Summary
You're able to pick the format you want to use for your course: Classic, Weekend Seminar, and Hybrid.
Read below to see the benefits of each format.
Course format types
Generally, cohort-based courses follow 3 general formats:
Classic: these courses have about 4 live sessions and might be lighter on asynchronous materials, resources, or videos. Learning happens mostly during live sessions.
Weekend Seminar: these courses occur over a weekend with longer sessions (usually 3+ hours). They may or may not have a project.
Hybrid: these courses are a mixture of live sessions and asynchronous projects and resources. Learning happens through projects and actively consuming asynchronous content.
Regardless of which format your course follows or whatever variations of these examples you use, your course should be designed around rigorous and actionable course outcomes that can be achieved in about 1-3 weeks or over about 6-8 hours of live sessions.
You might be wondering if the course structure impacts the price of your course. You can read more about pricing your course here. Generally, pricing is based more on the outcomes of your course than the format of it.
Which format you use is up to you, and each one has its benefits for your students. There are many successful courses on Maven that follow these formats, as well as many that use their own variations.
Classic courses
Example courses:
This format works well when the course outcomes are best met through live workshops. This is also an ideal course style for your first cohort when you'll likely not have as many asynchronous assets yet. In a Classic course, you can focus your time on creating engaging live sessions and interacting with your students.
Classic courses typically have the following elements:
Live sessions | Projects | Resources |
2-3 per week
Typically 2 hours or less in length
| At least 1 | Typically organized in modules grouped by course outcome |
Workshop-based; follow an "I do, We do, You do" structure | Feedback might be provided asynchronously or in live sessions in peer breakout rooms | Might include:
|
If you're offering this type of course, focus on:
Designing engaging live sessions.
Facilitating collaboration and interaction directly with students (usually during live workshops).
Providing foundational information in short pre-session lessons or videos and using live time to dig deeper on more complex topics.
Weekend Seminar courses
Example courses:
This format works well when the course outcomes are best met through discussions. It is also ideal for busy students, like executives. Weekend Seminar courses are dense and fast-paced, so students can walk away with insights and skills to implement immediately.
Weekend Seminar courses typically have the following elements:
Live sessions | Projects | Resources |
2 sessions
Typically 3+ hours in length | Maybe 1, but often none | Typically organized in modules grouped by course day |
Workshop-based; follow an "I do, We do, You do" structure
Typically, very dense material with deep discussions | Feedback might be provided asynchronously or in live sessions in peer breakout rooms | Might include:
|
If you're offering this type of course, focus on:
Designing dense and engaging live sessions.
Facilitating collaboration and interaction directly with students (usually during live workshops).
Providing opportunities for discussion, usually during the live workshops.
Hybrid courses
Example courses:
This format is best for course outcomes that students meet by producing several artifacts and completing well-designed projects that require them to apply their learning.
This style of course typically has the following elements:
Live sessions | Projects | Resources |
Usually 1 per week, sometimes sessions are optional; typically 1 hour or less in length | Several, usually 1 per course outcome | Usually in modules arranged by course outcome |
Q&A based; there is usually ample time to review work on projects and answer specific student questions | Specific feedback is given on all projects | Typically include:
|
If you're offering this type of course, focus on:
Designing authentic and rigorous projects; projects should have ample guidelines, rubrics, etc. This is where the majority of learning will happen for students.
Giving feedback on projects: you can give feedback asynchronously or during a live review session.
Additional resources