Teacher's checklist for a course unit
On this page, you will find the most important things to remember before the course, during the course, and at the end of the course. At the end of the page, you will find a collection of links to delve deeper into the checklist contents.
Before the course
- Each course is part of the curriculum, which aims to ensure coherent teaching. The curriculum defines key information about the course and its implementations, such as learning outcomes, content, and methods of completion and work. You can check these in the student information system, Sisu. Also, check Sisu to ensure the course's teacher list is updated correctly, as this also affects MyCourses and the course feedback system.
- Pedagogical tip: Discuss the planning and implementation of teaching with your teaching community: How does your teaching fit into the overall degree structure? How has the course previously been taught? What good practices and issues related to teaching do others have?
- Ensure that you can access your course workspace, which is located in the online learning environment, MyCourses.
- Plan the teaching based on the course's learning objectives and prepare the teaching materials, such as lectures and assignments, ensuring they align with the learning outcomes. Also, plan the assessment and feedback practices.
- Pedagogical tip: Explore ways to create course practices and learning situations that support the learning of all students. Make your teaching inclusive and participatory.
- Update the course syllabus and create the course structure in MyCourses. If necessary, request bookings, changes, and cancellations of teaching spaces and times from your school's Learning Services.
- Upload the teaching materials to the MyCourses workspace and create learning activities there. Remember to ensure that the learning materials, videos, and MyCourses course pages are accessible.
- Pedagogical tip: Estimate the workload for students and plan your teaching considering the learning objectives. Also, consider your own workload and that of any other teachers or course assistants – wellbeing is a matter for the whole community.
- Confirm students' course registrations in Sisu. The students' information will then be automatically transferred to MyCourses.
During the course
- At the beginning of the course, inform students how communication will be handled during and at the end of the course.
- Strive to create a safe atmosphere for interaction together with the students.
- Remember continuous feedback. Feedback collected during teaching enables small-scale development of teaching quickly during the course. Feedback can be collected during the course, for example, through learning tasks, group discussions, feedback groups or various surveys.
- Pedagogical tip: Remember to also record your own observations related to teaching during the course to make it easier to develop the teaching after the module ends.
- Ensure students know which tasks they will be assessed on and what the assessment is based on.
At the end of the course
- Assess the performances and tasks in light of the learning outcomes, based on the assessment principles and criteria you planned before teaching. Submit the final grades to Sisu within 28 days of the course ending. The course completion date is the date of the last performance, such as the exam. Communicate the assessment to the students.
- Aalto course feedback is collected automatically at the end of each implementation of a study module through an electronic system. Review the course feedback and your own notes made during teaching and critically assess what succeeded and what could be improved for the next teaching session. Respond to students' feedback and help other members of your teaching community improve their teaching by sharing your observations with them.
Links to the instructions and support services
Read more about the core topics
Some of the links open to outside the Teacher's Hanbook.
Template examples to support lesson planning
Below you can download material that includes various templates for planning a course or an individual teaching session or for evaluating consistency.
UKK – Usein kysytyt kysymykset
Lukuvuosi jakaantuu kahteen lukukauteen: syyslukukausi alkaa vuosittain elokuun 1. päivä ja päättyy saman vuoden joulukuun 31. päivänä. Kevätlukukausi alkaa vuosittain tammikuun 1. päivänä ja päättyy saman vuoden heinäkuun 31. päivä.
A study module is a part of the curriculum that can be completed. In the curriculum, the study module is defined by a name, scope, competency goals, core content, and other information valid for the entire period of the curriculum. In everyday language, study modules are often referred to as courses. The implementation of a study module is a single occurrence of the module’s arrangement. The implementation of study modules may include varying teaching and assessment methods or languages.
One of the fundamental premises of streamlined lesson planning is that the teacher allocates a sufficient amount of time for the student to study and learn, so that the student has the opportunity to understand and reach the course's learning objectives. This is called allocation. Workload refers to the student's perception of how studying burdens them.
To calculate allocation, you can use an indicative workload calculator. Feedback collected during and after the course provides useful information on students' experience of the course's workload.
Each course must have a responsible teacher who manages the organisation of the teaching as specified in the curriculum and timetable, as well as the assessment of coursework. The responsible teacher participates in the preparation of the curriculum and ensures that the course implementations meet the specified learning objectives and that the credits correspond to the workload. In addition to the responsible teacher, several individuals can participate in the teaching and assessment of coursework.
Responsible teachers can be professors, lecturers, university teachers, and for justified reasons, other employed individuals at Aalto University. Visiting teachers can serve as instructors during course implementations but cannot be the responsible teacher for a course.
A course brochure is created for each implementation of the study unit, detailing the confirmed information of the study unit as necessary. The course brochure is entirely public and can be read without logging into MyCourses. The course brochure must not contradict the curriculum information. The course brochure is also referred to as the syllabus.
The course brochure is published at least three weeks before the implementation starts. It may specify, for example:
- contact information for the implementation of the study unit
- assessment criteria and methods, and an introduction to the assessment
- content of the implementation
- workload calculation
- learning materials
- schedule
- any additional information.
Every Aalto student has the right to receive reasonable personal study arrangements for health reasons. A health reason can be, for example, dyslexia, a sensory disability, a mental health disorder or a learning difficulty. Personal arrangements are not a reason to compromise on learning objectives; rather, they are meant to support the student in achieving these goals.
Examples of possible personal study arrangements include additional time (1h at Aalto), a separate room, use of a computer or customised schedules. To receive personal study arrangements, the student must show the teacher a written recommendation and agree on the arrangements.
Avoimen yliopiston opiskelijoilla on samat oikeudet ja velvollisuudet kuin tutkinto-opiskelijoilla, mutta katso lisätietoa tästä linkistä.
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Aalto University and the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Sports Academy Urhea have had a partnership agreement since 2015. Through this agreement, Aalto University is committed to supporting the combination of students' competitive sports and studies. In practice, this support means, for example, flexibility in assignment submission dates and channels, mandatory attendance, exam completion methods, or the opportunity for alternative completion methods if the student is unable to complete the course in the normal way due to competitive sports. There is no intention to compromise on the learning objectives of the course, and the decision-making authority regarding flexibility always lies with the course responsible teacher. If necessary, you can contact Aalto University's work life professor Sami Itani (sami.itani@aalto.fi) or the Urhea contact person at your own school (contact information can be found via the link below) and discuss practical examples of flexibility opportunities for athlete students. Learn more about the topic on Aalto's pages: Combining competitive sports and studies at Aalto. |
The student can retake a course that they have not passed as long as the course offers opportunities to do so. The student can attempt to improve their grade by retaking a passed course only once as long as the course offers opportunities to do so. The retake method for a course can differ from the original method.
A student who has participated in a course can retake a failed or passed exam or other study performance required for the course without re-enrolling, if the course offers an opportunity to do so.
The student cannot retake a passed thesis or the related passed thesis seminar.
It is possible to both recognise and substitute studies. On the page Substitution and inclusion of studies in Sisu you can read more about the topic.
Tietoa arvioinnista Aalto-yliopistossa: