensure that students know where they can expect to find your messages The internal Messages tool is more reliable than using the Send Email feature When you send a message through the Messages tool a copy of your message is stored in your Sent folder for you to reference whenever you need Send Email messages are not logged or tracked in any way Also the Messages tool provides a centralized area for you and your students to find course related messages that is free of spam and personal emails G When you add a link in Blackboard you should select the option to Open in New Window This allows students to click on links and explore but does not lose their place within the course Students need only close the new window to get right back into the course where they left off H To make your course more accessible to student
7. or video files provide a text transcript for those who can not hear or see or for those without speakers in their computer Adding Buttons Links to Your Menu In some cases you may find it appropriate to add more links to the left side navigation menu Please add sections as needed however make sure that you do not over do it Your navigation panel should never be so long that students need to scroll to see additional links To ensure that the navigational menu is consistent with COSC s clean professional look do not add any more than two 2 additional links to the menu Remember there are many places to put links other than in the navigation menu You may find that your links would actually be better placed inside of the Webliography section or in the Weekly content folders Contact the COSC DLO for assistance amp COSC Best Practices lt Navigational Menu bars should never scroll Plan your menu to fit on a single 600 x 800 screen If students at that screen resolution do not realize that they need to scroll to see more links they may never click on them Adding Additional Weeks to Your Course In some special cases you or COSC may decide that you need to add more weeks to your current course structure When these circumstances arise you will need to ensure that your additional week s match the format of the original content To make this process as simple as possible the best way to add your new mat
8. using information d Ethical Decision Making Students will be able to use critical thinking skills to make ethical decisions Knowledge Areas Code Title Outcome u U S History Government Students will have an understanding of the ideas and processes that shaped the history of the United States n Non U S History or Culture Students will have an understanding of major developments in the history and culture of other countries g Global Understanding Students will have an understanding of the impact since 1945 of nations regions and cultures upon other nations regions and cultures and the impact of these interactions on individuals a Literature and Fine Arts Students will demonstrate an understanding of the arts and literature and gain an appreciation of its impact on our heritage and culture b Social Behavioral Sciences Students will gain an understanding of self and the world of social and cultural institutions and the interdependent nature of the individual family and society in shaping human behavior q Mathematics Students will have an understanding of mathematics beyond the entry level requirements for college Ss Natural Science Students will understand the basic scientific process and theories and be able to apply scientific inquiry 7 2 2008 Copyright O Charter Oak State College 29
9. with each hyperlink COSC Best Practices S When you add a link in Blackboard you should select the option to Open in New Window This allows students to click on links and explore but does not lose their place within the course Students need only close the new window to get right back into the course where they left off X Plagiarism This section is a direct link out to the definition of plagiarism on the Turnitin website Instructors may also use this link to log into their Turnitin accounts If you do not have a Turnitin account please contact the COSC DLO To log into Turnitin click on the Turnitin logo a E see image on right turn 1t in NOTE This section cannot be modified and must not be deleted by the instructor 7 2 2008 Copyright Charter Oak State College 10 Course Development Guidelines A Supplemental Information Images in Your Course You may feel free to insert images throughout your course materials provided that you or COSC must have rights to include the images or the images must be public domain and readily accessible to everyone You should make sure that you include Alt Text brief descriptions of the image for every image and you must reference all images used in the course COSC Best Practices 6 To make your course more accessible to students with disabilities always use Alt Text to describe your images If you include audio
10. It is highly recommended that instructors use the Assignments tool instead of the Digital Drop Box The Assignments tool automatically creates columns in the grade book through which instructors can access student submissions The Assignments tool organizes student submissions and ensures that no student files are lost Instructors may also provide feedback for students and or attach a document to be returned to the student with the original files NOTE The Digital Drop Box has been disabled by default but can be enabled if so desired Again COSC strongly encourages the use of the Assignments tool Instructor Notes the purpose of this section is to provide other instructors who may be teaching this course with insider information about the course and ways to improve student interactions and retention This section is not visible to students and can only be accessed through the instructor view of the course If this is the first time you will be providing Instructor Notes it is advisable to create and update this section while your teach the course using this format After you teach the course for the first time your course shell will become the master course shell for all future iterations of the course This section also serves as a reminder to you regarding announcements assignments etc a Announcements include sample announcements Examples of week 1 announcements are included b
11. Name Provide your Title First Name and Last Name If you have a terminal degree you should indicated Dr otherwise you should indicate Professor Email Provide at least one email address for student contact This email address must be either the email address provided to you by COSC i e jdoe faculty charteroak edu or your personal email address You may not use the email address of your home institution or an email address with an edu suffix Work Phone or other telephone numbers You are not required to provide a telephone number to students however there may be unforeseen emergencies when the student may with to talk to you If you do not wish to provide a telephone you must post an announcement indicating that students should email you with their telephone number and a good time to contact them Office Location Address or State Time Zone At minimum provide the time zone in which you are physically located Office Hours Provide the best time for students to contact you by telephone if you provide a telephone number If you do not provide a telephone number please indicate By appointment See Work Phone above Notes At a minimum include the following statement I will respond to your emails in 24 to 48 hours or less Include any other pertinent information concerning when and how to contact you and any limitations or restrictions etc Copyright Charter Oak State College 4 Course Developme
12. UCharterOak SIATE GOLLEGE Degrees Without Boundaries Course Development Guidelines July 2 2008 Course Development Guidelines Table of Contents Section Page tee De e Vu EE 1 A guassa otea asarana aaea AE Saena o aoaaa A Saa banaai aia giai EEan i eni 2 Course OMG inician A EE E E E E E EEE T E E 2 Sya e 2 Required Syllabus Information AA 3 Course Description EE 3 GoursSe Ee EE 3 Student Learning Outcomes GL Oe 3 Course Activities and GradMg ses sirai tiara ela 3 Required ME 3 Additional ReSQUICOS 0 tercios til ica dela sesh 3 Computer ee e EE 3 Belle EIN A Optional Syllabus Information cccccceeeceeeceee cece eeeeeeseeeeeceaeeesaaaeseeeeesaeeeseaeedeaeeseeeeesaaeeseaeeeeneeee 4 Additional Resources at EA deta E 4 Computer Specific EE 4 Faculty informato tad dianas 4 IN EEA E AAAA T RA TS EAA AE A A ET E ATTA EAA AAEE 4 UA A AT OE EE 4 Uer 4 MUER A Me E e TEE EE EE EE A Kent 4 Atach imagE EE 5 lee Re ele KEE 5 Course Content cia 5 Week OvervieW geb it See eege iia EEN 5 Le Lulu 5 le re WEE 5 HoOMeWork ite ae EE EE 5 Ree EE EE 6 aber 6 Submit Week Assignments oocococcconnnccnnccnnoncccnoncnnn acc nono c cnn cananea nana nr nn 6 LEGUAS A E on 6 DISCUSSION 2 Ee A AA zo UA e a Magiege hie 6 Other CONE si a A A A A 6 Quiz Or Practice QUIZA Bug eget ee ee 6 Instructor Notes ii EE AEN eel ec at eb eke eee 7 ANNOUNCEMENTS fess ice aset eo EEN 7 ASSIM AS ii A A aE E EN 7 LESCUUTOS
13. an average of two graded discussions per week Each week a non graded Q amp A Forum should be included and students should be encouraged to ask questions about the course or to post items of interest that may or may not be directly related to the weekly course content 7 2 2008 Copyright Charter Oak State College oo Course Development Guidelines 3 Group Pages the Group Pages tool allows you to create groups of students that work together Each group can be given several communication tools that are only accessible by the instructor amp COSC Best Practices 6 In your discussion board rubric you should build in a requirement that students respond to at least 2 of their classmates Some students do only what is required of them so if you do not require them to respond to each other the discussion may not take off and group members The communication tools you can provide restrict are 4 Messages the Messages tool is an internal email system that is housed entirely inside of the Blackboard system To access and send messages you must be log into Blackboard with your Group Discussion Board op c Group File Exchange allows group members to send files back and forth between each other Ge Add Group d Group Email own username and password 5 Send Email the send email tool allows you to send emails from Blackboard out to external email accounts Emails sent via this feature must
14. arize yourself with the required subsections of the syllabus as you prepare to write your own 7 2 2008 Copyright Charter Oak State College 16 Course Development Guidelines Char ter O ak 55 Paul J Manafort Drive STATE COLLEGE New Britain CT 06053 2150 860 832 3800 www charteroak edu Degrees Without Boundaries Course Syllabus OCD 101 Online Course Development Semester Year Course Description Enter the course description exactly as it appears in the Course Proposal Note All text must be in Arial 10 pt font Highlight this text and replace it with the appropriate course description Prerequisite s e List the course prerequisites as they appear in the Course Proposal Highlight and replace this text with the appropriate prerequisite s Student Learning Outcomes SLOs 1 List the Student Learning Outcomes as they appear in the Course Proposal Highlight and replace this text with the appropriate student learning outcomes This list must be numbered General Education Outcomes GEOs 1 Generally COSC will determine based upon the Course Description the GEOs of all courses This information may or may not be available at the time when the syllabus is originally developed Please see Appendix F for a list and descriptions of the current GEOs IMPORTANT If GEOs are applicable for this course then one or more SLOs listed in the previous section must adequately address the GEOs For example if the co
15. ary for future weeks such as preparing for research Copyright Charter Oak State College 5 Course Development Guidelines 7 2 2008 assignments etc Actual Assignment links and instructions will be provided in the Submit Week Assignments area described in Course Content Item 3 below c Discussions topic titles or themes only Identify only the discussion topic titles The actual link and discussion topic questions will appear in Discussion Folder described in Course Content Item 5 below d Labs Other Identify in general terms any lab or other content required for the week Detailed information will appear in the Other Content folder described in Course Content Item 6 below Submit Week Assignments this section should contain the actual assignment links that students must complete and submit and instructions All assignments must be uploaded to the course shell and must remain on record for at least one year COSC strongly discourages the use of email as the primary ta werk introduction to Ponte Finance mechanism of collection student assignments In the assignment link you will need to provide the number of points the assignment is worth as well as instructions for completing the assignment Lecture the lecture should be prepared in HTML included directly in the Blackboard page and should attempt to engage the students so be somewhat creative Lecture material may include some informat
16. did in the course If the student did not take the final exam he she will not pass the course 7 2 2008 Copyright Charter Oak State College 24 Course Development Guidelines AU 7 2 2008 Incomplete For video based or correspondence courses only Issued with the approval of the instructor and the Director Distance Learning Program when due to special circumstances a student is granted an extension Online students are not entitled to extensions Audit Allowed if the instructor of the course grants permission prior to registration An audit grade cannot be changed to a letter grade after the course begins nor can a letter grade be changed to an audit grade after the course begins Pass Students do not have an option of electing to take a course as Pass Fail P grades are allowed for courses that have been approved by the Academic Council as Pass Fail Copyright Charter Oak State College 25 Course Development Guidelines Appendix E Summary of Charter Oak State College Best Course Development Practices The document provided on the following pages is a summary of Charter Oak State College COSC Best Online Course Development Practices 7 2 2008 Copyright Charter Oak State College 26 Course Development Guidelines CharterOak STATE COLLEGE Degrees Without Boundaries SUMMARY OF CHARTER OAK STATE COLLEGE BEST ONLINE COURSE DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES A For the best online readability you sho
17. elow for your reference i Post a Welcome announcement It is suggested that you send a Welcome email to all of the students one week prior to the start of the session This email should identify the graded course components and any key milestones ii Post an announcement asking the students to verify their Blackboard addresses iii Post any specific requirements for contacting the instructor iv Post an announcement regarding any Other Content items Assignments Include any information about the weekly assignments that may be beneficial to another instructor such as the location of answer keys Course Materials Not Shared Lectures Include any information about the weekly lecture that may be helpful to another instructor Discussions Include ways to expand upon the discussions You may include hyperlinks to web sites alternative discussion posts etc Other Content lab project paper etc Include any information about the Other Content items in the course Specifically by week that might be useful for another instructor to know such as when to remind students about deadlines etc Grades You should remind other instructors to post the grades for the week no later than Wednesday of the following week It is advisable to include comments regarding the students discussion performance good and bad and offer suggestions on how to improve their performance if necessary Other Include any
18. en Just remember that if you use the set availability feature you will need to manually make all items available or unavailable as you move through the semester 7 2 2008 Copyright O Charter Oak State College 13 Course Development Guidelines Appendix A Course Development Matrix This document constructed in a tabular format will assist you in organizing your course content and is compatible with the online course format completion of this document is optional 7 2 2008 Copyright Charter Oak State College 14 Course Course Developer Course Development Matrix 8 Week Unit Format Charter Oak State College Date Student Learning Objectives SLOs Week Unit Overview Assignments Readings Homework Discussions Other Required Content Interactive or Technology related Activities Assessments Provide the appropriate SLOs as indicated in the approved course proposal For example Directions UE Provide a brief overview of the course content for this week A more detailed overview will be required for the online course shell Provide a list of the required readings for this week unit as follows Chapter 1 Chapter 2 pp 16 34 Provide a description of any student work that is due for this week unit or required preparations for the next week unit Also indicate if there are any non graded activities quizzes exercises etc that might benef
19. erial is to copy an already existing week and make the necessary adjustments Here are the steps you need to follow to copy a 1 Go to the Control Panel 2 Navigate to the Course Content area 3 To the far right of one of the completed week and click on the Copy button 4 On the subsequent screen next to Destination Folder select the Browse button 5 Asmaller pop up window will appear showing the Course Map for your course if you do not see the pop up window check to see if it loaded behind your main Blackboard browser window 6 Click on the Course Content folder as that is where you will need the copied material to be found 7 When you are returned to the main Blackboard browser window click on the Submit button to complete the process 8 On the confirmation screen click OK 7 2 2008 Copyright Charter Oak State College 11 Course Development Guidelines 9 You should now see your new copied folder on the Course Content page Make sure that you modify the folder name to the next sequential week unit number Controlling Release of Material In Blackboard you can control when your students will be able to view content in your course You can choose to restrict when students can see individual items e g a quiz an assignment or an entire folder which will hide the folder and all of its contents e g you can hide all of the Week 1 content by adjusting the settings for the Week 1
20. folder Remember because you are an instructor you will always have access to all the content A Options Make the content available ONo Track number of views OYes ONo Choose date and time restrictions 7 Display After O Display Until Jun 06 wl 2008 Jun 06 sl 2008 Fa 04 w 1105 wl DM 04 sei 06 PM There are two ways to control the release of material Setting Date and Time Restrictions or Setting Availability Both methods are described in detail below Make sure that you read both before choosing how to proceed Remember you are not required to use either method these options are just being presented to you for your reference 1 Setting Date and Time Restrictions By setting date and time restrictions you can set your content to be invisible or visible based on the date When using this feature your content will be invisible to students until the Display After date that you specify Once the content is visible it will remain visible for the rest of the semester unless you also set up a Display Until date The Display Until date is the date and time on which the material will again be hidden from the student view You do not need to set up both a Display After and a Display Until date but you definitely can By default all items folders provided in the template and all those that you add will not have date and time restrictions applied to them If you choose to use this fea
21. he class as a whole Di Quick Enroll NOTE When you want to add a message to course home you will need to go the Control Refresh Panel of your course and click on Announcements H Detail View A Syllabus The next section of the template is the Syllabus section This is where you will include important information about your course including the Course Description Experience Course Prerequisites Student Learning Outcomes etc The syllabus will not be housed directly within Blackboard rather it will be stored in COSC web space so that it can be accessed by perspective students easily Your finalized syllabus will then be sent to the COSC Distance Learning Office DLO which will then convert your syllabus and store it on the COSC website COSC will link your syllabus on the COSC website with the Syllabus link in the course navigation menu The Sample Syllabus document provided in Appendix B has several pre built sections outlined and defined for you these sections are all required unless otherwise indicated by the COSC DLO Use this sample syllabus in Appendix B to create your syllabus If you are developing a new course for COSC the syllabus template was provided with the Course Proposal Template and Course Syllabus Feel free to add more sections as necessary but all syllabi must minimally contain the items listed below Do not specify dates in your syllabus Instead please refer only to weeks units
22. he prerequisite is not a college level course i e High School Algebra or other non verifiable ees course please specify Recommended Prerequisite 3 Student Learning Outcomes SLOs should be developed using the Guidelines for Developing Student Learning Outcomes and Exam Questions Using Bloom s Taxonomy Appendix B If you are developing a new course list the SLOs exactly as they appear in the approved course proposal or from the existing syllabus All SLOs must be numbered and will be used to assess the effectiveness of the course It is important that all course activities readings exercises discussions quizzes and exam questions etc be linked to the SLOs 4 General Education Outcomes GEOs In most cases the General Education Outcomes GEOs are provided by the COSC Registrar s Office You may be asked for input regarding the GEOs therefore we have provided the current list of GEOs provided in Appendix E provide the identifying GEO title i e Global Understanding NOTE If GEOs are applicable for this course then one or more SLOs listed in the previous section must adequately address the GEOs For example if the course is intended to satisfy Global Understanding then one or more of the SLOs must address a global issue 5 Course Activities and Grading this section provides a general grading rubric indicating all of the graded elements assignments of the course along with the di
23. ing to the number of weeks or units weeks in your course Do not include dates in the course content area Instead please refer only to or units The purpose of not specifying dates is to allow the syllabus to be used in subsequent terms sessions with minimal modification Each week folder will contain a standard set of sub sections that will contain the course materials assignments and projects that must be completed for that week unit Each week must contain the following 1 7 2 2008 Overview this section should contain an overview of the weekly subject matter assignment reminders and general points of interest This section must not contain dated content but merely refer to the appropriate week You may include an image but you or COSC must have rights to include such an image all images within the course must be referenced Assignments this will contain the list of assignments for the week Only the major items will appear in bullet form More detailed information should be presented in each section a Reading Identify the chapter s chapter title s and relevant page numbers as appropriate Also include any suggested or optional readings and where these materials are located b Homework Identify all of the homework for this week including reading the required chapters reviewing the appropriate lecture material taking quizzes etc You should also identify any actions necess
24. ion derived from the course text however it is recommended that the lecture expand beyond the text and include explanations examples tables illustrations graphics and simulations if appropriate the CD or COSC must have rights to display such information The purpose of not repeating material from the course text is because in the event of a text change the lectures should be able to stand alone with only minimal revision All information derived from sources other than the approved text must be properly documented and cited If you have any questions about your lecture content or need assistance with course technologies or converting your existing lectures to html contact the COSC DLO Discussion this folder will contain internal links to the threaded discussions Identify the topic topic name and a detailed description of the topic Generally there should be two graded topic discussions per week A Q amp A Forum discussion should be included as the last topic in each week for students to ask questions and to present material outside the scope of the weekly discussions Other Content lab project paper etc provide a detailed description of any other course content such as lab project paper etc Quiz or Practice Quiz Optional include if necessary a quiz or practice quiz Copyright Charter Oak State College 6 Course Development Guidelines 7 2 2008 COSC Best Practices amp
25. it the students Provide a list of the discussion topics for this week unit as follows Topic 1 Introductions Topic 2 Topic 3 Provide a description of any other content associated with the required assignments such as labs simulations PowerPoint slides etc for the specific week or unit Provide a list and description of any assessments graded quizzes exams writing assignments research papers etc associated with any specific week or unit COIN O a AJOJN Add additional rows as necessary Course Development Comments Notes Use the area below to record any comments notes or information that might be useful in developing or re developing your course Course Development Guidelines Appendix B Sample Syllabus The document provided on the following pages is a copy of the sample syllabus that you should use to develop your course syllabus This document is provided here for your reference only If you are developing a new course for Charter Oak State College COSC the syllabus template was provided with the Course Proposal Template and Course Syllabus Otherwise you will receive an electronic version of this document from the COSC Distance Learning Office DLO to use as you build your syllabus Once completed you will submit your syllabus to the COSC DLO to be added to the COSC web space Please review the next few pages to famili
26. lling the release of content is setting the availability of an item folder This feature allows you to hide content but is not based on dates ltems folders that you set as unavailable invisible to students will remain unavailable until you go back to that item folder and change the settings back to available If you do not go back and make the item available students will never see that content This feature requires you to keep track and manually release content when you want students to have access By default all items folders provided in the template and all those that Options you be set as available If you e choose to use this feature you will Make the content available need to set up the change the settings manually To set availability for an item folder go to the Control Panel area of your course and follow these steps Navigate to the item or folder that you want to hide Click on the Modify button to the far right of the item folder On the Modify screen scroll down to the Options area Next to the Make the content available select the radio button next to Yes or No as appropriate Once you have set the availability click on the Submit button at the bottom of the screen to confirm gt 2o p a When modifying the date and time restrictions for a quiz you will first need to click Modify Test Options before you reach the Modify scre
27. nal Resources this should contain any optional text s as well as mandatory readings articles hyperlinks to websites or the publisher s resource web site etc optional general information hyperlinks should only appear in the Webliography If the selected text book is accompanied by a CD DVD or if you require that the student have access to a publisher s companion website for the text provide all of the appropriate details Do not expect the students to intuitively know what the required resources are COSC will coordinate your text selection with MBS Direct who will provide you with a copy of the text Whenever possible promote the use of the library resources available to COSC students iCONN and eJones Library and support resources are located under the COSS Resources link in the navigation menu 2 Computer Specifications please list any special computer hardware or software requirements for this course including costs which are expected of the student See http www ctdlc org Help requirements html for the standard online course technology requirements specified by COSC X Faculty Information The Faculty Information section is where you will post information such as your name email address work phone number office location office hours when you are available by telephone and any other information you want to provide to the students about yourself At a minimum you must provide the following 7 2 2008
28. ns within one to two weeks of receiving them and provide a grade and comments when appropriate The student must receive a passing grade on the final examination when one is required to pass the course The course grade will be based on the final examination grade the mid term exam if one is required and grades on assignments and papers as appropriate All research papers assignments and examinations must be completed by the last day of the course or at the discretion of the instructor Failure to do so may result in an F grade on the student s permanent record Under extraordinary circumstances such as serious illness or the student or death in the family students may be granted a two month extension to complete video based practicum courses If no extensions are requested all papers and examinations must be completed by the date of the final examination The first extension must be requested before the final examination is given or final project is due The student must submit an Extension Form plus a 45 extension fee to the Distance Learning Office Except in the case of financial aid students a second extension of two months may be permitted for another 45 If you have an approved extension notify ACT MultiMedia to avoid additional videotape or DVD rental costs Due to the rigors and constraints associated with online learning there are no extensions available in online courses However under special circumstances such as se
29. nt Guidelines Attach Image Attaching an image of yourself is optional however COSC encourages you to do so in an effort to connect with your class This image does not have to be a professional portrait style image but should be a head shot NOTE If you do not feel comfortable with providing a head shot please consider a photo of yourself engaging in an activity associated with the course i e at work at your desk in the field CharterOak STATE COLLECT Faculty Biography Modify the existing Faculty Biography section and include your own biography In addition to your educational credentials we would like to briefly emphasize any applicable professional and teaching experiences organizational memberships positions publications i e authored or co authored x number of publications presentations i e made x number of presentations books texts written or co authored written or co authored x number of books texts etc You may not use your biography this online course or a hyperlink to a personal website to solicit advertise or otherwise offer products services or information not directly related to this course or COSC At some point COSC would like to post your biography on a faculty page of the COSC website that includes information that you would like perspective students and the public to know about you A Course Content The Course Content section is broken down in to several folders correspond
30. oned argument e Measure Verify value of evidence e Recommend Recognize subjectivity e Convince e Select e Judge e Explain e Discriminate e Support e Conclude e Compare e Summarize Source Bloom s Taxonomy Learning Skills Program 2005 University of Victoria 7 Nov 2006 lt http Awww coun uvic ca learn program hndouts bloom html gt Adapted from Bloom Benjamin S Taxonomy of Educational Objectives Boston Allyn and Bacon 1984 7 2 2008 Copyright Charter Oak State College 22 Course Development Guidelines Appendix D Charter Oak State College Institutional Grading Policy The document provided on the following pages is a copy of the institution wide grading policy for Charter Oak State College COSC courses effective July 1 2007 The document provides a letter grade percentage and grade point conversion table to help you when you assign final grades to students This document is provided here for your reference only A copy of this document is provided within in the Policies section of course template for both you and students to access as needed throughout the semester Please review the next few pages to familiarize yourself with the COSC Grading Policy 7 2 2008 Copyright O Charter Oak State College 23 Course Development Guidelines UCharterOak STATE COLLEGE Degrees Without Boundaries INSTITUTIONAL GRADING POLICY Grades The faculty will grade assignments and examinatio
31. ons is explained in detail below those with an are not available when clicking on the Communication link 1 Collaboration the Collaboration tools are synchronous meaning that the students and the SE Collaboration Sessions instructor must be logged on at the same time in order to communicate Collaboration sessions can be recorded in a log so that students who did not participate can review the conversations that took place The Collaboration tool has 2 features Chat and Virtual Classroom a Chat this is a text only conversation area b Virtual Classroom this is a text and whiteboard area The instructor can use the various tools to draw diagrams that all participating students can view Whiteboard drawings are not recorded in the log COSC Best Practices amp Before you hold a Collaboration session you should first consult your students to set an appropriate date and time You will need to make sure that you are sensitive to student computer limitations as well as time zone differences Typically you will want to offer a few possible chat times have students vote for the day and time that works best for them and select a day based on student feedback 2 Discussion Board the Discussion Board is an asynchronous discussion area where students and instructors can read and post messages at any time of day If your course utilized discussions COSC recommends
32. other information that might be important for another instructor teaching this course to know Copyright Charter Oak State College 7 Course Development Guidelines 2 Course Documents The Course Documents area is the page that will contain links to required course documents such as non text readings writing samples lab reports report preparation guidelines etc for student usage You should also provide a brief description of each document listed in this area Copies of the course syllabus SLOs COSC policies etc MUST NOT be located in this section A Course Policies This section should be used to identify or highlight any course specific policies or student expectations This is not intended to be a list of assignments but rather policies grading rubrics student expectations etc not provided in the Course Syllabus COSC institutional policies are located in the COSC Policies section of the course shell and must not be repeated here X Communication There are several ways to communicate with your students through the Blackboard Learning Management System Access to some of the communication tools is provided by clicking on the Communication link For the other communication tools like the Discussion Board and Collaboration Tools you should provide links within your weekly content that link directly to the specific forum or session students should access at that time Each of the communication opti
33. r Developing Student Learning Outcomes and Exam Questions Using Bloom s Taxonomy iii A een Se Olea Sieg 20 Appendix D Charter Oak State College Institutional Grading Policy cccceeeseeeeeeeeeeteeeeseeeeeeeeees 23 Appendix E Summary of COSC Best Practices oooonnccininicinnccononocnnonnnanaccnorcn nn rra cnc 26 Appendix F General Education Outcomes GEOe nn cn nan c nro rca rancio 28 7 2 2008 Copyright O Charter Oak State College ii Course Development Guidelines Course Development Guidelines XA Introduction The purpose of these guidelines is to help you understand and develop the required course features as well as provide the basic structure for your Charter Oak State College COSC online course shell To ensure the quality of online courses at COSC we have provided you with a Blackboard course template This document will give you the ins and outs of the course template including some best practices on using different features and why each feature is included in COSC online courses Throughout this document you will see references to weekly formats In some courses the use of units or modules may be more appropriate that the use of weeks For the purposes of this guidance document week is equivalent to unit and or module It is advisable to complete the Course Development Matrix document provided in Appendix A This document constructed in a tabular fo
34. rious illness of the student or death in the family a student may request two weeks to complete the course at no charge If permission is granted by the instructor and the Director Distance Learning Program the student must complete the course within two weeks A grade of Incomplete will be recorded If at the end of two weeks the outstanding work has not been submitted to the instructor the Incomplete grade will become an F grade If a student would prefer to receive a paper copy of his her grade report he she must indicate his her preference on their course registration form or contact the Distance Learning Office at dlinfo charteroak edu prior to the start of the course Grading System Charter Oak State College utilizes a four point grading system where an A equals 4 0 grade points and an F equals 0 0 grade points Each grade and grade point designation will correspond to a numerical percentage range as shown below Letter Grade Range Grade Point Letter Grade Range Grade Point A 93 0 100 0 4 0 CG 73 0 76 9 2 0 A 90 0 92 9 3 7 C 70 0 72 9 1 7 B 87 0 89 9 3 3 D 67 0 69 9 1 3 B 83 0 86 9 3 0 D 63 0 66 9 1 0 B 80 0 82 9 2 7 D 60 0 62 9 0 7 C 77 0 79 9 2 3 F 0 0 59 9 0 0 W Withdrawal Students who want to withdraw from a course must do so in writing to the Distance Learning Office who will then notify the instructor If they do not withdraw officially the instructor will grade them on the work they
35. rmat will assist you in organizing your course content and is compatible with the online course format For information about adding content to or editing your course template please refer to the Online Blackboard Manual in the Course Tools section of the course template or the COSC Faculty Orientation Course and the Faculty Development Resource Center Blackboard shell FDC 101 NOTE Throughout the template you will find some placeholder text provided to guide you through the course building process Please delete all of the placeholder text as you go through and build each section of your course COSC Best Practices For the best online readability you should Only use Arial font in 10 or size 2 Avoid using all uppercase for large text areas Avoid using color coded text Avoid using excessive bold italic or underlined text Use the Alt Text option when adding images to provide a description of the image NAO X Getting Started This section appears in the main menu above Course Home The purpose of CharterOak this section is to familiarize students with the COSC course shell and the STATE COLLEGI requirements of the course This section can be considered a roadmap to success in this course along with good study habits and time management leese Students are asked to complete six pre course tasks and a Pre Course Self Check to verify that they understand the material presen
36. s 7 2 2008 Copyright Charter Oak State College 19 Course Development Guidelines Appendix C Guidelines for Developing Student Learning Outcomes and Exam Questions Using Bloom s Taxonomy The document provided on the following pages is a copy of the guidelines used for developing quiz and exam questions for Charter Oak State College COSC courses The document will help you as you write the specific exam questions for your course Student Learning Objectives SLOs will be listed in your syllabus and should be reflected in the course readings assignments and discussions for your course This document is provided here for your reference only Please review the next few pages to familiarize yourself with the concepts presented as you prepare to write your course SLOs and assignments exams 7 2 2008 Copyright Charter Oak State College 20 Course Development Guidelines UCharterOak STATE COLLEGE Degrees Without Boundaries GUIDELINES FOR DEVELOPING STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES AND EXAM QUESTIONS USING BLOOM S TAXONOMY The following guidelines should be used when developing Charter Oak State College Student Learning Outcomes SLOs and exam questions Competence Skills Demonstrated Question Cues Knowledge Observation and recall of e List information e Define Knowledge of date evens Tell places e Describe Mastery of subject matter e Identify e Show e Label e Collec
37. s with disabilities always use Alt Text to describe your images If you include audio or video files provide a text transcript for those who can not hear or see or for those without speakers in their computer Navigational Menu bars should never scroll Plan your menu to fit on a single 600 x 800 screen If students at that screen resolution do not realize that they need to scroll to see more links they may never click on them 7 2 2008 Copyright Charter Oak State College 27 Course Development Guidelines Appendix F General Education Outcomes GEOSs The document provided on the following page is a list of General Education Outcomes that may be applicable to Charter Oak State College COSC courses 7 2 2008 Copyright Charter Oak State College 28 Course Development Guidelines UCharterOak STATE COLLEGE Degrees Without Boundaries GENERAL EDUCATION OUTCOMES Skill Areas Code Title Outcome o Oral Communication Students will communicate effectively using Standard English and speak post thoughtfully clearly coherently and persuasively e Written Communication Students will communicate effectively using Standard English read and listen critically and write thoughtfully clearly coherently and persuasively y Information Literacy Students will be able to locate evaluate synthesize and use information from a variety of sources and understand the ethical issues involved in accessing and
38. stribution of course points if applicable and a weighted percentage distribution for each element You should also include any other grading rubrics see the COSC Grading Policy in Appendix C You are not limited to grading rubrics provided by COSC however your rubrics should be clear and understandable NOTE The Blackboard Gradebook must be used for all course grades unless authorized by COSC DLO You may keep an external gradebook however the Blackboard Course Gradebook must be current and contain enough information for a student to readily understand their current grade status 6 Required Text list only the required text s for the course optional text s mandatory readings articles hyperlinks to websites etc must be provided in Additional Resources Provide as much information as possible about the required text s including the title author s edition or version date of publication publisher and ISBN Optional hyperlinks must appear in the Webliography 7 2 2008 Copyright O Charter Oak State College 3 Course Development Guidelines 7 Course Schedule the course schedule should appear in a rubric format and indicate by week unit SLOs and exercises and brief descriptions of the course assignments This information must match the readings exercises and assignments in the weekly content area however that information will be provided in greater detail Optional Syllabus Information 1 Additio
39. t e Examine e Tabulate e Quote e Name e Who when where etc Comprehension Understanding information e Summarize Grasp meaning e Describe Translate knowledge into e Interpret new context e Contrast Interpret facts compare e Predict contrast e Associate Order group infer causes e Distinguish Predict consequences e Estimate e Differentiate e Discuss e Extend Application Use information e Apply Use methods concepts e Demonstrate theories in new situations e Calculate Solve problems using e Complete required skills or e Illustrate knowledge e Show e Solve e Examine e Modify e Relate e Change e Classify e Experiment e Discover 7 2 2008 Copyright O Charter Oak State College 21 Course Development Guidelines Analysis Seeing patterns e Analyze Organization of parts e Separate Recognition of hidden e Order meanings e Explain Identification of e Connect components e Classify e Arrange e Divide e Compare e Select e Explain e Infer Synthesis Use old ideas to create e Combine new ones e Integrate Generalize form given e Modify facts e Rearrange Relate knowledge from e Substitute several areas e Plan Predict draw conclusions e Create e Design e Invent e What if e Compose e Formulate e Prepare e Generalize e Rewrite Evaluation Compare and discriminate e Assess between ideas e Decide Assess value of theories e Rank presentations e Grade Make choices based on e Test reas
40. t with the appropriate additional resources Course Schedule The course schedule should appear in a rubric format and indicate by week unit SLOs readings and exercises and brief descriptions of the course assignments This information must match the readings exercises and assignments in the weekly content area of the course shell however that information will be provided in greater detail Highlight the information below and replace it with the appropriate readings exercises and assignments Add or delete material and rows as appropriate then delete these instructions Week SLOs Readings and Exercises Assignment s Ge e Read assigned chapters Er EE 2 e Participate in the Discussions i re e Chapter e Review the Lecture material i Topic e Take the Practice Quiz not e Chapter pp 2 Ser e Read assigned chapters a Topic S Ree e Participate in the Discussions 5 Se e Chapter pp 7 e Review the Lecture material i i Tope e Take the Practice Quiz not i graded e Chapter l e Read assigned chapters Sr Topic A e Participate in the Discussions 3 46 e Chapter 4 e Review the Lecture material f opie e Take the Practice Quiz not j graded e Chapter e Read assigned chapters e Topic e Participate in the Discussions e Chapter e Review the Lecture material e Take the Practice Quiz not 4 5 e Topic graded e Chapter e Take the Midterm Exam Midterm Exam Chapters
41. ted in the Getting Started section Course Home Syllabus Faculty Information NOTE This section cannot be modified and must not be deleted by the instructor 7 2 2008 Copyright Charter Oak State College 1 Course Development Guidelines mm Course Home The first section of the course template is the Course Home section This is the main home page for the course and is also an area where you can post important time sensitive announcements for your students This is typically the first page that students will see so anything that students need to know before continuing with their studies should be posted here d COSC Best Practices Studies suggest that students need to feel like their instructor is ever present in the online course Posting frequent announcements is one way to make your presence known On average you should post a minimum of two to three announcements per week It is suggested that you keep the announcements brief and direct students to the appropriate areas of the course shell for more information CharterOak Use the Course Home area as a place to give students reminders about STATE COLLEGE upcoming deadlines course milestones quiz or exam dates notice of gradebook D Course Map posts specific threaded discussion posting requirements reminders general information of interest to the class vacations and holidays as well as a place to 3 contro Panel give encouragement to t
42. ture you will need to set up the Display After and Display Until dates and times manually To set the date and time restrictions go to the Control Panel area of your course and follow these steps Navigate to the item or folder that you want to hide Click on the Manage button to the far right of the item folder On the Modify screen scroll down to the Options area Select the check box for Display After In the menus directly below Display After select the appropriate date and time after which the item folder will be visible If applicable you can also select the checkbox for a Display Until date On the Display Until date the item folder will disappear from the student s view 7 Once the dates are set click on the Submit button at the bottom of the screen to confirm NAON o When modifying the date and time restrictions for a quiz you will first need to click Modify Test Options before you reach the Modify screen 7 2 2008 Copyright O Charter Oak State College 12 Course Development Guidelines Just remember that if you use date and time restrictions you will need to update them every semester COSC will provide a term calendar that will give you the dates for each week of the semester that you can reference when setting up your date and time restrictions should you decide to use them 2 Setting Availability The second option for contro
43. uld Only use Arial font in 10 or size 2 Avoid using all uppercase for large text areas Avoid using color coded text Avoid using excessive bold italic or underlined text Use the Alt Text option when adding images to provide a description of the image a PONS B Studies suggest that students need to feel like their instructor is ever present in the online course Posting frequent announcements is one way to make your presence known On average you should post a minimum of two to three announcements per week C Itis highly recommended that instructors use the Assignments tool instead of the Digital Drop Box The Assignments tool automatically creates columns in the grade book through which instructors can access student submissions The Assignments tool organizes student submissions and ensures that no student files are lost Instructors may also provide feedback for students and or attach a document to be returned to the student with the original files NOTE The Digital Drop Box has been disabled by default but can be enabled if so desired Again COSC strongly encourages the use of the Assignments tool D Before you hold a Collaboration session you should first consult your students to set an appropriate date and time You will need to make sure that you are sensitive to student computer limitations as well as time zone differences Typically you will want to offer a few possible chat times
44. urse is intended to satisfy Global Understanding then one or more of the SLOs must address a global issue Course Activities and Grading List the graded assignments along with the applicable week course points and weight Below is an example Add or delete rows as necessary then highlight and delete this text Assignment s Points Weight Discussions Pts Weeks 1 7 350 35 Midterm Exam Week 100 10 Project Plan Week 50 5 Final Report Week 200 20 Final Exam Week 300 30 Total 1 000 100 Other grading rubrics if applicable should also appear here Cut and past the appropriate grading rubric s either from the COSC Grading Policy document see attached here or insert your own rubric s Note The COSC Institutional Grading Policy will appear only in the course shell under COSC Policies Highlight and delete this text 7 2 2008 Copyright Charter Oak State College 17 Course Development Guidelines Required Text s List the text book s course book s scholarly monograph s etc that may be required for this course list them as they appear in the Course Proposal Highlight and replace this text with the appropriate required text information Additional Resources e List any supplemental materials as they appear in the Course Proposal optional general information hyperlinks will only appear in the course Webliography Highlight and replace this tex
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