Section outline

  • Research shows that courses with online resources are easier for students to navigate if they are laid out in a consistent manner. Different components should be easy for students (and the reviewer!) to find - if we cannot find the item we're looking for within 10 minutes, we will offer suggestions to you about where else you might present the item or materials.

    It is also important to make students aware of your expectations ahead of time, including how items will be graded. Please use the resources on this page to assist you in any of the elements listed below in the checklist.

    • Course Organization


      Checklist Annotations

      Course Organization and Set-Up includes:

      ☐ 3.1 – Key components and content structures that are clear, organized and easy to navigate.

      In general, you will want your course to be navigable by a student - even those new to online learning or your instructional area. To meet this expectation, we will test to ensure that the reviewer can find all items included on the syllabus and course schedule in 10 minutes or less. We will apply this standard to the first 3 weeks of the course (or to the equivalent content if your course is set up using Learning Sections / Topics instead of weeks).
    • Course Organization: Example Page
    • Tutorial: Renaming Topics/Sections in Your Course URL
      View this tutorial for information on renaming the topics/sections of your course.

    • Consistent Layout


      Checklist Annotations
      Course Organization and Set-Up includes:
       
      ☐ 3.2 – Content or topic areas that are consistently laid out

      To meet this expectation, content areas of the course (whether sections, pages, etc) should have a consistent layout and flow. Each area need not contain exactly the same information; however, students (and the reviewer) should be able to find information within the 10-minute search guideline.
    • Visually Consistent Layout: Example Page

    • Module-Level Learning Objectives


      Checklist Annotations

      Course Organization and Set-Up includes:

      ☐ 3.3 - Module learning objectives are present.

      		 Module level learning objectives must be present in the course. (Generally, these are contained in the weekly topics or sections throughout the course.)
    • Module-Level Objectives: Example Page
    • Writing Clear and Measurable Learning Objectives URL
      Explore this site to clarify how to write / rewrite measurable learning objectives.

    • Links to Tutorials


      Checklist Annotations

      Course Organization and Set-Up includes:

      ☐ 3.4 - Links to tutorials on the use of LMS tools when needed.

      In the case where technology tools are incorporated, instructions are provided to students on the use of these tools. This can be done in the syllabus or somewhere else in the course.
    • Example: Link to Support for Third Party Tool Page

    • Grading Information for Assignments


      Checklist Annotations

      Course Organization and Set-Up includes:

      ☐ 3.5 – Explicit information on how assessments will be graded.

      This information could include a rubric for assignments, examples of the level of work expected, and/or specific grading information (including whether partial credit is available, grammar requirements, etc.)
    • Grading Information for an Assignment: Example

      Click here to download an example writing assignment rubric.

    • Grading Information for a Automatically-Graded Activities: Example Page

    • Gradebook Set Up


      Checklist Annotations

      Course Organization and Set-Up includes:

      ☐ 3.6 – A gradebook that matches the syllabus and properly reports to Aviso.

      The overall course grade must be set as a percentage to communicate with Aviso. (This is usually set correctly by default in Moodle.)

      While you may be accustomed to keeping your gradebook offline, having your complete gradebook in Moodle helps students see their most current grade and what assignments they are missing. Fortunately, just like an Excel spreadsheet, Moodle will calculate students' overall course grades for you, depending on your gradebook settings.

      E-Learning is happy to assist you in building your gradebook so that it matches your syllabus grading set-up, so please contact us at elearning@southwesterncc.edu. We have also included links to tutorials below that you may find helpful.

    • Gradebook Resources

      • Gradebook Tutorials: Use this resource for all things Gradebook-related. You will find tutorials on setting up the calculation method you'd like to use as well as adding columns, categories, and more.
      • Tutorial: Aviso: Use this tutorial to double-check that your grades will report properly to Aviso.

    • Sample Moodle Course - Online

      Click above to view a sample course if you'd like to see how these expectations play out in a course.