Course outlines are critical resources that help students understand the course: its aims, learning outcomes, course requirements and assessment. You can adapt the framework that the UNSW Course Outline Template provides according to the needs of programs and individual courses. If you wish, you can format your course outline as suggested by the template, or use the template as a checklist of course content. Staff can use it when undertaking the design and development of new courses, or when revising existing courses.
How teachers can use course outlines
In creating a course outline, you can contextualise all these course elements by demonstrating their relevance to professional and disciplinary contexts. You can also articulate the relationship between individual learning outcomes and the UNSW Graduate Capabilities or faculty-specific graduate attributes. Course outlines can form part of the evidence of your effectiveness in learning and teaching, particularly in relation to the planning and development of courses.
How students use course outlines
Students use course outlines to inform their decisions about course choices and to manage their combined course workloads throughout the Semester. They tend to regard assessment as the most important part of the learning and teaching process, and the way they use course outlines reflects this. Create a course outline that students can consult in response to the questions and queries that arise for them throughout the Semester.
Guidelines and template
The UNSW Course Outline Guidelines is a resource that will assist you to develop a course outline using the UNSW Course Outline Template.
You can also download a WinZip of both the guidelines and the template.