Designing High Structure Courses to Promote Student Engagement

Abstract

While there are many strategies for increasing the inclusiveness of anatomy and physiology courses, increasing course structure is a strategy that can not only close achievement gaps for first generation and underrepresented minority students, but also increase performance for all students. High structure courses are characterized by clear learning goals, regular in-class exercises that promote student participation, and frequent out-of-class assignments that promote practice and preparation. In this article we describe ways to increase the structure of your course design and the learning environment in both face-to-face and online courses.