Course Co-Creation in an Upper Level Class

• In Event: 3423 - Teaching and Learning Symposium Roundtable
  In Informal Discussion Roundtable: Table 3: Engaged Student Learning

Abstract

Drawing on Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, the workshop will make a case for shifting agenda-setting power to students in a small, upper-level class. I will discuss my experiences in implementing course co-creation in a Race & Ethnic Relations course. Students in this course were able to, with some limits, set most of the terms of the syllabus both in terms of content and course requirements. Shifting agenda-setting power towards students ensures a better fit between course objectives and students goals, increases the likelihood of transformational learning for students and provides a model of leadership that decenters any single voic.

I will offer a replicable procedure for gathering and implementing student input in syllabus creation and for the maintenance of a flexible, responsive, student-centered course throughout the semester, including procedures for collecting ongoing feedback from students.

Participants in the workshop will leave the workshop with ideas about how to implement varying levels of student-input in their courses in order to increase student engagement and “buy in” for the course subject. Participants will receive an explicit set of instructions that can be adapted to most types of courses. Time will be offered to participants to develop/adapt procedures to their own classes and discuss/receive feedback on these procedures from their peers.

Author

• Carly Elizabeth Schall, IUPUI