MCC Center for Teaching & Learning: Welcome

With NECHE accreditation looming, it is important that we can document that our students are actually meeting the learning objectives stated on the CCOs. Traditional planning focuses on identifying content to cover – often driven by the textbook – and then developing assessments. Backwards design flips this process to promote learning over coverage:

1. Start with the learning objective as stated on your CCO. You may want to break them down into smaller components as you plan if your learning target is very complex.
2. Determine acceptable evidence of mastery for each objective and develop assessments that allow students to demonstrate their understanding
3. Work backwards from these assessments to develop lecture content, readings, and practice activities that are specifically directed at preparing students for the targeted assessments. This keeps the course content focused on the learning goals rather than just “covering content”. You may find for example that your primary textbook is not the best source for meeting some of your specific objectives, in which case you would need to provide supplemental resources or teaching.

The resources below give a more detailed explanation of the backwards planning process:  

·         Backwards Design – The Basics podcast/blog – this is aimed at K-12 teachers, but if you substitute learning objectives for standards it still applies to higher education.

·         Using Backward Design to Plan Your Course – this article from the Ohio State University center for teaching and learning breaks the 3 basic steps above into a 5-step

October Coffee Talk Dates:

• Tuesday, October 21, 12:00 – 1:00 pm
• Thursday, October 23, 5:30-6:30 pm

Join us in the Center for Teaching and Learning or on Zoom:  https://ccsnh.zoom.us/j/7426462791