Course Design Plans

Whenever I design a course, e-learning or classroom, I will write a course design plan (CDP). How CDPs are written may vary in the instructional design field. What we call them varies too. Either way, they lay out a great foundation for the creation of sound instruction.

Here is what I include in my course design plans:

• Rationale


• Course description


• Target audience


• Participqant prerequisites


• Learning objectives (terminal and enabling)


• Evaluation plan (I subscribe to Kirkpatrick's 4 levels)


• Course map

I have been following this format since grad school and it has not failed me yet. After writing a CDP, I then proceed to creating storyboards or go directly to development phase, depending on the complexity of the course and if there are other developers involved in the project.

Here are a few helpful  resources:

ISD From the Ground Up - This book is great resource for CDPs, lesson plans and applying Gagne's 9 events of learning. It has been on my bookshelf from my early days in e-learning.

Training Management Plans From Don Clark's Big Dog, Little dog site, which is chock full of ISD resources.

Do you use a course design plan or something similar?