One way to approach course design is to think in terms of what your students might say to a potential employer about their experience.
• What was special about the course and the person teaching it?
• What were they tasked with doing?
• What specific actions were required to successfully complete the task(s)?
• What did they learn/accomplish?
Just as your students will construct a narrative to talk about your course, you want to structure your course in a way that lends itself to the telling of that narrative. To accomplish that, we promote the use of the STAR approach. The STAR method incorporates:
• Situation – You will need to situate your course within a context that is current, relevant and reflects your work experience.
• Task – students will need to complete one or multiple as part of your course. They will do this either individually or as part of a team where they are assigned a specific role or responsibilities.
• Action –Lay out the steps required to complete the task(s).
• Result – Think about what you would like to see as the desired outcome(s) and how you are going to recognize superior achievement.