I occasionally collaborate with the Evidence-Based Medicine team at our College of Medicine to provide in-class instruction to medical students. I was recently asked to teach a session on conducting literature reviews and was given a set of objectives that need to be met during the instruction.

To keep my thoughts straight and make sure I addressed each objective in the time allotted (100 minutes), I ended up creating a chart that looks like this:

• The Objective column holds whatever objectives I am given or that I come up with myself, depending on the instructional session.
• The Activity column is where I can describe how I am going to meet that objective; this is where I can incorporate lectures, demonstrations, and active learning components.
• The Time column helps me keep track of how I’m using my time. I like to include a short break every 45 minutes or so.
• The Outcome column is where I can outline what the students should be able to do as a result of accomplishing each objective.

I’ve used something like this chart for the last few years, but this is the first time I thought about creating a reusable template. I like it because it’s flexible while ensuring that I keep the key elements of the instructional session at the front of my mind. I’ve found that it’s easy for me to get off track when planning instruction, and this reminds me of what I need to be focusing on.

If you’re interested in using this template, you can download it below: