Course Preparation
How to Prepare an Existing or New Course?
The Course Leaders are responsible to---
• Recruit faculty to teach, create, update and share key course elements such as objectives, teaching methods, requirements regarding course materials and teaching expectations
• Request specific educator development sessions from the OUME to support and improve faculty teaching
• Review course expectations and objectives
• Oversee faculty material, provide feedback regarding clarity, format, scope and appropriateness of content with a goal of consistency of format and coordination of topics to support student learning
• Work with the OUME to build and maintain materials and databases required for curriculum management and accreditation
• Consult with faculty to promote best practices in material development such as materials being available in advance of class; inclusion of specific objectives, summary slides, key points, reflective questions to promote understanding and self-assessment; slide labeling with faculty members' last name, course abbreviation and year as a footer; development of exercises or questions for formative a summative student performance assessment.
Best practices for course materials: In order to support your teaching, the OUME offers educator development and shares resources and best practices for large and small group teaching with course leaders and faculty. Please contact us if you are interested in specific topics. Contact: Gail March Cohen, PhD., Assistant Dean, Undergraduate Medical Education Curriculum.
Best practices for developing new course materials include:
- Write clear and specific learning objectives using active verbs
- Describe your instructional methods, assessment methods, and resources using the AAMC Medbiquitous terminology
- Base your assessment methods on measuring achievement of the learning objectives
- Create lecture slides with plain backgrounds (no patterns or photos) and use contrasting backgrounds and fonts(e.g., black font on yellow or pastel backgrounds, OR yellow/white font on blue background). Plain white backgrounds are too glary on the eyes
- Have a slide stating no conflict of interest
- Include a title for each slide
- Limit text on the slides to the “Joy of Six” – 6 words per line, 6 lines per slide
- Simplify charts, figures and tables to show only the information you want your
students to learn - Cite sources in 12pt font at bottom
- Add UMass Chan Medical School logo to lower right corner View>Master Slide>copy and paste (available at here), OR option to use the UMass Chan Medical School PowerPoint template
- Begin with learning objectives and end with summary slide that answers the learning objectives
- Remember to apply inclusive language in your learning materials that avoid bias and add the Diversity, Representation, and Inclusion for Value in Education (DRIVE) disclosure slide provided on the DRIVE initiative website.
- Adhere to best practices in large and small group materials development Student Perspectives on Effective Teaching
FOM1 and FOM2 Preparation and Consolidation Time: In addition to course session hours, course leaders are allotted to schedule time “out of class” that can be used to assign students self-directed work that relates to an upcoming class session (preparation) or reinforces concepts after class sessions have occurred (consolidation). This time is allotted in 1 hour segments (maximum 2 hours per day, 10 hours per week across all courses) and often includes a brief formative assessment to allow students to gauge their mastery of the material. Use of all preparation and consolidation time by course leaders is optional. Preparation and consolidation time augment classroom learning and do not replace student homework or study time. Guidelines can be found: Preparation and Consolidation Guidelines. ‘Best practice’ examples can be accessed at: Examples of Preparation and Consolidation Assignments .
How to incorporate technology into my courses?
Lectures and large/intermediate non-required sessions in Foundational courses for AY21-22: To follow CDC and UMass Chan Medical School guidelines for COVID-19, the school is offering the HyFlex module for teaching and learning. The HyFlex combines the terms “hybrid” and “flexible.” A HyFlex class makes class meetings and materials available so that students can access them online or in-person, during or after class sessions. All students, regardless of the path taken, will achieve the same learning objectives.
In HyFlex courses, students can choose from one of three participation paths:
- Participate in face-to-face synchronous class sessions in-person (in a classroom)
- Participate in face-to-face class sessions via video conference (e.g., Zoom)
- Participate fully asynchronously via Learning Management System (Blackboard)
Teaching in a HyFlex class, IT has arranged that the class session can be taught in Zoom cloud that is automatically recorded and sent to Echo 360 for posting in Blackboard Learn (BBL) LMS. Or, the class session can be recorded locally for course administrators to send to Echo 360 and post in BBL. No patients can be recorded into Echo 360. Also, pointers are not recorded during a session. Instructors are requested to label slides or utilize the annotation tool in Zoom and save the annotations for asynchronous viewing. For further information, contact Manas Das, MD, Assistant Dean for the FOM Curriculum.
Integrated Teaching and Learning Center (iTLC): This learning environment has high-definition display of images that facilitates small group collaboration, Computer-Based Testing (CBT), and interactive multimedia teaching and learning. The iTLC is sponsored by the Office of Educational Affairs (OEA) and is jointly supported by Information Technology (IT) and OEA. The iTLC space is scheduled through the Office of Undergraduate Medical Education. Contact Jean Welker.
Integrating classroom technology into the course: Academic instructional Design and Technology (AIDT Team supports faculty and staff in the use of technology used for teaching and learning activities in classrooms, amphitheaters, and conference rooms. These technology tools such as Echo 360 lecture capture, ZOOM for video conferencing, and Top Hat for interactive slide presentations. See the AIDT website. Academic Technology staff train faculty and staff in the use of these tools prior to their use in the classroom, and also support faculty during their delivery of lectures and events. A minimum of 48-hour advance notice is kindly requested for scheduling purposes. To arrange for custom IT training, contact this website.
Student Laptop Requirement and Technology Orientation Sessions: The UMass Chan Medical School requires all incoming students to bring a laptop with them to act as a portal to online courses, streaming lectures and media, computer-based testing, virtual microscopy slides, and digital lecture notes. As a collaborative effort, Academic Technology staff work to develop and maintain standards for student laptops and ensure that all necessary security resources, links to required software, and minimum and preferred system requirements are clearly defined and available to students. In addition, they will organize and conduct Technology Orientation sessions with students during their first two days at the UMass Chan Medical School to ensure the proper functioning of their laptops and familiarity with necessary technology tools and resources.