Choose your required text for the course. The textbook can play an important role in determining the curriculum for the course. Many college professors do not teach directly from the text itself,but rather use the book to supplement the class lecture materials. The textbook may, however, provide some clues as to how you should create your course outline. For instance, if the textbook has four different parts, each with three chapters, create an outline in which three chapters are covered for each exam and give four exams throughout the semester.
Create a course schedule to keep your students and yourself on task. Most college courses last 15 or 16 weeks but some colleges offer quarter courses as well. Divide up the amount of material to be covered as evenly as possible for each section of the course. This will help avoid overload and keep you from burning out your students before the semester ends.
Determine which topics will be covered and which need to be excluded. One of the hardest parts of writing the curriculum for any course is in deciding what must be excluded. Professors often have so much material to share with students that they find it impossible to share it all in class each semester. Cut material from your class schedule that is not essential to the topic you are teaching.
Create your syllabus to correspond to the course curriculum outline. When writing the syllabus you need to include information regarding what types of assessments you will require, the required textbook and the due dates for all assignments. The syllabus should include as much material as possible to help the student stay on track throughout the course of the semester and know what direction the course is heading.
Write or revise your lecture material. Many professors have available lecture notes that they carry over from graduate school while others simply use the same notes year after year. Revise these occasionally as necessary. If you are putting together new lecture notes for the first time, write your notes as you go throughout the course of the semester. Try to stay at least two weeks ahead of schedule with your notes so that you have plenty of time to review and revise the notes as necessary.