DEVELOPING A COURSE SYLLABUS

The course syllabus provides a summary of the major components of a course and may be given to individuals requiring information about the course in advance of training. A syllabus usually contains the following information:

! Course description ! Course goals

! Participant learning objectives ! Description of training methods ! Description of training materials ! Participant selection criteria ! Methods of course evaluation ! Course duration

! Suggested class size ! Course dates ! Course organizer

It is important for the syllabus to describe accurately course content, goals and objectives. This enables individuals to be aware of course content before they attend the course. The course syllabus also helps to assure that participants are at an appropriate skill or knowledge level. Sample

5-1 presents a course syllabus from a Norplant implants training course. Sample 5-2 is a blank form which can be used to develop a syllabus.

The first steps in the course design process are to write the following four sections of the syllabus (the remaining sections are completed after the course outline is finalized):

! Course description ! Course goals

! Participant selection criteria ! Evaluation criteria

Course Description The preliminary course description is developed first. It is preliminary because it may change slightly during the design process. The focus of the course description is the problem or situation identified during the needs

assessment process. Consider these points in developing the course description:

! Be brief and to the point. A clear course description should require no more than two or three crisp, well-written sentences.

! Use active, energetic, clear words to describe the training. Think of the course description as an advertising or marketing tool. Will a service provider or manager of a family planning program be interested in the course after reading the description? Or will it put them to sleep?

! Be accurate. Describe exactly what the course is designed to do. Avoid describing a course that appears to be all things to all people. Publishing an inaccurate description will result in serious problems when participants arrive and discover the course is not what it claimed to be.

! Describe the overall behavior participants will demonstrate as a result of attending the course. This behavior can be a combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes. Action verbs are used to clearly describe what participants will be able to do after completing the course.

Examples:

• Counsel individuals for family planning. • Insert and remove Norplant implants.

• Perform a minilaparotomy under local anesthesia. • Manage clinic logistics.

• Maintain infection prevention standards. • Insert an IUD.

The following examples may be used as models when developing a course description.

Course Description for an Infection Prevention Course

This 5-day course is designed to prepare participants to use recommended infection prevention practices for maternal and child health/family planning service delivery programs. This course can be used alone, or it can be adapted for use in pre- or inservice training in obstetrics, gynecology and general surgery.

Course Description for an IUD Course

This 2-week (10–12 day) clinical training course is designed to prepare the participant to counsel individuals concerning the use of IUDs as a contraceptive method and to become competent in inserting and removing the Copper T 380A IUD and in managing side effects and other health problems associated with the use of IUDs.

Course Goals After writing a clear course description, develop the course goals. The goals or overall course objectives are based on the end-of-course behavior(s) outlined in the course description. Typically, there will be five to ten course goals that lead to achieving the end-of-course behaviors. Consider these points in developing course goals:

! As in the course description, use words that are active, energetic and clear.

! Write course goals as phrases rather than as complete sentences. ! Present the goals in the order in which the course information will be

presented.

! Clearly describe the knowledge, skills and attitudes that participants will acquire during the course.

Example:

Course Goals from an Infection Prevention Course

• To influence in a positive way the attitudes of the participant toward the benefits of using appropriate infection prevention practices

• To provide the participant with training in simple, inexpensive infection prevention practices

• To provide the participant with the knowledge and skills needed to establish or improve infection prevention practices in her/his home institution

Participant Selection Criteria

One of the most important aspects of the training design process is determining the participant selection criteria. Without a clear picture of who will be attending the course, it is difficult to design a course that will meet participants’ needs. Are physicians, nurses, midwives or a combination of all three being trained? Are trainers being trained? Will nonmedical personnel be attending the course? What previous experience(s) must the participants have had? This task is facilitated by using the results of the needs assessment in which the target audience was identified.

Keep the following points in mind when developing participant selection criteria:

! Be specific. If the course is for service providers currently working in a family planning clinic, say so. Using criteria that are broad or vague may increase the number of participants, but will create major problems when the wrong people arrive for training.

! Indicate required credentials if necessary.

! Indicate recommended previous training or experience if appropriate.

Example:

Participant Selection Criteria for an IUD Course

Participants for this course should be clinicians (physicians, nurses or midwives) and counselors working in a healthcare facility (clinic or hospital) that provides women’s health services. The facility should have an anticipated caseload sufficient to support the provision of IUD services.

Evaluation The fourth section of the course syllabus is the course evaluation criteria. Based on the course description, goals and target audience, decide how to evaluate those attending the course. In some situations, the course evaluation criteria are selected after the training objectives have been written (see next section). The most common evaluation techniques include:

! Precourse questionnaire—trainer evaluates participants’ precourse knowledge

! Precourse skills assessment—trainer evaluates participants’ precourse skills

! Midcourse questionnaire—trainer evaluates participants’ mid- or end- of-course knowledge

! Learning guides—participants evaluate their own skills ! Checklists—trainer evaluates participants’ skills

! Training course evaluation —participants evaluate the course