Guide
A course information package is built starting from the learning outcomes: first decide which programme outcomes the course serves, then write measurable learning outcomes, link assessment methods and teaching methods to them, and finally complete the weekly plan, the ECTS workload and the contribution to programme outcomes. Every field of the package should be consistent with the learning outcomes.
Content
Each university sets the field names in its own regulations. The list below is based on the course information recommended by the ECTS Users’ Guide and common practice in Türkiye.
| Domain | What goes here? | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Course title, code, type | Compulsory or elective, semester, year, language of instruction | Type that does not match the programme curriculum |
| Credits and ECTS | National credits and ECTS based on student workload | Deriving ECTS from contact hours without calculating workload |
| Prerequisite | Courses or knowledge required beforehand | Leaving out a course that is in fact a prerequisite |
| Course aim | One or two sentences on why the course is taught | An aim that merely repeats the learning outcomes |
| Learning outcomes | Four to six sentences, each with a measurable verb, on what students can do by the end of the course | Unobservable verbs such as “know” and “understand”; two verbs in one sentence |
| Course content | A short summary of the topics | Copying the weekly topics word for word |
| Weekly topics | The topic and preparation for each week | Forgetting exam weeks and practical sessions |
| Teaching methods | Lecture, discussion, laboratory, project, case study | A method that does not match the outcome’s level |
| Assessment | Exams, assignments, projects; their weights and which outcomes they assess | An outcome assessed by no method at all |
| ECTS workload table | Activity, number, duration and total hours | A total that does not match the ECTS |
| Contribution to programme outcomes | Which programme outcomes the course contributes to, and at what level | Marking the highest contribution for every programme outcome |
| Resources | Main textbook and supplementary resources | Unavailable or outdated resources |
Seven steps
Order matters: a package that starts from the weekly topics bends the outcomes to fit the topics; one that starts from the outcomes arranges the topics to serve them.
First agree with the curriculum committee which programme outcomes the course will serve. A course information package is part of the programme; it is not written in isolation.
Why does it matter? If the course is squeezed into the programme outcome matrix afterwards, contributions are inflated and the evidence weakens.
Write four to six outcomes. Each should use a single measurable verb chosen from the approved dictionary. In later years the share of analyse, evaluate and create should increase.
Why does it matter? The outcomes are the yardstick for the rest of the package: methods, assessment and workload are built around them.
State which outcome each exam, assignment or project assesses. Every outcome should be assessed by at least one method, and the method’s level should match the outcome’s level.
Why does it matter? An outcome that is not assessed produces no evidence at the end of term; this is the most common gap in accreditation.
Choose methods that suit the outcomes’ levels. An outcome at the design level cannot be achieved through lectures alone; it needs a project or practical work.
Why does it matter? If the method and the outcome do not match, students are not prepared for what they are assessed on.
Distribute the fourteen or sixteen weeks across topics, practical sessions and exam weeks. It should be clear which outcome each week serves.
Why does it matter? The weekly plan shows whether the outcomes are spread across the term.
Write contact hours, independent study, assignments, projects and exam preparation in hours; divide the total by your institution’s hours per ECTS.
Why does it matter? ECTS comes from the student’s total effort, not from contact hours; it is one of the fields most often questioned in reviews.
Mark the course’s contribution to each programme outcome as low, medium or high, and justify it with the learning outcomes.
Why does it matter? The contribution feeds the programme outcome attainment calculation; if it is unrealistic, the programme report is misleading.
Sample
A shortened example for a compulsory, 6 ECTS, second-year computer engineering course. The course details are illustrative; adapt them to your own programme.
To teach the basic data structures and algorithm analysis so that students can choose a suitable data structure for a problem and program it.
Introduction to Programming.
| No | Learning outcome | Level |
|---|---|---|
| ÖÇ1 | List the basic data structures (array, linked list, stack, queue) and their uses. | B1 |
| ÖÇ2 | Explain the time complexity of an algorithm using Big O notation. | B2 |
| ÖÇ3 | Program a solution to a given problem using a suitable data structure. | B3 |
| ÖÇ4 | Analyse two algorithms that solve the same problem in terms of running time and memory use. | B4 |
| ÖÇ5 | Justify the choice of data structure for a given application based on performance criteria. | B5 |
| Tool | Weight (%) | Outcomes measured |
|---|---|---|
| Midterm exam | 30 | ÖÇ1, ÖÇ2, ÖÇ3 |
| Term project | 30 | ÖÇ3, ÖÇ4, ÖÇ5 |
| Final exam | 40 | ÖÇ1–ÖÇ5 |
| Activity | Number | Duration (hours) | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classes (theory and practice) | 14 | 3 | 42 |
| Independent study | 14 | 4 | 56 |
| Term project | 1 | 40 | 40 |
| Midterm preparation and exam | 1 | 20 | 20 |
| Final preparation and exam | 1 | 22 | 22 |
| Total workload | 180 |
At an institution where 1 ECTS = 30 hours, this course is 6 ECTS. For your own course, use the ECTS workload calculator tool.
For the outcomes of this course and other departments, see Learning outcome examples.
Before submitting
To check outcomes one by one, use the Learning Outcome Checker; to choose a verb, the Bloom Verb Dictionary.
Frequently asked questions
A course information package is the official description of a course: its aim, learning outcomes, content, teaching and assessment methods, ECTS workload and contribution to programme outcomes. It became widespread with the Bologna Process; students, instructors, accreditation bodies and exchange programmes all refer to the same document.
Each university sets the fields in its own regulations. The ECTS Users’ Guide recommends course title and code, type, level, semester, ECTS credits, learning outcomes, prerequisites, content, teaching methods, assessment methods and criteria, language of instruction and recommended reading.
Four to six outcomes are enough for most courses. The more there are, the harder it becomes to assess each with its own questions.
The total student workload of the course is calculated in hours and divided by the institution’s hours per ECTS. The ECTS Users’ Guide recommends 25 to 30 hours per ECTS; the institution sets the exact value.
It should be reviewed at the end of every term together with the assessment results. If an outcome is not achieved, the teaching method, the assessment method or the outcome itself is changed; that change is the evidence of the improvement cycle.
In SixBloom Course Design Studio, learning outcomes, the assessment plan, ECTS workload and programme outcome contribution are linked; inconsistencies are flagged immediately and the package is exported as Word and PDF.
Ready-made formats for citing in a self-evaluation report, lecture notes or a quality document. The access date is today.
SixBloom. (2026, October 12). How to prepare a course information package. https://sixbloom.com/ders-bilgi-paketi-nasil-hazirlanir/?dil=en
@misc{sixbloom2026238c,
author = {{SixBloom}},
title = {How to prepare a course information package},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://sixbloom.com/ders-bilgi-paketi-nasil-hazirlanir/?dil=en}},
note = {Accessed: 2026-10-13}
}