Course Design Clinic
Upcoming Course Design Clinic Offering
December Clinic
Join us for this condensed, one-day, hands-on workshop
December 18
8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Lunch Provided
Keynote Speaker: Kelli Karcher
Substance Over Sparkle: Reclaiming the Purpose of Teaching
In an era of short attention spans and rising expectations for engagement, course design often straddles the boundary between meaningful learning and entertainment. While engaging students is important, it should open the door to deeper thinking, not replace it. This keynote invites instructors to consider how intentional design choices can encourage students to think critically, engage with complexity, and build lasting understanding. We will also examine the real-world constraints of classroom time, especially when working within a shared curriculum. Balancing opportunities for group work, reflection, and connection to prior knowledge can be difficult, yet these elements are essential for fostering metacognition and intellectual resilience. Grounded in research from cognitive science and pedagogy, this session offers practical strategies for designing learning experiences that support enduring understanding.
Kelli Karcher is an Advanced Instructor and the Director of Undergraduate Academics and Inclusive Innovation for the Department of Mathematics at Virginia Tech. She leads initiatives in faculty mentorship and pedagogical innovation, supporting undergraduate instruction through course design, teaching seminars, and curriculum development. Her work includes coordinating core mathematics courses, designing post-pandemic learning supports, and developing new pathways like “Just-in-Time” Calculus to promote student success and timely degree progress.
Agenda
| Time | Information |
|---|---|
8:30 - 9:00 |
Coffee and Breakfast Items |
9:00 - 9:45 |
Welcome and Introduction Catherine Amelink, Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning Keynote: Substance Over Sparkle: Reclaiming the Purpose of Teaching Kelli Karcher, Advanced Instructor, Director of Undergraduate Academics, Director of Inclusive Innovation, Department of Mathematics |
9:45 - 11:30 |
Stages of Backward Course Design and Learning Objectives Overview and worktime |
11:30 - 12:30 |
Connecting Learning Objectives to Assessment and Assignment Design Overview and worktime |
12:30 - 1:30 |
Lunch |
1:30 - 2:30 |
Connecting Learning Objectives to Teaching Activities Overview and worktime |
2:30 - 3:30 |
Mapping Your Course Overview and worktime with "Instructional Planning Map" worksheet |
3:30 - 4:00 |
Designing the Course Syllabus University policies, resources, and worktime |
What is Course Design Clinic?
Course Design Clinic, hosted by the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL), is a hands-on workshop that guides instructors through the process of building or refreshing their course.
During the session, you will be guided through several stages of course design to include:
- Identifying goals and learning outcomes
- Planning for assessment of student learning
- Designing individual instructional activities and individual class meetings
- Organizing the syllabus and schedule
Through working with CETL and staff from partnering units, you will receive guidance on rigorous instructional design, assignment design, assessment strategies, active learning strategies, and the technological tools available to you when moving through all stages of course design and implementation, including Generative AI. The goal of this clinic is to get you to think through multiple levels of granularity for your course and complete much of the planning at once while having instructional experts on hand. You will leave the clinic well on your way to having a complete course, syllabus, and task list for implementation.