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Prior to developing a course proposal, you and your relevant colleagues, should complete a needs analysis to identify who your learners are and what is the ‘need’ for your programme. At this stage you should also consider discipline specific approaches to the curriculum and curriculum models that you might like to use.
For more on approaches to curriculum development see; Curricula Debates in Higher Education
Careful consideration of the course proposal will ensure that the design and implementation of your programme, module, micro-credential or elective is effective. By considering the pedagogical strategies prior to the development of content, you can ensure that your students or learners achieve the required learning outcomes.
The information contained in this page will help you write successful course proposals.
The required course proposal documents and the processes involved in seeking approval is outlined by Academic Affairs on the Course Development section of their website.
A number of the sections within the course proposal document relate to teaching, learning and assessment (TLA).
The image below provides an overview of the TLA considerations.
Click on the links below to open the sections.
There is a range of delivery modes to consider, from fully face-to-face (with learning resources often available through VLE’s) to learning that is delivered with a blended/ hybrid approach, to that which is delivered fully online. The mode of delivery selected for any programme or module should reflect the needs of the intended learner.
See Modes of Delivery for further information.
We can think of learning aims as concise descriptions of the overall goals or purposes of the module or programme. Whereas Learning outcomes are student’ centred statements that articulate what the learner should know, understand, or be able to do on successful completion of module or programme.
See Aims and Learning Outcomes for further information.
Assessments plays a key role in driving and influencing students’ learning and therefore should be aligned with learning outcomes and supported by relevant teaching strategies. A programme focused approach to assessment establishes the full breadth of assessments across a programme and considers the type of assessment (and if individual/group), sequence, timing, range of assessments and relationship to programme outcomes.
See Assessment & Feedback for further information.
There are many different pedagogical approaches that can be considered when designing teaching and learning. Some of these are discipline specific, but many can be applied across all disciplines. It is important to align the teaching modalities/ methodologies with the learning outcomes and assessments of the course.
See Teaching Strategies for further information.
Identifying the technologies and software applications required to support the teaching, learning and assessment on a course helps both staff and students prepare for the course.
See Technologies for Digital Learning for further information.
It is important not to focus on the content first, but to follow a curriculum design process that ensures curriculum alignment between learning outcomes, assessment and teaching strategies. See the introduction section for more on curriculum alignment.
Programmes, or modules, should be designed with the learners in mind, therefore choices on the mode of delivery, the learning environment support and the technologies to be used should reflect your learner needs.
When designing for a fully online environment it is important to take into account how you to support your learners with ‘social presence’ within the online course. See our resources on Engaging Students Online for more information.
Click on the tab below to examine an example of a completed proposal form.
Postgraduate course proposal form
Exemplar for PG Online template
This resource can be used as an example of how the teaching, learning and assessment sections of the PG Online Course template have been populated in the case of the following programme: Programme Title: Master’s in environmental engineering: Fully Online Part time programme.
- Example approved micro-credentials can be found here.
- Sections on Mode of delivery, Contact and Independent Study hours, Micro-credential aims, Micro-credential learning outcomes, MC content areas, Teaching and learning methods & MC assessment components contain the details relating to teaching, learning and assessment.
- Example approved modules can be found here.
- Sections 20, 23 & 24 and Appendices A & C contain the details relating to teaching, learning and assessment.
Key Takeaways
When completing course proposals there are five key areas relating to teaching and learning that need to be considered,
• Consider the mode of delivery best suited to your student needs: Fully online, blended/hybrid or fully in-person.
• Write clear and concise aims, or overall goal of the course and learning outcomes that are student centered statements based on Blooms taxonomy.
• Align the learning outcomes with appropriate teaching learning and assessment strategies that support the six different levels of learning outlined in Bloom’s taxonomy.
• Identify the technologies that you will use to support students’ learning.
• For online modules and content, consider how you will effectively engage students.