Guidelines for Populating the Weekly Introduction
Use this template to create an introduction to a specific week, module, or unit of content. Replace “Weekly Introduction Page Template” with your own title. Update the information and/or revise the headings to suit your course. Do not to delete the entire contents of any template page as this will remove the template styling. If you lose the styling, reload the template to start again with the original template.
Introduction
Provide a brief overview of the week’s content. This is a great place to connect to prior learning.
You can use this section to gain attention, establish relevance and pique curiosity.
Learning Outcomes
This section provides learners with a clear purpose to focus their learning efforts. Learning outcomes presented in the weekly introduction are sub-outcomes of your course learning outcomes. Alternatively, list the course learning outcomes that are addressed through this week’s content and assignments.
Resource: CTE Teaching Tips
Key Terms
You can add this section to provide pre-training and reduces the cognitive load of the content. Consider using this section if you have new vocabulary to introduce and/or contextualize.
Required Readings
If you have readings from a textbook or course reserve, share this information with students here. Electronic readings can be provided as an external link in the Content area in LEARN.
Reminder: Readings come from many different sources and hence are accessed in various ways: Course Reserves, external links, or hosting (in LEARN or Perusall). Remember that it is important to uphold copyright terms, regarless of the access method you choose. Learn More: Copyright for Teaching Online.
If you are using course reserves, provide the following instructions to students:
Course Reserves can be accessed using the Library Resources widget on the Course Home page. You will be able to read and/or download the article being discussed.
Content
You can add links to PowerPoint presentations, embed videos, add online readings, etc. Use meaningful titles for links (e.g., the topic of the lecture + date rather than “lecture 1”). For videos and online readings, you may want to introduce the resource and why it’s important for your class and the estimated length in time to view the resource.
Activities
You can add this section if there are any activities that you expect students to complete for this week. These are ungraded and may include discussion postings, reflections, practice quizzes, and more.
Assessments
State any assignments that are due this week. These are graded assessments. Consider linking to your course schedule for due dates rather than repeating them. This makes it easier to update your course for a future offering. You may want to refer to separate assignment instruction pages rather than including it here. There are LEARN templates available for dropbox, quiz, and discussion instructions.
For example,
Complete Assignment 1. See your Course Schedule for due dates and the Assignment 1 Instructions.
Optional Readings and Resources
You can add this section if there are any supplemental resources (articles, videos, etc.).
References
Include the citations, in a consistent style, as needed.