4. Learning Activities
This section is used to give a summary of the learning activities and the teaching and learning modes used in the course.
Refer to ITaLI's Course Development resources for non-technical guidance.
4.1 Learning Activities - Technical Help
Suggested Content
This section should include a summary of the learning activities the student can or should participate in to achieve the learning objectives of the course. This include any lectures, tutorials, reading, independent study etc. You should not just include activities undertaken in the classroom.
Activities can be entered as individual entries (i.e. each lecture) or as a series (i.e. a lecture series with a start and end date).
Add or Edit a Learning Activity
To add a learning activity:
1. Click Add Activity next to the heading "4.1 Learning Activity" or the Edit icon (red pencil) next the activity you wish to edit.
2. Provide general information about the learning activity including, type, title and description.
3. Enter the date/time for the activity. You must put in the "start" date and you may optionally add an end date if you are entering a multi-day activity. Times are optional.
4. Map the activity to the learning objectives it is helping the student achieve (i.e. check the boxes next to the appropriate objectives).
5. You may optionally associate the activity to references entered in Section 3 including details of what pages or chapter to read.
6. Click Save.
Display Activities
Learning activities are always displayed in chronological order. You may choose to either display the readings or references in a separate column, or to display the activities in a matrix format (week against activity type) by changing the display setting at the top of section 4.1.
Display Learning Activities in Groups
Learning activities can be displayed in different groups. If your course consists of two or more content areas taught by different people you may wish to have a Learning Summary for "Dr. Smith" and another one for "Dr. Jones". Alternatively, you may wish to have a summary for "Surgery" and "Gynaecology".
Student Streams
Student streams are an advanced feature useful only to courses that have groups of students rotating through a set of activities, such as clinical rotations. This feature would also be useful for large classes where students are doing problem-based learning and rotating through the activities in groups. Each activity can have a date associated to it for each student stream.
Student streams must be set up by a System or Unit Administrator before they can be used.
Dates
Q: Why do we enter dates and not weeks and days? (eg. Week 4, Tuesday)
A: Because many programs to which courses contribute do not follow the standard Academic Calendar. For instance, in some programs, classes start as many as six weeks earlier than the standard Academic Calendar. Using dates provides flexibility for all courses and programs.
Year-long Courses
Q: I have a year-long course. How do I enter the learning activities and assessment items?
A: The Electronic Course Profile system incorporates a date range from 1 January to 31 December. Therefore, in the case of a year-long course, learning activities and assessment items for the entire year can and should be entered.
Please note that exams, regardless of when they occur during the semester or year, will appear at the end of the list of assessment items in Section 5.1 Assessment Summary. However you can identify mid-semester and end-of-semester exams by placing some identifying text in the Title field (eg. "Mid-Semester 1 exam", "End of Semester 2 exam").
Learning Activities
Q: Do I have to insert my course timetable into the Learning Activities section?
A: Not necessarily. There is a link to the University Timetable.
Background:
Section 4.1 Learning Activities is designed to provide students with a summary of the learning activities in the course. These activities may include lectures, tutorials, practicals, self directed learning, reading and other student-centred activities. These activities should be mapped to the learning objectives that are being developed through the activity; and it is easier to map against activity types, such as a lecture series, rather than an individual lecture.
In cases where specific course timetable information is required in addition to the University timetable, the following options are available:
- Details can be provided under Additional Timetable Information (optional). You might choose to paste a table in to this section or make a reference to a resource (such as a handbook or workbook) where specific course timetable information may be found.
- As an example, your course includes 'practical rotations' and you wish to provide the students with the 'timetable of rotations'. You can achieve this by including in Learning Activities, an entry: "Practical Rotations. See Section 4.2 for rotation details."
In Section 4.2, Teaching and Learning Modes, you can then paste the 'timetable of rotations' or details of your practical groups.
4.1 Learning Activity: Edit Groups/Streams - Technical Help
Suggested Content
The Electronic Course Profile System features a way of indicating that particular activities require the participation of specific students by dividing learning activities into individual groups and/or streams.
Groups
Learning activities can be displayed in different groups. If your course consists of two or more content areas taught by different people you may wish to have a Learning Summary for "Dr. Smith" and another one for "Dr. Jones". Alternatively, you may wish to have a summary for "Surgery" and "Gynaecology".
Streams
Students in different streams perform the same activity but at different times.
When more than one learning activity stream is present in a course profile, it is necessary to specify a date for that activity for each stream.
Example: A field trip is conducted by all students but at different dates/times. One activity is created and entered into separate streams.
Note: Where only one group or stream is present, that group or stream will not be visible. There must always be at least one group and stream.
Edit/Add Groups and Streams
Note: While any profile Designer can add and edit groups, only Unit Administrators can add or edit streams.
Click the Edit Groups & Streams button next to the heading "4.1 Learning Activities".
Edit a group/stream
Click the Edit (pencil) button next to the group/stream title to change it. Click Save.
Add a group
1. Click the Add Group button next to the group/stream title to change it.
2. Enter the title of the group and click Save.
Note: It is recommended at this point that the default title of the first group be edited to something more suitable.
Now when you add a learning activity to the profile you will be asked to nominate which group it belongs to. Any pre-existing activities will be allocated to the first group by default; these can be moved to a different group by editing the activities and changing the group.
Add a stream (Unit Administrators only)
1. Click the Add Stream button next to the group/stream title to change it.
2. Enter the title of the stream and a short title and click Save.
Note: It is recommended at this point that the default title of the first stream be edited to something more suitable.
Now when you add a learning activity to the profile you will be asked to nominate a new date and time for each stream. Any pre-existing activities will be feature a date and time for only one stream; they should now be edited to incorporate a date and time for each stream that now exists.
4.2 Other Teaching and Learning Activities Information - Technical Help
Suggested Content
Additional information on teaching and learning activities and modes, including a description of the modes used and any particular requirements such as attendance.
Editing Teaching and Learning Activities Information
1. Click the Edit button next to the heading "Other Teaching and Learning Activities Information".
2. Add or edit the information for this section using the online editor field. Please refer to ECPS Online Editor for general formatting help.
3. Click Save.