Best Practices in Course Design Focus on what you want students to be able to do--skills, thinking Minimize/optimize course content. Determine where the course fits in the curriculum. What is it important for students to know at this level? Identify the critical content Focus on science literacy Model how science works even in your teaching. If someone asks a question that’s interesting, be flexible in taking the time to engage students to answer it. Encourage students to reflect on what they’ve learned. Reflective writing. Encourage students to think about their background/discipline and how it relates/compares to what they are doing in your class. Make connections Be consistently explicit in the connecting the course content to the process of science This all involves knowing your students