How To Create A Course Outline Template In 5 Simple Steps

Are you struggling to keep your course materials organized and on track? Do you often find yourself spending more time planning your lessons than actually teaching them? If so, you’re not alone!

Many educators face this challenge, but luckily there’s a solution that can save you time and energy: a course outline template. This straightforward tool can help you structure your lessons, streamline your lesson planning, and improve learning outcomes.

While there are plenty of generic options available online, creating a customized course outline template that is tailored to your specific goals is the best way to ensure success. In this article, we’ll demonstrate how you can create your own template in just five simple steps. Let’s get started!

What Are the Benefits of a Course Outline Template?

Whether you are new to teaching or a seasoned pro, there are many reasons to create a course outline template. Here are five of the most significant benefits:

Provides Clarity and Organization

A course outline template provides a clear and organized structure for a program. It forces instructors to reflect on the content, objectives, activities, and other essential elements of the course. And it makes it easier for students to understand expectations, plan accordingly, and follow the flow of the course.

Saves Time 

Creating a course template does take an upfront investment of time. However, it prevents instructors from having to reinvent the wheel each time they teach a course. Once created, course outlines can be reused and tweaked with minimal effort, saving precious time and energy.

Ensures Consistency

If multiple teachers collaborate on a course, a template can ensure that the course follows a consistent structure and format. And if a guest lecturer or teaching assistant is needed, they can quickly get up to speed on what is expected of them.

Facilitates Student Assessment

A well-designed course outline template includes clear learning objectives, assessments, and evaluation criteria. This makes it easier for instructors to assess student learning and measure the effectiveness of the course. This, in turn, opens the door to course feedback, redesign, and continuous improvement.

Boosts Learning Outcomes

Because templates provide structure and invite feedback, they help ensure that course objectives are met. With a course outline template, students understand expectations, follow a logical course progression, and are better prepared to learn the material.

Step 1: Identify the Course Goals and Objectives

The first step in creating a course outline template is to identify the goals and objectives of your program. Goals are broad statements about what you want your target audience to learn, what they should be able to do by the end of the course, and what you hope to achieve.

Here are a few examples of e-learning course goals:

• Learn how to build a blog from scratch
• Develop the tools to resolve interpersonal conflict
• Understand the basics of nutrition
• Create a retirement plan
• Learn how to use Excel proficiently

Objectives, on the other hand, are more measurable targets that help you progress toward those goals. These are also referred to as learning outcomes. They are specific knowledge, skills, or aptitudes that your students should be able to demonstrate by the end of the program.

Here are the corresponding course objectives:

• Purchase a domain, download a WordPress theme, and install plugins
• Identify the root cause of an issue, find common ground, and propose a balanced solution
• List macronutrients and micronutrients and explain their purposes in the body
• Calculate your FIRE number, create a budget, and start investing
• Create pivot tables, use formulas, and operate in Excel without a mouse

As demonstrated above, educators need to align their course goals with clear objectives. This helps them break down more ambiguous ideas into practical skill sets which will serve as the foundation of the course outline template.

During this process of goal-setting and listing learning outcomes, avoid the use of jargon or technical terms. Make sure that prospective students, stakeholders, and fellow educators can all understand what your course will accomplish.

Step 2: Organize Course Content

Once you have outlined what your course will cover, the next step is to start organizing your content. This involves separating course material into three to five high-level topics and then arranging them in a logical order.

From there, each topic should be separated into smaller, more manageable modules. Keep these lessons concise, consisting of no more than two to three learning objectives. This will ensure that students can master one set of skills before moving on to the next.

For example, if your course goal is to teach students how to build a blog from scratch, your units might resemble the following:

• Choosing a domain name and hosting provider
• Installing WordPress and a theme
• Customizing the site design
• Creating and publishing blog posts
• Promoting the website

From there, list out as many modules as it takes to thoroughly cover each unit and its objectives. For the final unit, Promoting the website, subsections would likely include:

• Developing a social media presence
• Capturing email subscribers
• Performing an SEO audit and driving traffic
• Launching paid ads

By organizing your curriculum in this way, you can identify any gaps or overlaps and lay out a clear roadmap for your content creation. Plus, when it comes time to onboard students, it will be easy to track their progress.

Step 3: Create Assessment Strategies

Assessment strategies help you determine whether your students have achieved the learning outcomes you set out for them. While this is not always necessary, it is a powerful way to maintain course quality and provide your course participants with meaningful feedback.

To create an assessment strategy, think about the types of tasks and activities that can measure the performance of your course objectives. This could take the form of short quizzes, writing assignments, projects, or even group presentations.

These activities will be distributed throughout the course to evaluate student progress and inform course adjustments, if necessary. In order to do so, be sure to establish rubrics or grading criteria for each assessment. Even if the course is ungraded or purely optional, a simple grading system can offer participants a tangible measure of their development.

For example, if your course objective is for students to be able to use vlookups in Excel, your assessment might involve pulling data from one spreadsheet to another. Alternatively, you could create a multiple-choice test in which participants must select the correct formula and predict the output of various functions.

It’s important to include both formative and summative assessments in your course outline template. Formative assessments are used to monitor students’ progress throughout the course and identify potential areas of improvement. These are typically shorter and more pointed tests that gauge the understanding of a given concept.

Summative assessments, on the other hand, are longer and more comprehensive tests. These can be used to measure course completion and mastery. Consider including one at the conclusion of the course to ensure that students are gaining the skills and knowledge they need to move forward.

Depending on the course’s pass rate, you can either adjust the difficulty of the test or revisit certain modules to reinforce key lessons and areas of weakness.

Step 4: Develop Course Materials and Resources

All the planning in the world won’t amount to much without the materials and resources to bring your course outline template to life. This is where your experience, expertise, and creativity come into play. Leverage digital tools, such as video lectures, slide presentations, and interactive quizzes to support your learning objectives.

Because teaching is about more than having knowledge — it’s about transferring knowledge. And doing so requires holding student attention with engaging content, activities, and exercises.

Here are our top tips and best practices to incorporate into your content creation process:

1. Create a syllabus that clearly communicates the objectives, structure, and expectations of the course. This will help students understand what knowledge or skills they will acquire and how they will be assessed.
2. Develop interactive course content that aligns with your learning objectives. Brainstorm how you can make the content as enjoyable as possible, and provide chances for students to apply their skills in real-world scenarios. This may include videos, slideshows, written materials, quizzes, assignments, and more. A simple course builder like Kajabi will provide all the integrations you need to do this. 
3. Offer additional resources and materials to supplement the core course content. This could include recommended reading, links to external websites or videos, and opportunities for further practice or exploration.
4. Incorporate different types of media and formats to accommodate various learning styles. For example, some students may favor video lectures, while others favor written materials or interactive activities. A mix of both can help accommodate all preferences and keep participants invested.

Overall, the key is to create a course that is engaging, valuable, and well-structured. By following these strategies and dedicating the time to develop high-quality materials and curate helpful resources, you can ensure students achieve their learning goals.

Step 5: Finalize and Review the Course Outline Template

The final step in creating a course outline template is to review the course for accuracy, consistency, and completeness. This involves taking a critical look at the content from start to finish, checking for any inconsistencies or errors, and making final adjustments.

Here are a few questions course creators should ask themselves during the review process:

• Is the course structure clear and well-organized?
• Are the learning goals, objectives, and assessments properly aligned?
• Are the materials and resources effective in conveying the course content?
• Are the instructions for each activity and assessment easy to follow?
• Do the assessments accurately measure course completion and mastery?
• Is the course content up-to-date and relevant?
• Are there any additional resources that should be included?

After thoroughly reviewing the course, it’s a good idea to have someone else take a look with a fresh pair of eyes.

Test your course materials on sample participants to ensure they are easy to understand and follow. This may call for recruiting beta testers or running a pilot version of the course to solicit feedback. Leverage data analytics tools to track progress and engagement, and use that information to identify any areas that may need improvement.

Alternatively, you ask a colleague, friend, or fellow course creator for an unbiased opinion. As frustrating as constructive feedback can be (because it creates additional work), it is an invaluable step. It may help you spot any small errors or potential improvements that may have been missed along the way. And it can identify any potential issues before you roll out the course to a larger audience.

Ready to Create Your Own Course Outline Template? 

Creating a course outline template provides a range of valuable benefits to both instructors and students alike. By using a customized template, educators can ensure clarity and organization of their course materials while also saving valuable time in lesson planning. A template can also help maintain consistency between instructors and across course sections. Over time, this leads to course quality improvement and a better learning experience for students.

Although course templates require a significant upfront investment of time and resources, course creators can streamline the process by following our simple process. The five steps to creating a course outline template, from identifying course goals and objectives to creating assessment strategies, can help educators structure their courses and create content more quickly.

So if you are on the fence about creating a course outline template, consider the long-term advantages it can offer. And as you work through the steps to make your own template, remember to keep your audience in mind and be open to feedback and adjustments along the way. Good luck!