Depth VS breadth of outcomes

Depth VS breadth of outcomes

by Andrew Marchand -
Number of replies: 1
Some people commented on the balance between depth and breadth when planning a course and choosing course outcomes.

How do you prioritize and focus your outcomes so that you encourage students to achieve deep learning? What is the ideal number of outcomes for a course or lesson?
In reply to Andrew Marchand

Re: Depth VS breadth of outcomes

by Deirdre Bonnycastle -
I think that depends on the subject area and your definition of deep learning. Too often concepts like this are only discussed from the humanities perspective.

In 80% of medicine where I teach, concrete knowledge takes priority over problem solving because that is the nature of the profession. Doctors see 10,000 predictable illness pattern for every 1 puzzle. So if deep refers to amount and complexity of patterns, then Medicine sees that type of learning as essential and high priority but if you are using the term as a replacement for critical/creative thinking, then the priority is about 10% at undergrad and 20% in residency.