Structuring A Course Outline

Students appreciate it when instructors create a detailed course outline that shows what they need to read, and the assignments they need to prepare for each week. It also will help you, as the adjunct instructor, to stay on target and be organized.
I prefer to create my course outline in a column format. Using this format allows students to see what will be covered in class so that helps to eliminate the “I can’t be in class next week. Can you tell me what I’ll be missing?” dilemma.

Preparing to Teach

The first step in preparing to teach is to find out of there is a “generic syllabus” one in which the course description and learning goals have already been established. If you teach in a “teaching college” it is most likely that the generic syllabus exists, so then your job is to develop a detailed course outline.
Recognize that the syllabus and course outline is a contract between you and the student.
Your job will be to structure the course and provide learning experiences that match and accomplish the course learning goals.
For each class session that you teach, you will need to develop a lecture, prepare powerpoint slides or include some sort of visual media, structure a class exercise that will provide a practical application to the lecture, and include some means of assessment.
More on structuring 5 hour class sessions and accomplishing learning goals later.