Course Alignment Activity

While these principles are the starting point, applying them to your particular course can be complex. It is helpful to consider the cycle of assessment. The image below comes from NYU’s Teaching and Learning resources for Outcomes and Assessment.

Circular image of the assessment cycle, including Identifying Learning Goals or Outcomes, Ensuring Learning Opportunities, Gather Evidence of Learning, Analyze and Interpret Evidence of Learning, and Use the Results

Assessment is not a one-time effort; it is an ongoing process. Outcomes are all about learning, and that's what we're all about as instructors. Instructors start with the goals in mind and design learning experiences. When students complete early, low-stakes assignments (evidence of learning), faculty use those results both to provide feedback for individual students as well as to adjust teaching strategies. This continual loop of assessment, re-assessment, design, and re-design, keeps student learning at the center of our work.

There are many resources that help you make sure that your course is aligned to your outcomes. Often, this exercise is called course mapping. **Please note that this section suggests mapping individual courses rather than entire programs or degree maps. So, we are using the term Course Alignment Activity, and it designed to provide reflection on how one particular course's materials and assessments align with the outcomes. Based on backwards design principles, Course Alignment Activities are exercises in outlining or mapping all your instructional materials and assessments to the learning outcomes.

Frequently, course mapping templates use a table or chart that:

STEP 1: start with learning goals/outcomes,

STEP 2: list supporting instructional activities for each of those outcomes, and

STEP 3: identify assessments that teach, measure, and reinforce that outcome(s).

The purpose of this exercise is clear: it makes clear the connections between goals, activities, and assessments. It should lead to good questions that lead to improved courses. For example, if there is no tie between a particular lecture topic or reading assignment and a learning goal, it begs the question: should you really cover that topic or assign that reading? Do all your quizzes, demonstrations, presentations, or other assessments start with early, low-stakes practice before summative assessments?

Here's a great overview of the process from UC San Diego.

Example 1

Let's look at a more concrete example. We might start with the following template that identifies Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs), and then uses modules as an organizing principle for reviewing instructional activities and assessments.

CLOs	Module	Instructional Activities	Assessments	Time

The following example is adapted from a History 201 Course Map, created by Bronstein in 2015, and includes the following additional information. It is one example from New Mexico State's list of resources.

Course: History 201

Instructor: Bronstein

Date: Spring 2015

Course Learning Objectives

1. Students will demonstrate knowledge of key historical facts, values, and ideas that shaped the history of North American, British North America, and the United States to 1877.

2. Students will be able to explain how historians use primary sources to construct historical narratives.

3. Students will be able to identify and use the procedures that historians use to evaluate primary sources.

4. Students will be able to answer an open historical question using primary sources to support a thesis.

CLOs

Module

Instructional Activities

Assessments

1, 2

New World Encounters

Students will be able to identify the sources of the diversity of Native American societies before contact with the Europeans.

All students will read The American Story, chapter 1. Based on the pre-test results, students are also encouraged to consult supplemental material identified by the pre-test.

They will be able to describe the colonization strategies of the Spanish and French, and the details of the Columbian exchange.

Students will read chapter 1 of Discovering the American Past.

Students will be introduced to the concept of primary sources as the underlying sources for historical narrative.

Using MyHistoryLab, students will take the pre-test for chapter 1 of The American Story.

Each student will create one 250-word response to a prompt in the QOTW area, and will respond to at least one other student response.

1, 2, 3, 4

Democracy and Dissent

Students will be able to identify and compare and contrast the principles of the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans.

All students will read The American Story, chapter 7. Based on the pre-test results, students are also encouraged to consult supplemental material identified by the pre-test.

Students will be able to explain the relationship between foreign policy and the rise of the First Party System.

All students will read the page “Writing Exams in History Classes” Prepare Page on Writing Exams in History Classes

Students will answer an open-ended historical question using primary sources.

Using MyHistoryLab, students will take the pre-test for chapter 7 of The American Story.

All students will complete the midterm examination

Taking the course module by module, the instructor identifies all instructional activities (lectures, readings, discussions, online resources, etc.) support that learning goal, as well as the assessments (exams, quizzes, presentations, discussion boards, papers, etc.) connected to that module.

Example 1

Here's another way to organize an alignment analysis - the instructor looked at the course week by week with topics, textbook material, CLOs, and Assignments/Assessments. This example, Anthro 301 course alignment, also comes from New Mexico State's list of resources.

Here's a draft version of the first couple of weeks.

Week	Topic	Textbook Chapters and Content Material	Learning Objectives	Assignments/Assessments
1	Getting Started			Introduce self to other students
2			1. Identify, distinguish, and compare 4 subfields of U.S. anthropology
		Kottak, Chapter 1 and 2	2. Explain holism and its implications for cultural anthropology	Reading Quiz #1
3	Method and Theory	Kottak, Chapter 3 and 4		Reading Quiz #2

You will notice that there are some blanks. For example, the first week focuses entirely on introductions. While establishing class community is a worthy goal, there is also missed opportunities to connect personal introductions to course material. Also, some of the learning objectives identified included no assessments, and others had one summative assessment with no opportunity for students to discover whether or not they understood information before a points affected their grades. Revision to ensure alignment is needed here.

Revised Example

In this revised example, the instructor has connected assignments to the multiple objectives, providing more opportunities for check-ins (both for the instructor and for the students). The additional assignments allow for students to get feedback on their learning earlier and more often, as well as in a variety of ways. If students are not skilled quiz takers, they are likely to still do well - there are reflections and projects to demonstrate learning, not only quizzes. Also, the instructor has connected personal introductions and community building to a learning objective, allowing students to connect with disciplinary material week 1.

Overall, the revised example's assessments are better aligned to course learning objectives than the first draft.

Week	Topic	Textbook Chapters and Content Material	Learning Objectives	Assignments/Assessments
1	Getting Started	Intro key culture components and assign personal reflection/intro	3. Identify, explain, and give examples of the different components of culture.	Reflection #1
2	Culture	Kottak, Chapter 1 and 2	1. Identify, distinguish, and compare 4 subfields of U.S. anthropology	Quiz #1 Test #1
		Lecture Material	2. Explain holism and its implications for cultural anthropology	Quiz #1 Test #1
		Kottak, Chapter 1 and 2	3. Identify, explain, and give examples of the different components of culture.	Project #1: What is Culture?
		Kottak, Chapter 1 and 2 Lecture Material	4. Explain and contrast ethnocentrism and cultural relativism. Explain relevance of both for enculturation.	Pop Quiz #1
3	Method and Theory	Kottak, Chapter 3 Film: Bronislaw Malinowski	3. Identify, explain, and give examples of the different components of culture.	Pop Quiz #2 Project #2: Participant Observation Quiz #2 Test #2

Templates

If you would like to work on your own course alignment review, here are a variety of templates that help you align your own courses. Download a file and map the connections between outcomes, learning materials, and assessments.

Course Alignment Matrix form, developed by Dr. Maria Christian for Quality Matters
Course Mapping Template (Word document download)
Mapping a Course Template (Word document download)
Course Map Template (Excel file download)

If you would like to talk to someone about your work, contact the Assessment Co-Coordinators, Rachel Kendoll (CTE) and Stacy Kowtko (Transfer), or TLC Director, Angela Rasmussen.

Additional Resources

For additional reading on the topic of course mapping, see the additional resources below.

"Course Mapping" by Wiley Education Services
Carnegie Mellon’s Eberly Center: Curriculum Mapping Tool (Excel file)
Vicki Caruana’s, “How a Course Map Puts You on Track for Better Learning Outcomes” Faculty Focus July 6, 2015.
Fink, L.D. (2003). Creating significant learning experiences. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Jacobs, H.H. (2004). Getting results with curriculum mapping. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Kenny, N., & Watson, G. (2014). Course alignment table. Open Learning and Educational Support, University of Guelph.
Meyers, N. M., & Nulty, D. D. (2009). How to use (five) curriculum design principles to align authentic learning environments, assessment, students’ approaches to thinking and learning outcomes. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 34(5), 565-577.
Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.