Course Planning & Design Tools

Creating a structured plan before your class begins can save you time and provide clarity in the long term. In addition to past syllabi, several planning tools can be useful in preparing for, planning, and designing your course. Each planning tool below fills a different niche in planning and designing. They can be used in combination or separately, depending on your needs.

Course Map

Use a Course Map to align your content with your learning objectives, creating a week-by-week plan for the course.

Course Map Template

Course Rhythm

Use a course rhythm to diagram how course components will fit together over one week of your course.

Course Rhythm Template

Credit Hour

Use our credit hour worksheet to estimate student time and ensure your course meets the credit hour definition.

Credit Hour Worksheet

Additional Templates and Guides

  • Classroom Strategies with Top Hat

    See examples of how to use Top Hat effectively to surface student misunderstanding, gather questions and feedback from students, prompt discussion between students, and more.

  • Canvas Course Orientation Module Template

    Copy our Canvas Orientation Module into your course to get students started smoothly with course information, instructor information, campus resources, and welcoming activities.

  • Inclusive Canvas Setup Guide

    Make your own copy of our guide that helps you align your Canvas course settings with you syllabus policies, organize your course more effectively, and consider accessibility.

  • More Transparent Canvas Assignments & Grading

    See tips for making your Assignments in Canvas and your grading process more transparent to students. Clear expectations and processes help students understand how to do well in your course.

  • Considerations for Using AI in the Classroom

    Consider how you may or may not use generative AI in your classroom. Review steps for thinking through AI on your own, and see examples of how you might use AI with your students to get them thinking about concerns and capabilities.

  • Interpreting Student Feedback

    See strategies for reviewing, making sense of, and taking action based on feedback you receive from students through mid-semester and end-of-semester evaluations.

  • Make Your Syllabus More Inclusive

    Review 12 strategies for making your syllabus more inclusive for students. Pick one strategy to focus on next.

  • Writing Learning Goals

    See recommendations, frameworks, and examples for how to write clear program, course, or learning goals.

  • Award Extra Credit in Canvas

    If you award extra credit to students, it is important to plan your overall Canvas grading structure to account for this early in the semester. See three ways to set up your Canvas course to award extra credit.

  • Mid-Semester Feedback

    Gathering feedback from students in the middle of the semester can help you identify problems in your course early enough to take corrective action. It can also provide students an opportunity to self-reflect on their learning.

  • Absorb Do Connect Framework

    Review the Absorb, Do, Connect framework that can help you connect in-class and outside-of-class activities to create an engaging active learning experience for students.

Get Help

If you have questions about planning or designing your course, we’d love to help. Please request a consultation. We will reach out promptly to learn more and begin designing together. Our work typically starts with one 45-minute virtual meeting.

Meet with Us

Did you know?

Once a month we feature simple tips for using Canvas and other campus tools more effectively.

See all tips ​ ​