Hi there. In this education post, I talk about unknown course topics that students sometimes face. I hear about this unfortunate situation with some students every once in a while.
When I tutor math on the side, I do request for a course outline. A course outline would contain a list of topics in order from earliest topic to the last topic being covered. My memory can be bad with some topics that I practice much of. A course outline would help me know which topics I have to review in detail so I help my clients.
There are a few cases where the student mentions that their teacher has no course outline available. (There could be another case where the student does not want to give a course outline for whatever reason.) The students in that class would not know what topics are being covered, which topics are in a unit, how long one unit takes before an assignment or test, how much tests and assignments are worth as a part of the grade and how much a final exam would be worth.
Students who are not sure what a course is all about are in for a weird ride. With no course outline available, the teacher could easily deviate from the standard recommended topics in a course and add some difficult unnecessary topics. When it comes to power dynamics, I am not a fan of students having too much power over teachers. I am also not a fan of teachers hoarding information and having too much power over students.
If there is no course outline, then what are the learning objectives in a course? How would one unit be connected with another unit? What is the course trying to teach? What skills would be gained in a course? In theory, students would find the answers to these questions as they are in the course versus finding out early on from a course outline.
When I hear about some courses with no course outline, I scratch my head. To leave students in the dark with not knowing what is being taught, the order of topics, and what the learning objectives is not good service. It does not seem professional too. The student experience would not be at its best even if the teaching is good.
Thank you for reading.
