Module One

[HOOK]

This is an OPTIONAL section.  To remove, click the SELECT tab to the right of this box and then press the Delete key on your keyboard.

Purpose: To gain learners’ attention, build motivation, peak curiosity or interest in the topic and/or to establish relevance. This helps learners to both focus their attention on the upcoming material and establish a connection between this unit or module and other units within the course.

Instructional Guidance: keep this section very short and concise. You may want to provide students with some startling statistics, a relevant real-world event, a very brief story or pose some provocative questions that will be addressed. You may also simply summarize the important points from the last module and provide a brief hint at where this new module will take students on their learning journey through your course. Suggested optional titles for this section include:

  • Start Here
  • Why is this Important?
  • Setting the Stage

Suggested formats: Text only, text with a relevant image, 1-2 minute video

Learning Outcomes

Purpose: To tell learners what they will know, be able to do, or value by the end of the module/unit.

Instructional Guidance: State in specific and measurable terms what learners will know, do or value by the end of the module. Two to five learning outcomes per module or unit maximum. For more information on writing learning outcomes, see Writing Intended Learning Outcomes – University of Waterloo and Writing Effective Learning Outcomes - Queen's University.

Suggested format: Text only

 

What Should You Already Know?

This is an OPTIONAL section.  To remove, click the SELECT tab to the right of this box and then press the Delete key on your keyboard.

Purpose: To establish the foundational knowledge that learners need in order to proceed successfully with the module.

Instructional Guidance: Where appropriate, this might include:

  • Reminders
  • Refresher/remedial resources (self-check questions might be a good primer here)
  • An organizational chart/concept map/infographic that learners would recognize
  • Clear and simple explanation telling the learner how they will use what they know to learn the new material 

Suggested formats: text, images, video, link to external resources, link to relevant page(s)

Key Concepts

This is an OPTIONAL section.  To remove, click the SELECT tab to the right of this box and then press the Delete key on your keyboard.

Purpose:  To introduce learners to the names and characteristics of the main concepts in this module. 

Instructional Guidance:

Where appropriate, this might include:

  • A simple list of key terms and concepts to be covered
  • Terms and concepts defined (example: a glossary)
  • A key question or set of questions to be answered by the learner as they proceed through the content
  • A diagram or other visual representation of the concepts in this module

For more information, see the “ Pre-training Principle” on the Useful page of CEL’s Honeycomb site.

Suggested formats: Text, images, video, link to external resources, link to relevant page(s)

Readings and Resources

This is an OPTIONAL section.  To remove, click the SELECT tab to the right of this box and then press the Delete key on your keyboard.

Purpose: To provide a list of resources learners are required to explore beyond the content

Suggested formats: A bibliographic list (with proper citation),  sections from a textbook, links to articles in Course Reserves or external resources. 

Instructional guidance: CEL’s Copyright Specialist would be happy to assist you with issues relating to copyright.

Content

Purpose: To provide the instructional material to learners.

Instructional Guidance: Online content should be chunked into short, stand-alone segments. Consider both the sequencing of your content and the mastery level of your students as you select or create it. Take care to provide context around your content, introducing it to students and guiding them through the important aspects of it. You are encouraged to consider using high-quality, openly available educational resources. If content is not your original material, please ensure that the University’s copyright guidelines are followed.

Suggested formats: Text, images, video demonstrations, links to external resources, audio narration over powerpoint presentation, guest interviews, and more.

Please see UXDL honeycomb for more information on creating engaging content. CEL would be happy to assist you with multimedia content creation for your course.

The running times for media items are approximate (denoted by "~"). Actual time spent on individual media items may vary by user.

Activities and Assignments

This is an OPTIONAL section.  To remove, click the SELECT tab to the right of this box and then press the Delete key on your keyboard.

Purpose: To draw learners’ attention to activities and upcoming graded assignments.

Supplementary Resources

This is an OPTIONAL section.  To remove, click the SELECT tab to the right of this box and then press the Delete key on your keyboard.

Purpose: To  provide a list of resources learners are encouraged (but not required) to explore beyond the content.

Suggested formats: A bibliographic list (with proper citation),  sections from a textbook, links to articles in Course Reserves or external resources.

Instructional guidance: CEL’s Copyright Specialist would be happy to assist you with issues relating to copyright.