ABSTRACT
This chapter identifies the benefits and motivations for developing a detailed course schedule, potential pitfalls, and some practical approaches for constructing a schedule. Courses must cover specified material to prepare students for subsequent courses. Often topics have varying priorities: some high-priority topics must be covered, but other topics may be optional. A tentative, day-by-day schedule can help in the selection of textbooks. Dates of assignments and tests do not change, although the content for these activities may vary. Students regularly remark that a day-by-day class schedule helps them in planning. Students know when assignments, projects, etc. will be due; and they are able to balance course work with other commitments. Although preliminary course planning can be very helpful, each offering of a course is different——different students have different backgrounds, abilities, and interests. In considering mechanics to develop the day-to-day schedule, the post-it note approach seems a particularly effective low-tech approach.
