Teaching Online at UTAS

When you’re planning learning objectives and activities, or rifling through a plethora of resources, it can be difficult to determine what is absolutely necessary and how much is enough. These generic questions will help you determine whether something is essential or nice-to-know, and the extent to which students need to be able to use it. Essentials should be included in the unit. If something is nice-to-know/do, consider including it as an optional activity or resource.

Questions to ask about knowledge and how it is used 

• IMPORTANT: Does this go above and beyond the learning outcomes/objectives? For example, if a learning outcome asks students to apply the ’10 step process’ to a case study, do they need to analyse the process as well?
• Do students need to know this, before they can understand that?
• Do students need to understand the history of this, or just the most recent/relevant aspects?
• Do students need to know about every component, or just the basic  idea?
• Are students likely to already know this? What happens if some of them don’t know it?
• Do students need YOUR examples, or should they offer their own? What happens if they have no experience of this phenomenon?
• Do students need to know about all the options, or some of the key options?
• Do students need to get it right the first time, or learn by trying it/making mistakes?
• Do students need to apply the process/solution? Do they also need to understand why they are applying the process, and how it works?
• Do students need to remember it, or know how to find it if (and when) they need it?
• Do students need to choose a solution/process, or develop a new solution/process?

Questions to ask about resources

• What does it offer that no other resource has offered so far?
• Can it replace another resource?
• How would it complement the other resources?
• Is it more re-usable than similar resources?
• Have you used the same type of resource several times in this module already? Would a different type of resource provide a welcome change?
• Does it cover things that may change in the near future? Will it become out-of-date/irrelevant quickly?