xample of Topic Outline

Several aspects must be considered in writing a topic outline.

Recall that all headings and subheadings must be words or phrases, not
sentences.
Also, the wording within each division must be parallel.
Finally, as in any outline, remember that a division or subdivision cannot be
divided into one part; therefore, if there is an "A" there must be a "B," and if there
is a "1" there must be a "2."
I. Family Problems
A. Custodial: Non-custodial Conflicts
B. Extended Family
C. Adolescent's Age
II. Economic Problems
A. Child Support
B. Women's Job Training
C. Lower Standard of Living
D. Possible Relocation
1. Poorer Neighborhood
2. New School
III. Peer Problems
A. Loss of Friends
B. Relationships with Dates

Structuring a Syllabus
Following are key components that should be included in every course syllabus.

1. A detailed description of the course, including your expectations and goals for
the course. This should also include the course description for the Bulletin.
2. Course format, e.g., lecture, seminar, language, laboratory, etc., and number
of points for the course, based on the Guidance on Course Points.
3. Student learning outcomes, what specific skills, knowledge, or attributes do
you expect students to come away with after successfully completing this
course?
4. A list of required and recommended texts for the course texts being defined
not only as books and articles, but also other media such as films and music.
5. The requirements for the course and the percentage of the grade that will be
based on each requirement. When course requirements are not articulated,
students can form false impressions and expectations. Please be explicit and
explain your requirements as fully as possible. In particular, stating what
percentage of the grade will be based on each requirement gives students an
indicator of your expectations. Depending on course type, typical components
of course requirements include the following:
o Attendance: It is expected that students will attend class. Although a
policy on absence should be provided on the syllabus, attendance in
class should not be a substantive basis for grading.
o Participation: If you choose to assign a participation grade to students,
please provide students with clear guidelines regarding your
expectations, as well as evaluative feedback throughout the semester.
o Examinations: Final examinations must be administered during the
exam period.
 o Presentations: If a proportion of the grade is allocated to an in-class
presentation, please convey graded feedback on the presentation to
students.
o Weekly readings: Be sure to assign preparatory homeworks and/or
readings for each class that correspond to the workload expectation of
the course. For a three-point course, students are expected to conduct
an average of six hours of work outside of the classroom. For a four-
point course, students should conduct eight hours of outside work. It is
not atypical for students to take three hours to complete 150 pages of
readings, depending on the density of the texts.
o Written work: It is the expectation of the COI that students will be
required to submit a substantive final paper for a seminar or
colloquium. Students should receive timely evaluations of their written
work.

It is a COI expectation that undergraduates will receive substantive

evaluations of their academic work and progress during the semester
and that such evaluations will be consistent with the principles applied
in determining the final grade for the course. All undergraduate
courses should have some graded work required prior to or around the
midterm (even in seminars) so that students may understand their
academic performance in the course thus far. In no case should 100%
of the grade be based on end-of-term work.
6. A weekly and session-by-session breakdown of topics and readings for the
course.
7. A Faculty Statement on Academic Integrity and a reference to the Columbia
University Undergraduate Guide to Academic Integrity, which should also
include information on what will and will not be allowed in class and in exams
(e.g. laptops will be allowed in class for taking notes, but are not allowed in
exams; cell phones must be turned off in class).
8. A Faculty Statement on Disability Accommodations.

Should instructors have any questions about planning a new course and structuring
its syllabus, please contact Lisa Hollibaugh, Dean of Academic Planning and
Administration, and Victoria Rosner, Dean of Academic Affairs, at cc-gs-
courses@columbia.edu.

How to Structure Your E-

Learning Course
4 minutes

1570 views
Maybe youre an e-Learning pro, just looking to tweak your style to
make your courses more effective. Or maybe youre a novice,
completely overwhelmed by the idea of creating mobile courses
from scratch. Whatever the case, properly structuring your course
will help with its creation as well as your learners ability to absorb
and retain the knowledge.

Below, well discuss how to break down your subject material into
more manageable portions, organize it intelligently, and craft the
rest of the presentation around it. Keep in mind that a great e-
Learning course is one that both conveys what youre trying to
teach and keeps learners interested throughout, as only their
engagement can guarantee long-term retention. Ready to engage?
Go.

1. Decide what material to cover

Before you can begin formulating a good structure for your e-
course, you must decide what material you will cover. Lets say
youre a paper supplier to large medical corporations, for instance.
Will your course teach how to find and woo prospects? How to set
up purchase orders? How to deliver the paper? Of course, what
youre teaching depends on whom youre teaching: salespeople,
office personnel, warehouse workers. Decide what you want to
teach, and the goals of the course, and then the material you want
to cover will fall into line.
2. Group subject matter into modules
Once youve decided what to cover in your course, its time to group
the subject matter into a sensible outline. Lets say youve decided
to create a course on setting up purchase orders. Topics could
include how to use the system, how to double-check the order, how
to give discounts or deals, how to record client information, and
how to communicate with salespeople. These are your modules, or
main course sections. Each will be further broken down in the next
step.

3. Break down each module into sections

Take one module at a time, organizing the material that falls
underneath it into a cohesive teaching outline. For recording client
information, for example, you might instruct on recording personal
info, tracking purchases, noting when to call about refills, and
communicating special incentives.

Now that youve got your subject material completely organized, its
time to put it into slide form. If you know how to use PowerPoint
well and can create your own presentation from scratch, fantastic.
If not, you might benefit from prefabricated templates. These are
an easy ways to create themed slides without having to do a lot of
the legwork yourself, so dont be ashamed to use them.

4. Link between sections for a self-directed

learning approach
This approach can help learners to go at their own pace, in their
own way. To this end, you can link different sections so that
learners can skip around to find the material that makes most sense
to them. If youre not yet sure how to create links to other
PowerPoint slides within your presentation, this handy tutorial will
point you in the right direction.
5. Create a roadmap for the course
At the beginning of the e-course, give a little intro roadmap so
students know what theyre going to learn. This helps to make the
structure more intuitive, and enables them to anticipate whats
coming so they can figure out how best to learn that material. Your
roadmap can be written, a flowchart, a video or an audio clip.
Choose what works best for you.

6. Develop a theme that reflects course

structure
Reflect structure in your theme. This might mean using different
background colors for separate modules, recording the module and
section numbers across the bottom, or using a little bar that fills
up as students proceed through the course. These kinds of
barometers are helpful for learners as they move through the
material.

No ones claiming that crafting an e-Learning course from scratch

is easy, but by breaking down your tasks into manageable chunks
with intuitive structure, you can turn what seems like an
overwhelming amount of material (for both you and your learners)
into a much more doable educational narrative.

Do you have any tips and tricks for structuring an e-Learning

course? Share them in the comments below!

If you liked the article, please let us know by clicking

the Share button.

If you have any ideas what kind of e-Learning topics you'd like to
see discussed, feel free to leave a comment; we're always happy to
write new content for you.
 iSpring Suite Authoring Tool
Build professional e-Learning courses right in PowerPoint.
Interactive courses, video lectures, simulations, screencasts, and
quizzes all in a single tool.

More about iSpring Suite

Course title: English for specific Purposes

Course Code :ACS112

Course structure - JN

Time Line Content topics Learning materials & resources

Activity
Weeks
Orientation
Introduction
Week 1 Course expectations
Course synopsis
Week 2 Importance of genre in writing Text analysis Photographs; magazine articles;
Journal articles
Genre types and text
Types
Genre, audience and
purpose of text
Give examples of language
used in different text
types

Features of academic texts 1 Compare /contrast Sports commentary; Essay; Journal

academic and non-academic articles
texts

2 Discuss distinctive features

of academic texts

3 Comment on features of
academic texts
Audience awareness Reading activity Research essays
Language Discuss relevance of Reports
Culture message to audience Newspaper articles
gender
Time Line Content topics Learning materials & resources
Activity
Weeks
Orientation
Introduction
Week 1 Course expectations
Course synopsis
How to convey meaning Discuss ways of
conveying meaning

Synthesizing information Make a presentation on a Library

subject using information The internet; Google docs
from different sources

Learning
objective 1
Discuss different
citation styles

Learning
objective 2
Analyze texts for
citation formats

Learning
objective 3:

Apply different
citation styles in
writing
Learning
objective 1 :

Using an
appropriate
audience analysis
technique
identify audience
needs

Learning
objective 1

Write an outline
for paper
presentation
Time Line Content topics Learning materials & resources
Activity
Weeks
Orientation
Introduction
Week 1 Course expectations
Course synopsis
Learning
objective 2

Prepare a
presentation
paper on a given
topic
Learning
objective 3

Present the paper

to a specified
audience
Course goal 7:
Write an
academic paper