Course Outlines

Follow this quick check list to make sure that you have these key details on the first page of your outline:

• course title and course code
• class time and location
• lab/tutorial time(s) and location(s) (if applicable)
• instructor name(s), contact information, and office hours
• Teaching Assistant name(s), contact information, and office hours (if applicable)
• prerequisites or anti-requisites (if applicable).

A course description is a brief overview or statement that informs students of the subject matter and breadth of a course. These descriptions are found within the Western Academic Calendar and should not be altered within your course outline.  

Learning outcomes can be the starting point for the design of your whole course. Consider what abilities you want students to develop by taking your class. Course-level learning outcomes state the knowledge, skills, and values that students will take away from the learning experience. For help with course design and writing effective learning outcomes, visit our Learning Outcomes resource.

Effective Outline Tips:

• Course outlines typically list between 6 and 12 learning outcomes that complete the stem phrase: “By the end of the course students will/will be able to…”
• Use your department’s program-level learning outcomes as inspiration for your own. How do your learning outcomes fit in with the department’s goals?
• Consider reviewing the learning outcomes of prerequisite courses or the courses students are most likely to take after yours. How do the goals for your course fit in within a broader context?

Describe how student performance in the course will be evaluated. Include a breakdown of the weight (%) and format of each assessment. Remember to share the dates that students will need to complete each assessment (e.g., due dates, presentation dates, exam dates, etc.)

Check Western’s Academic Calendar for current Sessional Dates, including add/drop periods, holidays, and exam periods. At least three days prior to the deadline for withdrawal from a 1000- or 2000-level course without academic penalty, students must receive assessment of work accounting for at least 15% of their final grade. Please see the Evaluation of Academic Performance Policy for further information.

Remember to include any course-specific conditions that are required to pass the course in the Methods of Evaluation section. For example, conditions might include minimum attendance at lectures, tutorials or laboratories; minimum overall grade on laboratory, tutorial, or essay components of the course; and minimum required grades on a final exam.

Effective Outline Tips:

• Consider including a table that lists the course assessments and their individual grade weights and formats. Following the table, provide individual descriptions of each assessment with enough detail so that students will understand your expectations regarding preparation and performance.
• Refer to your learning outcomes when designing assessments. Do the assessments help you measure student success at achieving those outcomes? If not, how could you adapt or modify your assessments to better measure the outcomes?
• Review the grade weight of individual assessments. How well does the weighting match the amount of effort required for students?
• Consider the timing of your assessments. How much student work is expected from week to week? Are there times in the semester that are under- or overloaded?

The process for granting considerations for a range of issues is managed through the Academic Advisors in the student’s home faculty. Advisors will review the student’s case and then make a recommendation directly to the instructor.

Western Academic Policies outline several kinds of considerations available to students who have missed or will miss important course components. Keep these policies in mind when formulating a policy on missed assignments/exams for your outline.

• Religious accommodation is granted to students whose work will be affected by any of Western’s recognized multi-faith holidays.
• Exam accommodation may be granted to students who are scheduled to write more than two exams within a 23-hour period, or who have a conflict between two exams.

• Medical accommodations can be sought for students who have missed a course component due to severe illness or injury. Compassionate accommodations may be granted for serious issues such as significant illness or death in the immediate family, severe trauma, or emergency situations. For details about Medical and Compassionate accommodations, please review the Undergraduate Student Academic Requests for Relief Policy,

In addition, consider articulating your policy on how you will address late assignments and makeup tests. Share how you will deal with accommodation for missed work worth less than 10% of the total course grade, and whether or not you will require official documentation from students. In the case that you do require documentation; students must submit that documentation directly to their Faculty Dean’s office.

Include a description of the textbooks that are required for your course. Provide a description of any course notes, manuals, and laboratory or safety materials that students will need to purchase. If specific electronic devices are required for the course (e.g., calculator), provide that information here.

This section is also a space to provide a list of optional but recommended textbooks or readings. Consider sharing with students an explanation of why the texts are optional but potentially valuable to their learning.

As of January 2025 - The Ministry of Colleges and Universities now requires that course outlines include the individual pricing for any mandatory or optional textbooks and other learning materials that would incur additional costs for students. If the current year's cost is unavailable when preparing the course outline, include the most recent cost with a note indicating that it may change.

The schedule for a course provides a breakdown of topics and required readings for each week. The schedule is often presented in a table format so that instructors can provide a week-to-week list of the content areas they intend to cover and preparation expectations from students. Consider including assessment due dates as part of the schedule so that students have a quick reference road map for the course.

Generic Syllabus Maker - will generate the dates a class meets over a set period.

Consider briefly describing the instructional strategies and learning activities that you plan to use most frequently in your course. Identify any theories, methods, or practices that have informed your choices. If students understand why a course is structured in a particular way, they may be more motivated to engage in classroom activities.

Point students to any key internal and external resources that you know will help students learn more successfully in your course. For example, you might share strategies for learning, web tutorials, assignment exemplars, or other supplementary material. Consider connecting students with Western Libraries, Learning Skills Services, and the Writing Support Centre as options for self-guided learning.

For example:
Learning specialists in Learning Development & Success (learning.uwo.ca) are ready to help you improve your learning skills. They offer support to all students at Western and help students cope with the demands of post-secondary learning. They offer presentations on strategies for improving time management, multiple‐choice exam preparation/writing, textbook reading, and more. Individual support is offered throughout the Fall/Winter terms in the Peer Assisted Learning Centre (https://learning.uwo.ca/peer_assisted_learning/) where students can obtain free course-specific help and year-round through individual counselling with a Learning Specialist.

University Policies (Mandatory)

Western’s Academic Policy on Course Outlines requires that instructors include several additional statements on their course outlines for undergraduate and graduation courses. Where appropriate, these statements can be copied and pasted directly from the university policy.

Consider what departmental or course-specific policies are relevant to your students. You will want to include information that will help students meet your expectations and support their success in your course. The following suggestions are provided so that you can identify the most relevant options and adapt them to your outline.

Academic Integrity

An academic integrity statement explains why you, as the instructor, take plagiarism and cheating seriously. Consider sharing links to department or library resources that support student academic integrity. Share with students how good decisions related to their academic work have long lasting impact.

Accessibility

Principles from Universal Design for Learning (UDL) guide curriculum design, allowing instructors to reduce academic barriers for students without diminishing performance expectations. If you have developed or made changes to your course to better support accessibility, consider adding a summary statement to the course outline.

Inclusivity, Diversity, and Respect

An inclusivity or diversity statement signals to students that multiple perspectives are welcome in your classroom. Consider acknowledging the range of representations they can expect among their peers including (but not limited to) academic background, race, culture, gender, religion, and socioeconomic status.

This statement could be used to outline expectations for discussions and respectful interactions in the classroom.

Consider sharing your preferred name and gender pronouns and explain how you will ask and honour the same of your students.

Use of Electronic Devices In Class

Banning electronic devices is not feasible and will single out students who require accommodations in the classroom. You may want to identify the tasks you feel are appropriate for in-class device use (e.g., taking notes, polling, in-class research, etc.) and those that are not (e.g., messaging, checking e-mail, watching unrelated content, etc.)

Consider highlighting when/how you will rely on student electronic devices to accomplish tasks as part of in-class activities or coursework.

Other Course-Specific Policies

In addition to the policies listed above, you may also want to include other information on topics such as attendance and participation, expectations for communication and email response timelines, and office hours.

If you are looking to revise or update an existing course outline, the CTL has developed this Learner-Centered Outline Checklist to help instructors self-assess their outline and identify strengths alongside possible areas for experimentation or improvement.

• Learner-Centered Outline Checklist