Organization

 

Divisions

  • Group by whatever makes sense for your material: by week, by topic unit, by module - most teachers choose weekly modules
  • Separate and group assignments, assessments, activities, etc. into small chunks
  • Shorter chunks work better than longer chunks (breaking longer assignments into shorter chunks helps students with time-management)
  • Account for the difficulty of the material and length of assignments
  • Some prefer giving the same type of assignments each week (discussion, paper, test), while others like a greater variation in types of assignments each week

Schedule

  • Create a calendar with dates for each chunk and due dates for all assignments -  this can be done within the Canvas calendar
  • Don't forget to account for holidays and Spring break
  • Progression 1:
    • some prefer that all content in the entire course be available at the start so students can plan ahead
    • some prefer making only current material available to make the workload seem less overwhelming
  • Progression 2:
    • some prefer a system where assignments within each chunk can be completed in any order
    • some prefer "adaptive release" where certain assignments must be completed before the next
  • Progression 3:
    • few have tried a "non-building" approach where any work in the course can be completed in any order (but this would depend on the course content and purpose - and see difficulties below)
  • All due dates should be finalized and posted in your course syllabus on the first day of class (any late changes should have an accompanying announcement)

Deadlines

  • Specify exact due dates/deadlines
  • Make assignments unavailable after the deadline (unless you allow for late work)
  • Include multiple midweek/mid-module deadlines (or reminders) to help with students' time-management
  • Remind students to work regularly in your announcements - not only about weekly assignment deadlines, but also non-assignment tasks like reading, working on longer projects, studying for exams, etc.
  • Some have included no deadlines and have allowed students to work through the entire course without any date constraints (except for the end of the course) - this is a self-paced approach (but here the class is out-of-synch with each other, especially in discussions, and this makes it difficult for the instructor to track and grade students)
  • Establish clear policies and penalties for late work

Example:  Tom Doyle's Calendar

 

Week

Dates

Module(s)

 Module Topic (s)

1 Jan 28 – Feb 3 1 and 2 Discovering Psychology and Psychology and Science
2 Feb 4 – Feb 10 3 Brain’s Building Blocks
3 Feb 11 - Feb 17 4 Incredible Nervous System
4 Feb 18 - Feb 24 5 and 6

Sensation and Perception

5

Feb 25 - Mar 2

7 and 8

Sleep andDreams, Hypnosis, and Drugs

6 Mar 3 – Mar 9 9 Classical Conditioning

7

Mar 10 - Mar 16

10

Operant and Cognitive Approaches

8 Mar 24 – Mar 30 11 and 12 Types of Memory and Remembering/Forgetting

 

 

Optional Presentation #1 due by midnight Mar 30

 

Mar 29

Exam One (Modules 1 – 12)

9 Mar 31 – Apr 6 13 and 14 Intelligence and Thought/Language
10 Apr 7 – Apr 13 15 and 16 Motivation and Emotion
11 Apr 14 – Apr 20 17 and 18 Infancy/Childhood/Adolescence/Adulthood
12 Apr 21 - Apr 27 19 and 20 Freudian/Humanistic/Social/Cognitive/Trait Theories
13 Apr 28 - May 4 21 Health, Stress, and Coping
14 May 5 – May 11 22 and 23 Assessment, Anxiety Disorders, Mood Disorder, and Schizophrenia
15 May 12 – May 18 24 Therapies
16 May 19 - May 25 25 Social Psychology

 

 

Optional Presentation #2 due by midnight May 25

 

May 31

Exam Two (Modules 13 – 25)