Course Planning Service, CLEAR, CUHK

Course Outline Template

Introduction

The course outline template is provided as a checklist and form for teachers to use in preparing course catalog for inputting
to the Chinese University Student Information System (CUSIS) for undergraduate and/or postgraduate courses and for
preparing course outline for students. It gives a road map or rationale to students about the purpose and structure of the
course, and it explains to them how their learning performance in the course will be assessed and graded. It is important
that course catalog and outline are consistent with the Universitys teaching and learning policy. The 14 sections in a
course outline are described below. Sections 110 are required in course catalog for course approval; these sections will
be stored in CUSIS. Information in sections 1114 should be provided each time a course is offered. Please feel free to
adapt this current template format, especially sections 1114, to suit the needs of your course(s).

1. Course code 8. Assessment type

2. English title 9. Required and recommended readings
3. Chinese title 10. Feedback for evaluation
4. Course description 11. Course schedule
5. Learning outcomes 12. Contact details for teacher(s) or TA(s)
6. Course syllabus 13. Details of course website
7. Course components (Learning activities) 14. Academic honesty and plagiarism

13. Course code, English title and Chinese title

Key points: This is a straightforward section. Provide the basic information about the course code and name of your
course at the beginning of the course outline.

Course Code:
Title in English:
Title in Chinese:

4. Course description
Key points: Explain concisely in your statement(s) what the course is about and how the overall course will support
student learning in the discipline(s) of the programme. The purpose of a course description is to provide a holistic view
of your course with coherent information for your students. It is useful to give details of the background of the subject:
the prior knowledge the students should have, the overall aims of the course, and/or how the course relates to the other
courses in the programme.

Course description:

5. Learning outcomes
Although the term learning outcome is often used interchangeably with terms such as learning objectives, educational
objectives, and instructional objectives, there are some differences that are worth mentioning. Learning outcomes are
student-oriented, referring specifically to what students are expected to achieve or learn at the end of the course.
Objectives are usually used to describe course design in terms of what teachers want to teach or how they view the course
as contributing to the content areas covered by the entire programme.

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Key point: State clearly what you expect/ intend students to achieve. This is usually more helpful than stating what the
teacher is planning to teach. Teachers can indicate different levels of students expected learning outcomes. The model
below may be helpful in distinguishing basic and higher-order desired learning outcomes (after Biggs, 2003).
Biggs, J. B. (2003). Teaching for quality learning at university (2nd ed.). Buckingham: Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University
Press.
Theorise
Generalise
Compare/ Hypothesise
contrast Reflect
Explain causes Create
Analyse Design
Relate
Enumerate Apply
Describe Predict
List
Clarify
State Do algorithms
Recognise
Recall
Tell

Misses point

Missing the point Single point Multiple Logically related Unanticipated

unrelated points answer extension

Quantitative phase Qualitative phase

Learning outcomes:

6. Course syllabus
Key point: Highlight the fundamental concepts involved in each topic in order to help students better understand what is
and what is not covered in the course.

Topic Contents/ fundamental concepts

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7. Course components (Learning activities)

Indicate the course components of the course, examples of which includes: lecture, interactive tutorial, laboratory,
field studies/field-trip, web-enhanced teaching, and also the instructor contact hours.

Key point: Consideration should be taken into regarding instructor contact hours and workload hours.
Considering student workload is an important part of course design. Here are some examples of rough calculations one
might make for a 3-credit-point course.

A student might do five 3-credit-point courses in a semester. Working on approximately 60 hours of actual study per
week, this implies that students might be expected to spend about 12-13 hours a week on work associated with a 3-credit-
point course. Only a small number of these hours might be in class.
How do you anticipate students will apportion the remaining hours?
Will this vary significantly throughout the term?

Answers to these questions should assist students in planning their work and also assist the programme as a whole in
assessing likely variation in student workload.

8. Assessment type
Key point: If we consider assessment to be part of the learning activities in the course, then it is clear that assessment
must be matched to the desired learning outcomes. You need to consider what and how the assessment task(s) are able to
help students achieve the desired learning outcomes.

Assessment type Percentage

9. Required and recommended readings

Key points: A well structured set of learning resources should be provided to students. These are usually in the form of
reading lists and references. They may also include sets of links to online resources and eBooks. It is often helpful to
separate these resources into ones which are central to the content and desired learning outcomes of the course (required
readings), and those which are relate to extensions of areas of the course (recommended readings). One needs to be
realistic about the amount of reading material students are likely to delve into. Overly long reading lists can be counter-
productive and discourage students.

Required readings:

Recommended readings:

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10. Feedback for evaluation

Key point: There are many forms of evaluation that you can use to generate the feedback from students such as
questionnaires, and qualitative feedback from students through focus-group meetings or email exchanges. Planning to
have a variety of evaluation strategies is more likely to ensure that valid, rich and diagnostic information is received.

Feedback for evaluation:

**********************************************

11. Course schedule

Key point: A matrix is suggested as a good way to represent a course schedule including class, date, topic and
requirements so that students can prepare their own learning before classes. It is useful to highlight important dates for
students, including holidays, dates when assessments are due and/or dates of tests and examinations.

Class/ week Date Topic Requirements

12. Contact details for teacher(s) or TA(s)

Key point: Help students to easily locate your contact information. The information allows students to arrange for any
consultation after classes or receive support in terms of learning and teaching from teacher, tutors and/or teaching
assistants. It is better to put both the teachers and TAs contact details such as name, office location, phone number and
email address.

Professor/Lecturer/Instructor:
Name:
Office Location:
Telephone:
Email:
Teaching Venue:
Website:
Other information:

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Teaching Assistant/Tutor:
Name:
Office Location:
Telephone:
Email:
Teaching Venue:
Website:
Other information:

13. Details of course website

Key point: Information concerning the accessibility of the course website (if it exists). This might be an open website or
the Blackboard platform hosted by the University. Teachers should also demonstrate the site in class so as to familiarize
the students with the key functionalities. More information on setting up course websites can be found at:
http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/eLearning

14. Academic honesty and plagiarism

Key point: Relevant information can be found via: http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/policy/academichonesty/. A course outline
may also include subject-specific requirements on plagiarism. A statement to be included in a course outline can be
constructed from the following paragraphs, depending on the nature of the assessment tasks.

Academic honesty and plagiarism

Attention is drawn to University policy and regulations on honesty in academic work, and to the disciplinary guidelines
and procedures applicable to breaches of such policy and regulations. Details may be found at
http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/policy/academichonesty/.

With each assignment, students will be required to submit a signed declaration that they are aware of these policies,
regulations, guidelines and procedures. For group projects, all students of the same group should be asked to sign the
declaration.

For assignments in the form of a computer-generated document that is principally text-based and submitted via
VeriGuide, the statement, in the form of a receipt, will be issued by the system upon students uploading of the soft
copy of the assignment. Assignments without the receipt will not be graded by teachers. Only the final version of the
assignment should be submitted via VeriGuide.

October 2014