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Learning Sciences & Online Teaching

Course Number
Date, Term

The syllabus for an online course is often much more detailed than a traditional syllabus. Sine it is a key
way that professors communicate with their students, the syllabus should help to clarify the requirements
and expectations of the course.

The online course site is the other place where much of this information could be reflected. The important
thing is to provide a comfortable environment for learning and set clear expectations. Most students are
nervous about their first online course and won’t know what to do or how to act unless you encourage
them.

Contacts:
Provide contact info for students who may need to reach you or get help with the course:
Course Faculty Member: Dr. Jacqueline Candido 215-898-4970 [email protected] or
9am-9pm (Eastern Time) [email protected]
Technical Support Online Learning Help 9am to 9m Submit Request
Desk Eastern Time Emergency phone support

Help Web Pages Click “Getting Started” or All the time http://online.sas.upenn.edu
“Support” tab

Words of Welcome
Welcome your students and set the tone for the class. This should also be part of the main online course
page or introductory discussion with the students. Students should be encouraged to participate in online
discussions.
Welcome! I am delighted to be your instructor for this class. I have a passion for distance learning and I
know that it will be a significant part of our future. This course focuses on learning sciences and learner-
centered instructional design. We’ll also create a podcast! I look forward to working with you in this
class!
~Jackie Candido

Instructor Availability
Tell students about your availability and set expectations about how to reach you and how quickly you can
return email or phone calls. Indicate any virtual “office hours” or phone hours when students can call you
or chat online. Provide backup email or names of TAs or other assistants who can be reached for
questions.

I am always pleased to receive your personal emails with updates, questions or concerns. Don’t hesitate to
use email to notify me of any problems that you are having. I should be able to reply to you within 24
hours. I am also happy to receive your phone calls until about 9PM (Eastern Time). My backup email
address is: [email protected]

Course Site
Clarify your expectations for students- how will you use the course site. How often should they view the
site and post to the site.

Please login to Penn’s Arts & Sciences Canvas site frequently (daily) to see any announcements or updates
for our class. I will use this site to make announcements or notify you of any changes or updates. Please
be sure to check your Penn email account for class email messages, or update the email address in your
Canvas profile.
Class Bios (profiles)
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Ask students to introduce themselves to the class as their first assignment in week 1. Post your own brief
bio to stat the ball rolling. This could be a chance for you to reply to each student in the blogs/discussion
forums, by posting a personal response or welcome.

I am posting my own short profile in the Module 1 Intro Blog (see Module 1 in our course site). My
contact information is also available on our course home page. I look forward to reading your biographies
and getting to know you.

Your first assignment will be to update your Canvas profile, including photo and please post your own
profile in our module 1 blog. Please feel free to read about your classmates and respond to a few!

Live Sessions/Virtual Classes

Please set expectations for your students regarding your live virtual classes. Be sure students know if they
are optional or required (how many can they miss). Set expectations for student behavior in these
synchronous sessions - lecture format with Q&A or highly interactive seminar format, etc..

All students are required to attend the scheduled live virtual class sessions. We will use Adobe Connect for
these sessions. You will be able to access the link (and all recordings) through the course home page.

Course Objectives
Place details here, including key outcomes, goals and essential
questions for the class. You can set these by asking yourself “At the
end of this class, what are the key goals I want the students to
accomplish?”

This course uses an interdisciplinary framework, incorporating

views from educational psychology, cognitive sciences, information
sciences, education, and design studies. The learning sciences and
learning by doing brings about a new instructional design emphasis Students investigate and gather data
on how learning technologies provide scaffolding for collaborative from connected systems
learning and reasoning. Students will experience using various http://www.geode.northwestern.edu/index.html

learning technologies, including the video iPod, as tools for learning. Feel free to add visual interest to your
Students will develop an experiential learning design such as, syllabus
problem-based learning, goal –based scenarios, role-plays, mini-
games, and simulations for a course project.

Course GOALS Student

Performance Indicators Performances
At the end of this class, participants should be
able to:  Students describe key characteristics of the
1. Describe instructional design (ID) models learning sciences and instructional design
and underlying assumptions.  Students investigate experiential learning
2. Articulate how learning by doing creates a models and compare, contrast models.
dynamic and iterative instructional design  Students review a design research article
process.  Students develop a learning design project that
3. Use design research to show the impact of is based on instructional design criteria
learning sciences on the ID process  Students discuss and reflect on their own
4. Utilize principles and various design learning by doing in this course in discussion
techniques to develop a learning board postings and reflective writing on the
experience. essential questions.

Essential Questions
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1. How do constructivist learning principles and methodologies develop different types of
knowledge?
2. How do the learning technologies facilitate our capacities as designers of experiential
learning?
3. What methodologies are used in the new design research and why?

Texts
Please list all required and/or recommended texts and resources.

Sawyer, J. Keith (Editor). (2006). The Cambridge Handbook of the Learning Sciences. New York:
Cambridge University Press. Paperback. ISBN-10: 0521607779

Richardson, Will. (2009). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts & Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms (2nd
Edition) ISBN 978-1-4129-5972-8

Class Participation
“Participation” in a traditional class means that students raise their hand, contribute input to a
discussion, etc. Define participation and encourage the connection among class members.
You are required to contribute to the class discussion by posting two quality responses to organized
discussion questions each week/each module. You are expected to review responses by classmates
and reply to their ideas in an insightful way. This type of class participation enables the learning
process through your reflections, questions, linkages to applications, and explanations to others. If
you relate this to a traditional classroom experience, your participation is your involvement in the
discussion just as raising your hand to ask a question or contributing to the learning process. See
details in your Assignment Guidelines (description of quality responses and insightful ideas).

Course Grades
Place describe how grades will be determined, in as much detail as possible. This is a chance to set
student expectations about frequently checking the online course site, engaging in discussions and
connecting with each other.

Class participants earn their grades through close reading, reflective thinking and active engagement.
Students are responsible for checking the online course site frequently for announcements and
opportunities to connect.

Distribution

Online Class Participation (described above) 25 pts

Scaffold Description Assignment 10 pts
Podcast Assignment 20 pts
New Course Outline Assignment 5 pts
Research Article Analysis 15 pts
Project Paper and Web Page Handout 25 pts
100 pts

Grading Policies
Please include any policies relevant to your course

These policies apply to College students in the School of Arts & Sciences. Letter grades ranging from
A+ to F (with no D-) are used to report the standing of a student upon the completion of each course.
Additional grade types such as S, U, GR, NR and I may not be permanent and should be discussed with
your instructor.
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Academic Integrity
Since the University is an academic community, its fundamental purpose is the pursuit of knowledge.
Essential to the success of this educational mission is a commitment to the principles of academic
integrity. Every member of the University community is responsible for upholding the highest
standards of honesty at all times. Students, as members of the community, are also responsible for
adhering to the principles and spirit of the Penn Code of Academic Integrity.

Activities that have the effect or intention of interfering with education, pursuit of knowledge, or fair
evaluation of a student’s performance are prohibited. Examples of such activities include but are not
limited to cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation of records, facilitating fabrication, multiple
submissions and unfair advantage. Each student attending the University must abide by this code,
the text of which appears in the PennBook . More details about this policy can be found online at
http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/osl/acadint.html.
ssignment details start on next page

University Services

Penn Libraries: www.library.upenn.edu/

Disability: Although the self-identification process is confidential and completely voluntary, it is

required for those requesting accommodation. Student Disability Services (SDS) can be reached by
phone at 215.573.9235, by TDD at 215.746.6320 or online at
http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/lrc/sds/index.htm.

Drop: Students may drop a class before the end of the first five weeks of the semester by using Penn
InTouch. Failure to attend a course does not automatically result in being dropped from the course.
Courses that are dropped will no longer appear on a student’s transcript.
http://www.college.upenn.edu/registration/drop.php

Withdraw: Students may withdraw from a course through the tenth week of the semester by
meeting with an advisor and completing a form with the permission of the instructor.
http://www.college.upenn.edu/registration/withdrawal.php

Online Learning Team: For questions about online learning or for technical support, please see the
contact information at the website for the Arts & Sciences Learning Commons at
http://online.sas.upenn.edu.

Schedule of Topics & Assignments

This is the traditional section that shows the organization of your course with basic information such as
the outline of topics or texts, reading assignments, etc. for each week. Additional details about the
course requirements, assignments or projects can be part of this document or they can be detailed in a
separate file, and/or you can add this information directly into the online calendar.

Week 1: Topics A and B. Readings: ch 1 and 2; Introductions Posted by Friday 12:00am;

Discussion Question (DQ) responses posted by Monday at 12:00am;
First reflection blog due on day/date/time
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6