Improved Navigation Through A Course Map

This activity is intended for staff to develop a metaphorical course map to orientate students in a course. The metaphorical course map can structure the thinking of the various themes in a course and helps students connect the themes to their learning.

Rationale

The metaphorical course map gives students the opportunity to connect visually the main course concepts.

Learners/Context

This pattern is applicable to any course context.

Alignment

This activity is designed to visually structure and scaffold student thinking in a course.

Instructions/Processes

Prior to the beginning of the Semester:

Align the course themes to student learning, activities or topics
Develop a metaphorical course map to orientate students in a course to be placed on the Welcome Page of the course. The Welcome Page (also known as the Landing Page) orientates students to make connections between course themes; different learning activities and topics.
Represent the metaphorical course map by preferred presentation software. For example, Smart Art in Microsoft Word; PowerPoint; Keynote or Google Slides.
Save the metaphorical course map as an image
Upload it into the course Welcome Page in Blackboard or the course site.

At the beginning of the Semester:

Alert students to the Welcome Page
Explain the structure and thinking of the various themes in the course to helps students connect the themes to their learning

Conditions/Critical Success Factors

Knowledge of course themes and learning outcomes
Knowledge of appropriate software to draw the metaphorical course map
Knowledge of Blackboard

Resources/ Technology

RMIT Students Blackboard (http://www1.rmit.edu.au/browse;ID=00k1gtvozyuo1)
RMIT Blackboard interactive tutorials (http://www1.rmit.edu.au/staff/professionaldevelopment/blackboard tutorials - requires staff id to login)
Microsoft Word – Smart Art
Microsoft PowerPoint
Keynote
Google Slides
Example of course map (https://courses.cns.utexas.edu/ssc302/inferentialstatistics.html)

Related Category:

Academic Skills

Active learning

Personalisation

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Design Pattern

Improved Navigation Through A Course Map