Your Course Rationale
Paper Overview
Your Course Syllabus is based on your experience as a teacher, on other courses you have taken, and on what you think is best for teaching this particular material. Behind every course are lots of ideas and theories. For this paper, I would like you to unpack the thinking that has gone into how you have designed the course. Why did you cover the topics you did? Why are they in this order? What are you hoping students will learn? How have you tried to pace the course?
If you are on a job interview and asked to talk about your teaching, these are the things you would talk about to the hiring committee. Your Course Rationale should help reveal some of your beliefs about teaching. This document is a sort of meta-reflection on your teaching.
Along with your own ideas, I would like you to cite at least 2 key scholars whose work is tied to how you have designed the course.
Your Course Rationale is related to a Teaching Philosophy Statement, but this rationale is meant to be even more practical and tied to one specific course.
Paper Sources
- Find at least 2 scholarly sources that support the approach to the course you have chosen
- Include a list of references with Your Course Rationale
Paper Guidelines
- This paper should be 3-4 pages in length
- This paper should be in a 12-point font, double-spaced
- Please use paragraph breaks or, even better, headings for your key ideas