COSSID Step-by-Step Guide

The Annual Program Quality Assessment (APQA) process is an activity engaged in yearly to review the program map as well as indicators of overall program quality and improvement plans for the program. This helps to ensure the on-going currency and relevancy of the program for students.

Step 1 of the APQAs is to review your program map. This map is provided in Excel format. In this program map you will be looking for alignment between your Program Learning Outcomes, Essential Employability Skills and the learning outcomes for your course.

In tab 3 of the Excel spreadsheet, you will also be asked to complete a HLO Heat Map. In this heat map you are being asked to look for alignment between HLOs and content you are delivering in your course. At the course level, only a few (one to three) HLOs should emerge as the most dominant. It is unlikely that your course includes more than this unless it is a culminating course (such as a capstone). It is also okay if your course does not yet include any of the HLOs. This exercise is intended to give a sense of where the HLOs are present in the program overall and build a plan for more inclusion (if needed) in the future.

Course details define the format of the course and how it may relate to other courses in a program. This information is important for students as they plan timetables, transfer between programs, and may also be used when assessing exemptions.

A useful resource: A previous published version of the course outline (see Completed Course Outline Repository)

A course description is a clear and concise articulation of the key concepts and broad learning goals of the course. Ideally, it will attract a group of students who are eager to take the course after reading about the main goals and concepts. Course descriptions are also used by other institutions to assess whether a course is equivalent to another, which means these descriptions are important when students apply to transfer credits.

Note: Course Descriptions come directly from Banner and cannot be manually changed. If you discover that the course description needs to be altered, please complete a course inventory form, then send it to your Associate Dean to approve and submit it. The most up-to-date course descriptions can be found on the Humber programs website.

The HLO icons exist in COSSID to encourage consideration of the skills and mindsets to succeed in the future of work. You are likely already teaching some of these critical skills and mindsets as they are universally desired traits in industry. For more information, please refer to the Humber Learning Outcomes framework.

The course rationale explains the purpose of the course within the program. It is context oriented and explains why this course is important to a student’s overall success in the program. It should not be more than 2 sentences.

Having students be aware of the primary learning methods used in a course can help them be purposeful and strategic as they plan how to be successful. The course learning method might affect many things including how students approach their resource and information management, peer networking, and time management. This step is valuable for faculty because it encourages thoughtful reflection on whether there may be new course learning methods that would be more effective than what has traditionally been used.

The Essential Employability Skills are set by the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities and reflect the College’s mandate of preparing learners for success in work and life. These skills include communication, personal, interpersonal, thinking, mathematics, and computer skills. It is important to integrate employability skills into courses as they reflect the College’s and the MCU’s mandate of preparing students for success in work and life. As with academic and vocational skills, essential skills need to be articulated and measured.

Program learning outcomes (PLOs) specify the knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes that learners must master by the end of the program. PLOs are developed using a variety of resources such as: standards set by the Ministry of Colleges and Universities; professional organizations; advisory boards; and accrediting bodies. Understanding how a particular course fits within the larger program context enables students and faculty to make connections across the program curriculum. These connections foster critical thinking and enable students to consider how ideas and concepts are applied in the broader context of employment within a particular sector.

Course learning outcomes (CLOs) will guide learners and help them to understand the knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) that they are expected to achieve in a given course. They are the foundation of any effective learning experience. When we clarify what we want learners to accomplish, we can select appropriate assessments, teaching methods, and learning activities that effectively support that goal.

Design assessments and activities alongside course learning outcomes so that you can ensure you are measuring the intended goals of your learning experience. There can be flexibility in the options when the construct, or focus for the assessments and activities, are clear.

Useful resources:

• Guide to Developing Learning Outcomes
• Guide to Universal Design for Learning

Summative Assessments

Summative assessments focus on learner performance after instruction has occurred, such as unit exams, final project artifacts, or chapter summaries. They should incorporate important knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) learned during the instructional period and demonstrate how the students meet the related course learning outcome or outcomes.

Summative assessments are often used for accountability purposes, criterion for admittance, or to compare learner performance. They can also be used to reflect on ways to improve teaching methods and learning strategies and to further design goal-directed learning environments.

Formative Assessments

Formative assessments are designed to monitor student learning in-process. They are implemented on an ongoing basis as “check-ins” to measure learner progress towards the targeted learning outcomes. Formative assessments are low stakes (low to no grade value) to encourage learners to practice target KSAs, rather than to demonstrate mastery. Examples may include Exit Tickets, In-Class Polls, Class Discussions, and Rough Drafts.

The results of formative assessments can empower both instructors and learners. They provide useful data to instructors to appropriately adjust instructional methods to support learners in achieving the intended outcomes. They allow learners to identify areas for growth and benefit from instructor feedback during the learning process, while there is still opportunity to make necessary adjustments.

Useful resources:

• Principles of Assessment Design
• Formative Assessment Strategies
• Summative Assessment Strategies
• Creating Rubrics

Breaking larger, long-term goals into smaller, short-term learning objectives makes the learning process feel obtainable. It also provides opportunities to provide feedback, celebrate milestones, and reduce barriers along the way. Learning objectives describe knowledge, skills, and/or attitudes (KSAs) required to achieve each course learning outcome. They can be very specific, and students will often be able to achieve them within 1-2 classes.

The course outline is a contract between students and faculty teaching the course. The grading strategy is a set of assessments, each contributing toward the total marks earned. It is important for students to know how they will be evaluated in the course and how assessments are weighted. Clarity in assessments and grading provides the student with a clear understanding of what is required in order to achieve success in the course. If there is a fully online version of the course you are creating the outline for, then details about online assessments can be added in this step.

Required Resources

It is important for students to have a clear list of the resources that are required. This encourages students to access and engage with materials that will help strengthen their understanding of the course curriculum. Faculty are encouraged to add current literature, materials and multimedia resources, and to validate the relevancy of older resources.

Supplemental Resources

Identify supplemental resources so interested students can go beyond what is required. This section of the outline lets students know that there is more to the subject matter than what is covered in the course and supports the value of continuous and deeper learning.

Additional Tools and Equipment

It is important for students to have a clear list of the tools and equipment that they will need for the course. This ensures that students know what tools and equipment are required for the course and if there are any additional (optional) tools/equipment that could be useful.

The modules of study table clarifies how the learning outcomes, resources, and assessments are linked to different modules within the course. This section is where you will define which content will be covered in the course thematically.

Prior Learning Assessment & Recognition (PLAR), is one of the ways in which the college grants course credit for individuals with previous work/life experience. PLAR provides individuals an opportunity to complete an assessment (or multiple assessments) to determine if they can meet the course learning outcomes and receive academic credit without needing to take the course.