Curriculum Design: Session Planning

Curriculum Design: Session Planning

Creator(s)

David Jennings, Tim McMahon

Organisation(s)

UCD Teaching and Learning, University College Dublin

Discipline(s)

Teaching & Learning

Topic(s)

Curriculum Design, Teaching and Learning Practice

License

CC BY

Media Format

PDF

Date Submitted

Submitted by

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Description

Planning Teaching in an Outcomes-based Curriculum

Benefit of this resource and how to make the best use of it

In part of this resource is an example of a teaching plan (these are sometimes called lesson plans). You may be surprised that it does not include a section on content. Many teachers still think of planning a teaching session in terms of making a list of the content to be covered; but this approach can lead to problems because it focuses on what the teacher will do without sufficient thought being given to what the students might do. The learner-centred model of Higher Education, however, requires a clear focus on what students need to do in order to maximise their marks. It requires that teaching sessions (and courses) should be described in terms of what it is that the students should be able to do on completion. Statements that describe what it is the students should be able to do at the end of a session are called intended outcomes or outcomes for short. A template for a teaching plan is also included.

Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY)

This work is licensed under a CC BY license, allowing sharing and adaptation with proper attribution.

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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Jennings, D., & McMahon, T. (2021). Curriculum design: session planning. National Resource Hub (Ireland). Retrieved from: https://hub.teachingandlearning.ie/resource/curriculum-design-session-planning/ License: Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY).

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Related OER

This resource captures key insights from a full-day workshop held on 8 May 2025, hosted by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) and led by internationally recognised expert Dr Alison Cook-Sather. The event focused on the transformative potential of authentic student-staff partnerships as a strategic approach to advancing student engagement, success, and institutional effectiveness.

Attended by academic staff, institutional leaders, student success professionals, and sector partners from across Ireland, the workshop featured a combination of keynote presentations, lightning talks, and interactive sessions. Through real-world examples and hands-on activities, participants explored how to build meaningful, inclusive, and sustainable collaboration between students and staff.

For the full event schedule and a complete list of lightning talk contributors to this slide deck, visit the workshop schedule.

This survey was adapted from a North American Faculty OER Survey Toolkit for use in the Irish Higher Education context. It was used across the DOERs project partner sites to audit staff Open Educational Resources and Open Educational Practices awareness and practices. We encourage other institutions to adapt this tool to meet their needs.

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URL: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxV1LO6iHp1ySDJaeWVHYVF5LU0/edit