TWU Blogs

Using the Course Information Menu Item

Course design principles suggest creating a section providing an overview of the course and providing one click access to main categories or sections of the course.
- This general overview can be highly personalized.
To begin to orient students to the course – moving from general to specific is a promising strategy. Although some of the material is also covered in a comprehensive syllabus for the course, creating a section that is displayed on the menu allows students to see the most important information from anywhere in the course with one click.
Students want to know exactly what types of learning activities and assignments are found in the course.

Providing a general overview of the course allows the instructor to provide context and the rationale for the course.
A general overview allows students to see the relationship of the course to a program or to life outside the university.
Although much of this information may be presented in the syllabus, it is usually presented in a formal manner. A general overview may be a location to translate the information contained in the syllabus for students.
The course schedule is extremely helpful for planning and mapping due dates and required assignments/ assessments.
Detailed procedures for submitting assignments are useful for students and will reduce questions later in the semester.
Suggested communication methods are helpful to both students and instructors.
Remember that you are not restricted to this particular title for your menu item. You can personalize the title by renaming this menu item according to your preferences. See Course Design for more information.
- This is individual user preference regarding how much and what types of materials are presented.