But
I don’t’ have TIME!
We realize that all this stuff takes a LOT of work, and it’s time you may not think you have. But we're actually lucky in that we can usually skip much of the most time-intensive phase: the front-end analysis. That's because as a professor, your front-end analysis is largely done for you: When you're asked to teach a class, someone somewhere has already decided that there's a problem, that the solution to that problem involves instruction, and so on. We've just cut out a lot of work right there!
But there's still a lot of work to be done. That doesn’t mean you can’t do it---it just means you can’t do it unless you "leverage your person-hours". That is, whenever possible, use or adapt existing materials rather than create your own from scratch.
Most professors, when it comes to developing instruction, are time-wasteful in a way they would never accept in their research careers. Instructors are forever “reinventing the wheel” by developing all of their lecture notes and many of their transparencies from scratch, when they could be adapting (not stealing!) materials from the web, colleagues, or publishers. By adopting a “leveraging” mindset, you can reclaim dozens of hours and every hour you save is another hour gained to do the other work we advocate.
Tips
for developing instructional materials
When
evaluating texts, consider the entire ancillary package (videos, text banks,
instructor’s manuals, etc) rather than the text alone
Make
“greatest hits” compilations from different ancillary packages
Make “compilation” videos with short clips relevant to your learning objectives (carrying one videotape with five scenes sure beats cueing and carrying five tapes)
Consider
shared Resource Banks (either departmental or bartered among colleagues)
Tips
for developing student materials
Consider using simple graphics and DTP software, where a small investment of training time can have a large payoff.
Try
to find software that uses themes or templates (i.e., where one click can
completely reformat the document and change its graphical style).
Publish
materials as course pack or on the web to save time and distribution costs
Tips
for developing testing materials
First,
pick questions from electronic test banks that allow you to output questions
in text format. Only choose those that are well written and match your
instructional objectives.
If
a question from a test bank is decent but not great, modify it.
Write your own questions only when an item from a test bank cannot be used or modified.
Remember: every test item must be keyed to the learning objectives!
Other
ways to leverage your person hours:
Use
job aids (paper-based "just-in-time" support for doing specific
tasks) and EPSSs (Electronic Performance Support Systems--the same thing,
only computerized)
Organize
your time and materials (e.g., teaching notebooks, demonstration or media carts)
Take a long-term view
It's also important to take a long-term view (as the saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day). Improve classes in small steps, and before you know it you’ll have made numerous tiny improvements to different areas of the system. Remember that any time you make the slightest improvement in any area, you're improving the entire system.
Tiny improvements here and there may not seem like much, but incremental improvements add up over time to make your course superlative.