Research how the institution or organization under the auspices of which informatics will be taught defines the term. Informatics is a relatively new field. Decide how it is defined and what the goals or cornerstone messages are. Write these down in short bullet points.
Review existing syllabuses or curriculum for informatics courses, particularly ones taught at your institution, in order to evaluate what others have done before. Talk to instructors who have taught before to learn what worked for them and how the field is changing in their experience.
Draft a syllabus with the core concepts of informatics, dividing the course into modules. For instance, divide the course into two modules, study, application and analysis. Further subdivide those modules into sections (such as placing history of information, types and functions in systems in the study section). Present the broad overview, then zoom into a focused case or practice.
Select readings and homework assignments to engage students further with the fundamental concepts of informatics. This may include the analysis of computation and design of computing systems as well as designing systems after those you find in nature (artificial intelligence).
Clarify in the syllabus the specific course aims, the ways the homework will help the students achieve the aims, the assessment methods, grading criteria, attendance policy, plagiarism policy and any other information relevant to the students.
Welcome the class to the introduction to the fundamental concepts of informatics. Introduce yourself, the class, the course objectives and the term. Verify that everyone has access to the course reader or class materials, objectives and syllabus.
Draw the students into the study of the fundamental concepts of informatics with an example of the ways that informatics, as a system of communicating information about the word, impact their daily lives. Use something banal, like e-mail or using the university computer system to sign up for classes or to buy lunch.
Outline the ways that informatics is a new field (e-mail did not exist 30 years ago) giving the class historical context. Discuss the ways that informatics at its core definition--the science of information and knowledge--is an intellectual project of sorting and collecting ongoing since the Enlightenment, with newer systems or organization built upon older systems.
Emphasize in an introductory lecture --using slides or case examples--that a core component of understanding informatics in society today is contextualizing how certain models came to be, how they evolve and how people work with them. While informatics is about the science of information, it is people who interface with the information in their daily lives. Use examples such as a film clip of people interacting with technology or a case of the way that technological systems enable or disable work.
Break the students into small groups to discuss lecture points, reading or presenting so they candigest the material. Have students present their discussions, or merge the students into a few larger groups to expand and deepen their discussion. Do a continuous assessment assignment such as a "one-minute paper," or a have them write one sentence of what they understand to be the take-away message.
Continue this teaching approach through the term, using similar methods that develop the core concepts of informatics outlined inn the syllabus. Teach them that using engagement activities to introduce the material, instructing with direct or indirect methods such as lecture, reading, tasks and homework, encourage students to think about and apply the material and ideas through discussion and response papers. Then confirm through continuous assessment techniques.