A Study Of College Course Design

Curriculum practice plays a key role in higher education, of which college course design is at the core of its components. However, in China, there is little systematic theory of college course design established in the field of higher education. Moreover, theoretical generalization about and techniques for course design are hard to find in the relevant literature. Thus it is imperative to conduct a study on college course design in terms of its fundamental theory, procedures and methods, hoping to bridge the gap between theory and practice for the sake of establishing some guidelines for college course design in China.In the context of higher education in the 21st century in terms of its development, quality and talent training, the author takes the general process of college course design as breakthrough point in her thesis, doing a comprehensive analysis on its executive body, models, principles, and procedures etc. Also, internal factors such as concept of higher education, executive body's initiative, students' learning mode etc. and external factors such as mission of college, college culture, facilities and learning environment etc. which might affect the college course design are summarized in the thesis for the purpose of calling instructors' attention to those factors involved in the process of college course design. In addition, existing problems with college course design in China are addressed through analyzing the current situation of college course design and comparing some samples of college course design both at home and abroad (mainly America). Finally, the author raises the practical issue of how to integrate theory with practice, in particular, how to apply theory of college course design to course assessment, course management and teachers training program at the college level. The purpose of this thesis is to prompt college instructors to review their own instruction as well as to give them some guidelines for creating their course design in the hope of maximizing students' learning and accomplishing course objectives.The research methods adopted in the present study are literature review, questionnaire, interview and comparative study, using theory and techniques of course design for both college education and elementary education as reference. Through assimilating the essence of theory on course design from both at home and abroad and focusing on its general process, the author attempts to provide a theoretical framework for college course design in China and to explore how to put theory into practice.