Designing a Novel Course

While pursuing my MS in psychology, I worked with an interdepartmental team of faculty and graduate students to develop courses in Psychology, Philosophy, and English Etymology. A sample assessment I designed as a course developer team lead can be seen below.

Design and Validation

One of my primary responsibilities involved designing module-based assessments drawing from the prospective course’s core textbook. I determined that including the rationale for correct answers (where rote memorization was insufficient) would add a level of repetition to aid learning and assist with building a logical framework of the text’s content. Following an initial testing session, items receiving less than 70% correct responses were thrown out or restructured.

Supplemental course material was curated based on modules/chapters with lower overall success rates. Canvas, the digital learning platform utilized, provides statistical overviews of item-by-item completion/success rates and module engagement. We adjusted the expected workload to be more evenly distributed across the semester.

Course Reviews and Feedback

Undergraduate degrees are (very) expensive. In addition to providing a sufficient knowledge base, the experience of an undergraduate course should be an enjoyable opportunity to discover fields one is passionate for. Where quantitative data helped our team identify weak points in the curriculum, end-of-course reviews were the largest source of qualitative feedback we received. There will always be areas for improvement, but I am proud to have received highly positive, albeit usually anonymous, responses from students regarding communication skills and detailed, constructive feedback.

Graduate Course Assistance

Prior to assisting with curriculum development, I wrote and designed supplemental course material and guided learners for a number of classes, ranging from graduate-level psychology to undergraduate applied statistics. More information on course-specific specialization can be found here

  • Designed supplemental material for course text - Psychopathology: an Integrative Approach to Mental Disorders

    Moderated Study Groups

    Graded and Provided Detailed Feedback for Literature Reviews

  • Graded Assignments for Statistics and Utilization of SPSS

    Provided Guidance for Basic Concepts in Statistics

    Assisted w/ Hypothesis Testing

  • Designed Supplemental Material for Course Texts —

    Cognitive Science: An Introduction to the Science of the Mind

    Thinking, Fast and Slow

    Moderated Discussion Groups

    Connected Learners w/ Additional Resources During Exploratory Research

  • Designed Supplemental Material for Course Text — Classical Myth

    Guided Students in the Structural Analysis of Greco-Roman Myth and Subsequent Modern Appropriations

  • Graded and Provided Constructive Feedback for Projects Involving Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methodologies

    Assisted Students in Criticizing Various Research Designs Using Real-World Publications