Course Outline Template

Course outlines are an agreement with students. They set out the expectations of the instructor in terms of the anticipated learning outcomes and they allow students to determine whether they can reasonably meet those expectations.

To that end, there are a number of required components that must be on all Brock University course outlines. Instructors are then welcome to add departmental or discipline specific information.

The following templates have been updated to be more accessible, as of May 2023. Visit CPI’s resource page for more information about Accessibility and Creating Accessible Classroom Documents.

Fillable course outline templates

To download the templates below click on the links and then once opened, click the three dots in the top right corner and select Download.

Undergraduate

Graduate

For additional assistance with developing or re-designing a course outline, please contact the CPI at cpi@brocku.ca

Additional Items

Making Your Outline More Inclusive

There are many ways to make your course and your teaching strategies more inclusive. An intersectional approach to inclusion will help acknowledge the lived experience of learners in the classrooms, seminars, and labs.

The questions below are intended to serve as prompts for reflection. They represent aspects you may want to include in your outline to support inclusion and the diversity of lived experience of learners.

Inclusive Outline Considerations

  • What are the positionalities of the authors for course readings and resources?
  • Are there opportunities for different modalities of information to supplement the outline document such as 1-minute video introduction of professor, 1-minute video overview of Brightspace shell and where to find course specific information, 1-minute audio file explaining assessment instructions?
  • Does the outline clarify how each assessment aligns to course learning outcomes?
  • Does the outline note how the course provides opportunities for learners to demonstrate learning in different ways (as per UDL principles)? For example, text, images, videos, audio assessments to support inclusion and academic integrity.
  • Does the outline clarify information about or delivery of “Office Hours” or call them something more meaningful such as Student Hours, or Question Drop-in Times, Tea with Teacher etc.? (Mowreader, 2023, Nunn, 2019)
  • Does the outline note how learners can communicate with each other to create a community of learners?
  • Does the outline note opportunities and spaces for learners to share resources, prompts, or questions that relate to the course?