The order of the course provides a narrative or an organizing framework for your students. The materials and instructional strategies support the course narrative you lay out. Laying out the sequence of topics for a course provides structure for the course materials during course conceptualization. |
Creating a visual representation of the course content (i.e., a diagram or concept map) may be helpful for some instructors in the early stages of design. To do this, consider the following:
Does the course move from macro to micro or the reverse? Draw a hierarchy.
Does the course follow a distinct path? Try stepping stones or a flowchart.
Is there a central idea with related topics radiating outward? Create a circle with connected topics.
The sequence of topics suggests the structure and order of course materials. Lay out topics that you’ve identified and their order. This may be done as a part of creating a course diagram or separately as a list or written description of your plans. Questions to consider in this phase of course design may include:
What topics need to come first?
How will the course end?
Does sequence mirror:
Historical progression?
Easy-to-difficult?
Foundational concepts followed by application of those concepts?
Bottom-up or top-down?
Does the course schedule from a previously taught course list the topic sequence?
Concept Mapping and Curriculum Design from Walker Center for Teaching and Learning at University of Tennessee, Chattanooga
Concept mapping to support university academics’ analysis of course content (2016) by Cheryl Amundsena, Cynthia Weston, and Lynn McAlpine as published in Studies in Higher Education, https://doi.org/10.1080/03075070802373180
Concept Maps and How To Use Them by Kurt Serhat at educationaltechnology.net
Using Concept-Mapping Techniques for eLearning Content Analysis from shiftelearning.com