Storyboard System to Ensure Alignment in Graduate Courses

Aligning learning objectives, course materials, activities,and assessments ensures that they reinforce one another for the purpose oflearning (see Blumberg in References). If one or more of these key courseelements is misaligned, learning will not be optimized (see Biggs in References). 

Consider the example in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Misaligned course elements

Clearly, in this example, the assessment essay will not givethe instructor information about a learner’s ability to compare economicsystems.

Instructional designers (IDs) readily see the need foralignment when designing courses. However, achieving alignment when designing acourse can be an elusive and frustrating task for many subject matter experts (SMEs).

The storyboard system presented below is a tool that mighthelp your SMEs achieve alignment simply by filling in the blanks.

Misalignment

The Graduate School of the University of Maryland–Baltimore(GS-UMB) is a relative newcomer to online learning. In the last several years, theuniversity has made investments in ID staff and technology in order to jump-startits entrée into online learning. Helping faculty make the transition to online coursedevelopment requires bringing them up to speed on current pedagogicalstrategies, including the concept of alignment.

In our experience, however, attempting to train many busyfaculty members on the nuances of pedagogical and instructional design conceptshas proven to be a challenge. IDs would engage in one-on-one consultationsoffering guidance to SMEs before sending them off to plan their courses. However,upon reviewing faculty attempts at planning courses, we routinely found assessmentsthat did not match learning objectives. In other instances, assessments weresimply missing, and frequently course materials did not support the objectives.

How could fully aligned courses be developed, given theseconstraints?

A solution

The IDs set about devising a three-part course planning systemformatted as Microsoft Word documents. This easy-to-use planning framework canbe uploaded to file-sharing platforms like Google Docs, or emailed between SMEsand IDs.

The storyboard templates, with sample planning information, areshown here.

Part 1—Course-level learning outcomes (see Figure 2)

Figure 2: Part 1 helps faculty identify the new skills, behaviors,or attitudes that students will acquire upon completing a course

Part 2—Objectives and assessments (see Figure 3)

Figure 3: Part 2 enables faculty to record learning objectiveswithin each course module or unit. Then they can associate a learning outcome(from Part 1) and identify an assessment for each objective.

Part 3—Resources and activities (see Figure 4)

Figure 4: Part 3 ensures proper alignment of course materials(readings, etc.) and practice activities with each listed objective

Special features

The storyboard templates include embedded hyperlinks thatgive users just-in-time information about Bloom’s Taxonomy and how to writelearning goals. You can easily add additional links to “help” topics using the hyperlinkfeature in Word.  

There are also several built-in drop-down lists thatexpedite the planning process. Selectable lists for learning objectives (LOs),assessment types, and activity types are available in the current version. Alllists are easily modified using Word’s built-in Developer feature. (Note: An IDmust populate the LO drop-down list in Part 2 using the completed LOs from Part1 for this drop-down to function properly. This is a copy-and-paste procedurethat can be completed in minutes.)

Selectable list example (see Figure 5)

Figure 5: Drop-down lists speed the planning process. In thisexample, the learning objectives from Part 1 populate the drop-down list andhelp SMEs match the objectives with supporting learning outcomes.

The planning process using the storyboard system

Kicking off a new course at GS-UMB begins with a brief consultationbetween an ID and SME in order to explain the three-phase planning methodologyusing the template system. Faculty are encouraged to approach the planning processiteratively: first by listing the learning objectives, next by identifying module-levelobjectives and assessments, and finally by identifying resources andactivities. Between steps, SMEs and IDs touch base to ensure that each phase iscomplete and that alignment has been achieved. This process can take days,weeks, or months, depending on the SME’s schedule.

Takeaways

Once the three storyboard parts are complete, the ID willhave a complete road map to begin developing the course. The extra time andfocus spent on creating a complete and aligned course plan will save many hoursin the development phase. Tight planning also ensures that the final productwill be a quality learning experience for students.

Using the storyboard planning system facilitatescollaboration between SMEs and IDs when planning and developing courses. If youwould like to download the storyboards, you can do so from the UMB website.

Acknowledgment

The storyboard system is based on a storyboard grid adaptedby Jennifer Bopp, manager of instructional design at Anne Arundel CommunityCollege, from the work of Dr. Joan D. McMahon, professor emeritus at TowsonUniversity and Quality Matters trainer.

References

Biggs, John. “Aligning Teaching and Assessing to Course Objectives.” Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: New Trends and Innovations.University of Aveiro. April 2003.