Reflection Questions

• In your opinion, what role does alignment between goals, assessments, and instruction play in ensuring successful learning outcomes? How might this benefit both teachers and students?
• How do you currently ensure alignment between course objectives, module objectives, and assessments?
• Have you encountered any challenges in achieving alignment in your courses? How have you addressed them?
• Can you recall an example of a course where instructional alignment significantly impacted the learning experience?
• How do you go about planning the structure and content of your courses?
• What considerations do you take into account when creating modules, topics, and assessments?
• How might incorporating Backward Design principles influence the way you design future courses?

Resources

The following resources are helpful for those wishing to study more about sequence and alignment:

• Biggs, John, Constructive Alignment in University Teaching, HERDSA Review of Higher Education Vol. 1, www.herdsa.org.au https://www.tru.ca/__shared/assets/Constructive_Alignment36087.pdf
• Squires, D. (2012). Curriculum Alignment Research Suggests That Alignment Can Improve Student Achievement. The Clearing House, 85(4), 129–135. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23212870
• Valenzuela, Jorge (February 18, 2022). A Simple Tool for Aligning Instruction and Assessment, Edutopia, https://www.edutopia.org/article/simple-tool-aligning-instruction-and-assessment/ 
• Why should assessments, learning objectives, and instructional strategies be aligned?, Eberly Center, Teaching Excellence & Educational Innovation, Carnegie Mellon University,  https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/assessment/basics/alignment.html
• Wijngaards-de Meij, Leoniek  & Merx, Sigrid (2018) Improving curriculum alignment and achieving learning goals by making the curriculum visible, International Journal for Academic Development, 23:3, 219-231, DOI: 10.1080/1360144X.2018.1462187