Closer Look at Curriculum

Now that you've put all of your courses online, you may be seeing some areas that need improvement.  Are your outcomes met with performance criteria? Maybe you need to consider rubrics or checklists for those discussion threads. Do your activities support the objectives? Are they varied and appropriate for the audience and new environment for learning? Wow! That's a lot of questions. To help you dig deeper into the actual design and development of your programs and courses, consider taking one of our self-paced online courses --  Program Design or Course Design at the WIDS Learning Center.

Each course is a self-paced, asynchronous learning experiences designed using the WIDS model of instructional design, which is built around the principles of performance-based learning and assessment.  We design what we advocate in our own course offerings and use the WIDS Software to develop and deliver finished documentation like a syllabus, a course outcome summary, curriculum maps, learning plans and assessment tasks with checklists or rubrics.  The learning plans developed for the two courses provide learners objective-related content and hands-on practice designing their project in the WIDS Software. Upon completion of a course, all learners leave with their own finished (or nearly finished) program or course documentation and qualify to earn a WIDS digital badge.

Program Design is a three-week course where you design your own program in the WIDS Software. This learning experience appropriate for department chairs, assessment directors, and faculty involved in program development. A WIDS expert will be available to coach, guide, and encourage you as you apply concepts and principles of the WIDS model of instructional design to your project. As a participant you will: 

• Layout a program development plan
• Setup a program project in the WIDS software
• Develop program outcomes and related criteria
• Assign outcomes to courses where they are taught and assessed
• Layout a program configuration
• Create program performance assessment tasks
• Manage approval of your program
• Design a program assessment plan

Course Design is a four-week asynchronous learning experience designed for faculty members, curriculum managers, training managers, administrators, and others who want to become proficient in WIDS course design. The course focuses on creating a performance-based curriculum. You will work in WIDS to develop Course Outcome Summary, Learning Plan, PAT and Syllabus documentation for a course of your choosing. A WIDS expert will be available to coach, guide, and encourage you as you apply concepts and principles of the WIDS model of instructional design to your course.

Participants will use their own WIDS curriculum management system or will be given limited access to a WIDS development site for the duration of the course.

No previous experience with the WIDS software is required!

Contact WIDS at any time or view course availabilty and register today!