Course Description#
Descriptive course information includes information such as the course short and long descriptions, as well as information about what learners will learn, the subject, and the difficulty level.
Course Short Description Guidelines#
An effective short description follows these guidelines.
Contains 25–50 words.
Functions as a tagline.
Conveys compelling reasons to take the course.
Follows search engine optimization (SEO) guidelines.
Targets a global audience.
Example Short Description#
Course Name: The Science of Happiness
Course Description: The first MOOC to teach positive psychology. Learn science-based principles and practices for a happy, meaningful life.
Course Long Description Guidelines#
Given the diversity of online learners, be sure to review your course description to ensure that it clearly communicates the target audience, level, and prerequisites for your course. Use concrete, unambiguous phrasing, such as a prerequisite of “understand eigenvalue decomposition” rather than “intermediate linear algebra”.
An effective long description follows these guidelines.
Contains 150–300 words.
Is easy to skim.
Uses bullet points instead of dense text paragraphs.
Follows SEO guidelines.
Targets a global audience.
Example Long Descriptions#
The following long description is a content-based example.
Want to learn computer programming, but unsure where to begin? This is the course for you! Scratch is the computer programming language that makes it easy and fun to create interactive stories, games and animations and share them online.
This course is an introduction to computer science using the programming language Scratch, developed by MIT. Starting with the basics of using Scratch, the course will stretch your mind and challenge you. You will learn how to create amazing games, animated images and songs in just minutes with a simple “drag and drop” interface.
No previous programming knowledge needed. Join us as you start your computer science journey.
The following long description is a skills-based example.
Taught by instructors with decades of experience on Wall Street, this M&A course will equip analysts and associates with the skills they need to rise to employment in the M&A field. Additionally, directors and managers who have transitioned, or hope to transition, to M&A from other areas such as equities or fixed income can use this course to eliminate skill gaps.
Learning Outcome Guidelines#
It is good practice to include a list of learning outcomes describing the skills and knowledge learners will acquire in the course in an itemized list. It is recommended that you format each item as a short bullet item.
Example Learning Outcomes#
Write basic R scripts to manipulate and visualize data.
Apply linear and logistic regression techniques to analyze real-world datasets and interpret the results.
Apply text analytics techniques to extract insights from a given dataset and present their findings.
Formulate and solve linear and integer optimization problems
See also
Course Title Guidelines (reference)
Course Number Guidelines (reference)
Images and Videos for a Course or Program (reference)
Additional Course Information (reference)
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