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Faculty Orientation - Course Planning

Course Planning Overview

This section will provide you with guidelines in planning for and developing your CMU courses. We want to ensure you have a clear understanding of CMU’s values and expectations for faculty, so you can follow consistent standards and recognize the criteria used for evaluation of faculty performance

Maximizing Learning

The complete outline of CMU ProfEd’s expectations for our instructors is described in Maximizing Learning: Articulation of the Faculty Role. We encourage you to take the time and read the full document carefully. Below we list the 6 requirements for the faculty role, and on the next page are the 8 principles for teaching effectiveness that we emphasize in our courses. Listed under each requirement/principle are some important points that frequently come up in faculty questions or in students’ course evaluations

Faculty Requirements

  1. Plan teaching sessions: design teaching sessions from the Master Course Syllabus.
  2. Integrate principles for effective adult learning: see the eight teaching principles on the next page.
  3. Assess student learning using reliable and valid measures: clearly explain criteria for evaluating each graded course requirement and the weight of each requirement in determining the student’s final grade.
  4. Monitor and evaluate teaching: maintain awareness of verbal and non-verbal communication to show energy, give positive encouragement to students and convey enthusiasm for the subject.
  5. Prioritize professional development: seek support and advice from colleagues and provide the same for fellow faculty and staff.
  6. Follow CMU/ProfEd procedures:
    • meet with students for the required contact hours and on the assigned dates
    • maintain compliance with deadlines for submitting course materials and grades

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