We know that you probably send your proposed module titles and descriptions to the Academic Database (ADB) around mid-Feb. You then have to decide on the lesson plans and later on again, decide on the associated reading list.
We offer a free service via some database publishers (who provide MU access to primary source material) whereby they will analyse your lesson plans in detail and then provide you with a report, providing you with class-specific and thematic links to relevent digital material, that will support the delivery of your classes.
This service is called "Course Alignment". This is suited to many FACSP and FSS modules.
Using Course Alignment is an easy way to develop your reading lists and lesson plans with stable links to relevant, digital material for your students, and can be used in conjunction with your own required reading for your students. You can adopt as much or as little of their suggested digital material and approaches as you wish.
This service is provided by AM Explorer and Gale Primary Sources. Other primary sources and database also offer a range of aligned material that you can use for relevant material for your modules. Begin the process by checking to see if your subject is covered by our primary source collections here.
Course Alignment (in its fullest sense) involves a database provider examining your module in order to provide you with a report that gives you links to relevant primary sources in the database arranged in a systematic way, either thematically, or week-by-week.
You can use this report to build or enrich your module by adding the stable-links to your reading lists, and your teaching, and in doing so, your students will benefit of the vast primary sources available to them from MU Library. Some providers produce a tailor-made document, guiding you through the relevant content and linking it to weeks and lectures in each module. They can take the objectives of the course and each week’s focus into account. Some offer a more limited, basic subject-alignment offering, but this can still be very useful to you.
Thanks to advice provided by Professor Giampiero Brunelli, Università di Roma, Professor Jerzy Zdanowski, Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski Krakow University, and Dr Ainhoa Campos Posada, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, who were speakers at a 2022 Adam Matthew webinar on "Primary Source Literacy in Europe: Empowering students and researchers with the practical tools they need".
1. You will need to choose which database might have content that would support your module, and then get in touch with Helen Farrell in MU Library.
2. You will need to provide Helen with the details of your module. Draft lesson plans and learning outcomes would be useful but not essential.
3. Helen will pass these on to the relevant database provider to carry out Course Alignment.
4. Allow 4-6 weeks for receipt of the your alignment report.
5. Assess the suggested links and reading material and incorporate what is useful, directly into your module plans.
The following databases offer some level of Course Alignment (CA) services for MU Faculty. Those listed below with a pink background do not offer CA, but have some subject-aligned services, or content available, that is worth exploring.
Please click the links below to discover the subject-coverage for each database:
Adam Matthew Primary Sources: https://bit.ly/3h0orsZ - full course alignment (History, Social Sciences, English, Economics, Culture, Sociology)
Sage Business Cases: full course alignment (Business only)
Gale Primary Sources: https://bit.ly/2ZrHCpM - some course alignment (History, Social Sciences, History of Law, Newspaper sources)
Academic Video Online (AVON): https://bit.ly/2WlvF2W - subject alignment service available (all Faculties/most subjects covered)
Sage Research Methods: https://bit.ly/30jRwca - subject-aligned content (all Faculties/most subjects covered)
Adam Matthew, who are a major provider of primary sources for teaching and research, have an example of what you can expect to receive if you ask for course alignment for your module, here.
Have YOU used the Course Alignment services? What was your impression of it? Please email Helen Farrell with your feedback.
[In progress]
Contact Helen Farrell, Academic Engagement Librarian: helen.farrell@mu.ie
Product |
Service |
Subjects |
Who to contact: |
---|---|---|---|
Full course alignment |
Anthropology |
||
Partial course alignment |
History, Social Sciences, History of Law, Newspaper sources |
Contact Carolyn Beckford direct in Gale, and CC Helen Farrell in MU. |
|
Curriculum analysis report available for MU* |
Anthropology, English, History, International Development, Literature & Language, Media Studies, Music, SciTech, Social Science |
||
Partial course alignment |
All Faculties/most subjects covered if it contains relevant video content. |
Contact AVON product advisor Sarah Brennan directly. |
|
Full course-alignment service and additional teaching notes for faculty on a dedicated guide. |
Business |
Read the supporting material for faculty here. Request full course-mapping for your module by emailing trainingandsupport@sagepub.com. |
|
Subject-aligned content available from the product at all times, including suggested reading lists for subjects. |
Most subjects covered |
Browse reading lists and content by discipline: https://bit.ly/3bHVAZe |
* = Some ProQuest databases will not have perpetual access after December 2021, so if you are planning to use links to content for a module to be delivered in 2022 onwards, please contact Helen Farrell to check if access will continue.
For products offering full course alignment services, you can receive module-specific suggestions for innovative content use in your classes, with direct links to the content, like this example.
For partial course alignment services, the content you receive can be a report with suggested links to collections within the product for an overall departmental subject.
For subject alignment, you can expect to see subject-relevant content within a product and support information about using this material in the classroom, and/or linking to this content.
Please allow 4-6 weeks ahead of the date of commencement of your module. Depending on the service provider, Course Alignment can be a very intensive task, and it can depend on time of year/workload of the publisher that is offering the service.
Absolutely; Course Alignment can still be of use to established modules. The report that you receive back from the publisher may give you ideas for new approaches to your classes, or could be of use in research projects for the class. You may also realise that there is specific primary source material that relates to your module.
Five reasons why primary sources should be used for teaching https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/five-reasons-why-primary-sources-should-be-used-teaching via @timeshighered