Writing the M.A. Course Plan by Bev Santo

Aren’t adult learners busy enough without being asked to design the curriculum for each one of their graduate courses? The simple answer is “yes” they are busy enough. But if educators from John Dewey to bell hooks offer us any insight it is that when learners take responsibility for their education the outcome is learning that is meaningful, relevant, durable and transformative. We can aspire to this ideal form of education, or we can use the read-and- regurgitate model that asks students to sit passively, pass a test, and get over each course the way one might get over the measles. 

That doesn't resemble the Master of Arts program at Prescott College, which believes in the transformative power of education. We advocate that students do the heavy lifting of designing their courses with guidance and support from the faculty, mentors, and instructors. The PC mission stresses the power of experiential education and self-direction in interdisciplinary, liberal arts learning. 

Experiential education traditionally has been connected to outdoor education or learning an industrial art. The College defines experiential education more broadly. Just as one might learn to shoot free throws by practicing and practicing so too might a learner come to master the skill of generative thinking or creative problem-solving by repeated practice. We learn to think, to write, to make insightful connections though repeated experiences of thinking, writing, and making connections. Experiential education happens when I sit down with a scholarly article and engage in conversation with the author, all the while making connections to prior knowledge gained from life experiences, other courses or scholarly journals, and perhaps films, television shows. YouTube videos, iPad applications, travel experiences, novels, or even conversations with Aunt Hattie. 

Self-direction takes focused effort to master. Initially, adult learners enter the M.A. program with a general sense of being self-directed. They know how to manage their homes, their finances, their jobs. When stepping back into an academic setting the old habits of expecting to be told what to do by those “in the know” resurface. Instead, PC faculty and mentors provide the tools necessary to master the skills necessary to become confident, self-directed, self-motivated in an academic discipline. “Just tell me what to do” is a statement I’ve heard countless times over the past 30 years, and to my dismay, there are times when I cave-in and simply oblige the student’s request. 

What does the student learn when I give in to their request? The graduate scholar might continue to believe that faculty and mentors make learning happen. In reality, the learner has all of the power to learn. This might suggest that the only type of genuine, authentic learning is self-directed. All of the other “stuff” called learning may be suspect. Think back to the last powerful learning experience you had. How did the learning occur? Who MADE you learn? Did you at any point refuse to learn? Decide to learn? 

In the Prescott College M.A. program, mentors and faculty working with self-directed students act as coaches, provide perspective and resources, serve as sounding boards, cheerlead,and get out of the way. Enter the course plan. The value of a course plan is that it becomes the road map or blue print for your learning. It prevents you from wandering into a bog and catching shining-object syndrome. By returning to your course plan throughout the course you will be at peace with the progress you are making and can sleep well at night knowing you are meeting the objectives you set for yourself. The mentor's job in developing course plans with you is not to tell the truths about any given topic, but rather to provide a map, a guide, to probe open-ended questions that help you discover the beginning edges of what you want to learn. The work of the mentor is to challenge assumptions, open doors, raise doubts, foster curiosity, and encourage research. 

Specifically, how do you design an effective course plan? 

First, you need to create cogent course descriptions. As a guideline, students should look at at least three course descriptions of similar courses at other institutions to become aware of industry standards. Using a sturdy template, the mentor and student can craft an original course description that suits the student's goals and needs. To find these sample or template course descriptions, mentors should recommend multiple resources to the student: 1) Google or browse course catalogs of other institutions by course title for exemplary course descriptions that can be adapted for the M.A. course plan; 2) Search the Prescott College Course Schedules for past and current Moodle course descriptions; 3) search the thousands of course offerings from institutions that offer free, high-quality online courses (known as MOOCs) for sample course descriptions and syllabi (see the PC Learning Commons Weekly post on MIT Online for example); 4) see the three-part article for PC undergraduates on writing study or learning contracts for additional suggestions and tips. 

Second, course objectives in each course plan should be clear, precise, and have a measurable outcome. For example, if I write an objective that says, “I will understand the theory of relativity,” the big question is how an outside observer will verify that I do understand that theory. On the other hand, if I write the objective “I will develop a Power Point presentation that accurately describes the theory of relativity,” by the end of the course an outside observer can see if I have produced that presentation or not. It can help to begin the series of objectives with the statement “As a result of this course I will (be able to)…” and then list the outcomes for the course. Begin objectives with active verbs rather than stative verbs such as know, understand, learn, or comprehend which promise a result that is difficult to measure. A good list of actions verbs for use in writing learning objectives is available here. 

Third, create fun and challenging course activities that are relevant to the course objectives. For each of the objectives listed in the course plan you will have one or more activities to help you reach the objective. What experiences, in addition to reading scholarly books and articles, will anchor your new learning, allow you to practice what you are learning, and foster connections among the theoretical concepts you are studying and the world beyond the textbook? A course like Learning Theories, for example, bridges the disciplines of psychology and education. It asks questions such as, "How do people learn?" How do people learn different types of skills, knowledge and dispositions? What are some generally accepted theories of learning? Some activities you might consider for this course include:

• Ask up to five people for directions to the local corner market. Notice the types of directions they provide. Do they use landmarks, give you street names, describe turning left and right, or north and south? What might this tell you about how they learn? 
• Create a YouTube video of someone completing a task such as cooking a meal, repairing an engine. Then describe what learning theory might inform this learned skill.
• Try to learn a new skill such as new dance step, basketball shot, or computer program. Reflect on each step you took in order to master the skill. Write the steps down. Do this with up to 10 different new learning activities. Keep a journal. Notice what common threads run through the journal. 
• Look up some international schools on the internet and view the videos. In what way might culture impact how one learns? 
• Offer to teach a cooking class, Sunday school class, swimming, skating etc. to a small group of children in the neighborhood. Design a plan to teach based on what you’ve learned about how learning happens. Write an evaluation of the course you taught reflecting on your ideas before and after the teaching event. 

Finally, apply equal creativity to the resources and evaluation pieces of each course plan. Mentors can contribute widely and wisely in the resources section. Ask your mentor and the resource librarian for recommendations for books, articles, and videos to provide you with the theoretical component of your course plan. The evaluation section must describe what you will provide as the evidence that you have reached your learning objectives. For instance, in most graduate course learners, are asked to write a 15-page research paper. Often these papers become a key component of the Literature Review in the master’s thesis. Other ways to document your learning are through the production of videos, journal notes and reflections, a Prezi presentation, or a portfolio of art, poems, and/or short stories. The essential requirement in the evaluative piece is that you describe how you will demonstrate your learning for others for the purpose of evaluation, discussion, and further reflection.

Photo credit: ecstaticist / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA