Course Outline – Your Learning Journey Starts Here!

Group C! We thought your Interactive Learning Resource was very well thought out, engaging, intuitive, and user-friendly. We loved going through your resource and we could tell that you guys put a lot of effort into your project and wanted to make it clear that it was evident when we engaged in your ILR draft. The relevance and universality of your topic really adds an amazing foundation to your learning resource as it’s relevant to anyone and everyone. Below is a more detailed bullet point form of our feedback organized by theme, and hopefully the information below is helpful for your final draft. 

General

  • The site is well laid out and easy to follow.  Menus are very clear.
  • We like that the Course Outline lists descriptive titles of “modules” to be covered
  • The graphic on landing page is attractive and welcoming
  • We couldn’t find the information in your learning context section:  Who is the target audience for this course?
  • The “Effects of Technology on Sleep” content seems to be missing.
  • We like how you guys gave a guide on how to get started cutting out any confusion in taking the course!
  • Your topic is very well thought of – we like how it’s something that affects everyone and because of that is pretty universal! We would think almost anyone would benefit from reading and participating.

Lesson Clarity

  • On the landing page, should the subtopics be indented?
  • In the “Sleep Hygiene” learning activity, the task asks students to reflect on patterns and make changes to improve sleep.  This makes us think we should make those changes during the week of tracking.  Would it be more clear to make that second sentence a “look ahead”?  For example, “After tracking, you will reflect on…”
  • Are the pre-assessments and learning activities meant to be submitted for feedback?  If so, how should they be submitted?
  • For the REM Cycles subtopic, a graphic or video might be useful to help with clarity.

Alignment

  • Your explanation of how your course design aligns with cognitivism is clear and easy to understand, as is the rationale behind this approach for this course.
  • Pre-assessments and clear strategies to apply align well with cognitivism.
  • We’re confused about your explanation of rationale behind your Formative Assessment structure.  Shouldn’t assessment be in relation to the intended learning outcomes rather than an additional learning activity?
  • We’re curious what big ideas and essential questions are part of your design.  We didn’t find them in your overview.
  • We don’t quite understand how the submission of the PowerPoint assignment for the REM subtopic is done.  Are students supposed to post to the course website?
  • There are quite a number of learning activities that include tracking sleep.  You could consider increasing support for executive function by making these assignments more consistent in structure.

Interactivity

  • Pre-assessment on “Improving Sleep Hygiene” page adds to the interactivity.  Should these question responses be submitted for feedback?  How should work be submitted? 
  • Having students use their own sleep data is very engaging and helps students make connections to their own lives.
  • Reflection tasks encourage students to think deeply about the content and make connections to their own sleep.
  • Requiring students to contribute meaningfully to one another’s learning is very interactive and is an engaging way to promote co-construction of knowledge.

Inclusivity

  • Key terms sections are helpful for those who are not familiar with the language.
  • Simple “main ideas” list at the end is an effective way to review the content.  This is helpful for everyone, but particularly for those who may have difficulty with language.
  • To support executive function, you could consider adding a template for tracking sleep habits.
  • Grading rubrics are clear and easy to follow.  For small assignments, a percentage breakdown could look a little daunting.  Consider marks out of 10?
  • Are there any choices in means of expression for the summative assessment?
  • Generally, the website is simple to navigate and easy to read.  This is helpful for technological accessibility as well as accessibility for language disabilities.
  • Alt text on pictures would help increase accessibility for those with visual exceptionalities.
  • Additional resources like the “Read more about it here” section in “Sleep and Mental Health” increases engagement for students who are interested in digging deeper into the topic.
  • The transparent learning outcome on the “REM Cycles” section is helpful for supporting engagement.

Technology Use

  • AI images are attractive and make the site more engaging.
  • But you may want to consider that they should be carefully used when it’s for educational use, ensuring that any integration of AI tools aligns with educational goals and maintains the integrity of the learning experience.
  • Should AI graphics attributions include the prompt used, in addition to the generative tool, which you have included?
  • The overview on the front page containing a friendly course outline is a good idea to help with navigation of the course design.
  • However, the link to “First, read this page…” is missing
  • The first three subtopics are closed to public view (using the link that is in that overview.  From the drop down menu, the content links are fine.)
  • Discussion forum is a useful tool to encourage collaborative learning construction.  You could consider using specific prompts to scaffold interaction.
  • Consider using key words to link to rather than showing the actual website address.  We think this would improve readability.
  • Crafting an effective blog title is crucial for capturing readers’ attention and conveying the main idea succinctly. It would be great if you could make more effective blog name to show your main idea at one glance

References

  • There are a good number of references.
  • There is a link to information about Inquiry-Based Learning on the Learning Theories and Learning page.  It looks like the description of Inquiry-Based Learning in the text might be a statement that might need a citation to that reference?

Overall, this course site is looking good. We appreciate the work you’ve put into it, and we learned some things about the importance of having a good sleep reviewing this!