Search:

TEACHING

• Teaching Writing at Western Illinois University (PDF) - A manual for all WIU faculty, 3rd Edition, July 2004
• Teaching Excellence Collection - A collection of books and multimedia resources available through the Malpass Library.

Preparing a Syllabus

• Syllabus Tutorial (University of Minnesota Center for Teaching and Learning Services).
• Syllabus Template (Cornell University Center for Learning and Teaching).

Course Design/Assignment Design

Course planning and design are important for a successful course. The list below provides links to resources on all aspects of course design, including tutorials on the complete process of course design. The last two links focus on designing student assignments. This information is useful for planning a new course or redesigning an existing one.

• "Designing and Teaching a Course," Speaking of Teaching, Stanford University Newsletter on Teaching, Winter 1998. PDF/Adobe Acrobat. A discussion of conceptualizing, organizing, and teaching a course. Includes such topics as considering the audience, setting objectives, determining course format, and evaluating learning.
• Course Preparation (Ohio State University) PDF/Adobe Acrobat. A thorough presentation of all elements of course design from initial planning stages through classroom practices for the first days of class.
• "Integrated Course Design", L. Dee Fink, Director, Instructional Development Program,University of Oklahoma. (IDEA Paper #42, March 2005). PDF/Adobe Acrobat. This article presents a rationale and thorough description of L. Dee Fink's model of integrated course design.
• "A Self-Directed Guide to Designing Courses for Significant Learning", L. Dee Fink, Director, Instructional Development Program, University of Oklahoma. Guidelines for designing a course that integrates learning goals, feedback and assessment procedures, and teaching/learning activities.
• "Designing Effective and Innovative Courses", Barbara J. Tewksbury (Hamilton College) and R. Heather Macdonald (College of William and Mary). This is an online course design tutorial for individual faculty members interested in designing or redesigning a course. The focus is on geoscience, but the process used is generic enough to design courses in all disciplines.
• Hitchhiker's Guide to Course Development A site dedicated to helping instructors design courses that integrate technology at various levels: classroom-based with web-presence, web-enhanced, web-centric, and online. Offers step-by-step tutorials at each level with specific planning guides, teaching strategies, and assessment tools.
• "Planning, Designing, and Evaluating Student Assignments" (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Center for Teaching and Learning). Guidelines for designing and assessing student assignments related to course goals; includes examples.
• "Structuring Assignments for Success", Deborah DeZure, Michigan State University (In Whys and Ways of Teaching, Eastern Michigan University, Faculty Center for Instructional Excellence, Vol. 9, No. 1, Feb. 1999). This article discusses key issues in structuring successful assignments, such as using assignment packets, identifying necessary skills and assuring that students have them, and establishing criteria for evaluation. Includes sample evaluation forms and a worksheet for structuring assignments.

Each TA at Western Illinois University should strive for excellence in classroom instruction, in the laboratory, or in any other educational situation. This goal requires constant evaluation, experimentation, and innovation as professional responsibilities. Each TA should recognize that appropriate academic bodies must approve of changes in established regulations and policies. WIU offers a number of resources and a high quality environment to support TAs. Click here to get acquainted with the resources that are provided to TAs at WIU.

These web resources are a starting point for creating a compilation of websites that are useful for educators. If you have a site that you are willing to share with your colleagues please feel free to feedback form to send it to us with a brief description of the site and its URL. Please help us make this a comprehensive faculty repository.

• The Visible Knowledge Project - The Visible Knowledge Project (VKP) is a collaborative project involving 12 college and university campuses (and one virtual campus). VKP collects, designs and publishes a variety of resources to further the scholarship of teaching and learning in new media environments.
• The Multicultural Pavilion - The Multicultural Pavilion is a website that provides resources for educators to explore and discuss multicultural education.
• Web Interface for Statistics Education - This is an amazing site for those who teach or want to learn about statistics.
• Pink Flamingo's Resource List - A potpourri of resources for educators.