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Course Design Essentials

An online offering designed to fast-track your course planning efforts

Course Design Essentials consists of a three-part webinar series on Zoom, along with activities in myCourses. You will consider a variety of strategies and apply principles of backward design to (re)design one of your courses and create a Course Alignment Plan. Note that these principles apply to courses taught on campus, in a blended manner, and fully online. 

Please note: Our course design offerings are intended for McGill instructors, teaching courses for McGill students. See our FAQ for more details.

Description

Goals

Upon completion of Course Design Essentials, you will be able to:

Describe learning-centered course design principles and strategies.
Apply these principles and strategies to the (re)design of your course.
Develop a Course Alignment Plan (CAP) with identified learning outcomes, assessments, and instructional strategies.

Time commitment

A series of three webinars (held over three days) is a 5 hour time commitment. In addition, there are activities designed to support you with developing your CAP and allow you to connect with other participants for discussion and feedback. Some of the myCourses activities begin prior to the webinar series. We estimate a time commitment of 2.5 hours for activities outside webinar time; however, time for reflection and additional work will vary on an individual basis.

NB: Webinars are not be recorded.

Date and schedule - 2025:

December 9-11, 2025 (Tuesday – Thursday inclusive)

Date	Time	Activity
In advance	~20 min.	Preparation activity in myCourses: Reflection questions about your course context
Webinar one	90 min. ~45 min.	Webinar (Zoom): Introduction to course design and writing learning outcomes Individual reading and course (re)design activities in myCourses
Webinar two	120 min ~45 min.	Webinar (Zoom): Planning assessments Individual course (re)design activities in myCourses
Webinar three	90 min ~45 min	Webinar (Zoom): Planning instructional strategies and next steps Individual course (re)design activities in myCourses

Register now!

Questions? For further information about Course Design Essentials, tls [at] mcgill.ca (subject: Course%20Design%20Essentials) (email us.)

Tags:

course preparation

Did you know?

You can access our course design offerings in three different formats:

A self-paced option in myCourses, a fast-track webinar series, and a two-day in-person workshop.

See all course design options

Frequently asked questions

Which course design offering should I take part in?

You can access our course design offerings in three different formats:

Just-in-Time Course Design: A self-paced option in myCourses (available anytime)
Course Design Essentials: A fast-track webinar series (usually offered at the end of the Fall term)
Course Design Workshop: A two-day in-person workshop (usually offered at the end of the Winter term)

The offering you decide to attend might depend on the date by which you need to design your course, the amount of time you have available, and the amount of support you need. You can find a comparison of the three offerings in this table.

Can I take the course design offerings more than once?

Absolutely! We invite you to take part in a course design offering each time you (re)design a course.

What is the difference between a Course Alignment Plan and a Course Plan?

A Course Alignment Plan (CAP) is a template designed to help you map out your course so that you have a guide for continuing your course design. Once you have filled it in, the CAP provides an overview of the alignment among course learning outcomes, assessments, and teaching strategies. A CAP is the main output of Just-in-Time Course Design and Course Design Essentials.

A Course Plan is a more in-depth planning document that you create to help develop your course outline. A Course Plan is the main output of the Course Design Workshop.

Can I take part in a course design offering even I do not have a specific course to design?

Course design is most valuable when the principles and strategies can be applied. For the Course Design Workshop, it is essential that you identify a specific course to work on during the workshop. For our other (self-paced and online) offerings, it is recommended you work on designing a specific course, but it is not required.

Can I take part in a course design offering if I am a teaching assistant?

Our course design offerings are designed for instructors. Teaching assistants can take part in our TA training at the beginning of each term.

Can I take part in a course design offering if I do not teach at McGill?

Sorry - no. Our course design offerings are designed for McGill instructors teaching courses for McGill students. Resources are freely available in the Teaching and Learning Knowledge Base for those who wish to learn more about learning-centered approaches to teaching.

What if I need more support to design or teach a course?

McGill instructors can book a consultation for additional support related to teaching and learning at McGill.

McGill University is on land which has served and continues to serve as a site of meeting and exchange amongst Indigenous peoples, including the Haudenosaunee and Anishinabeg nations. Teaching and Learning Services acknowledges and thanks the diverse Indigenous peoples whose footsteps mark this territory on which peoples of the world now gather. This land acknowledgement is shared as a starting point to provide context for further learning and action.

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