Academics - spill the beans - how much effort do you put in to designing a course?

[hatwoman]

I've got an interview next week, so I'm jotting down some ideas and I'm scaring the pants off myself!

I have reading lists from other, similar courses, and I feel like I ought to have read about 50 articles/chapters for each week/topic. ok, maybe 20, (of which let's assume I've read 5) - it's an insurmountable task! so how on earth do you decide what goes on your reading list? I like reading lists with 2 or 3 complusories and a longer list of optionals from whihc to choose another - but if I give a huge range of options then I need to have read (preferably recently) them all. I'm beginning to wonder if I'm cut out for this. I have a good academic record but I'm just not up to the sheer quantity of this.

In typical female style, I assume that lecturers are god-like creatures who know everything. I am not and I am terrified of being caught out. I think I could find this pretty stressful.

So any tips on how to go out about this whole course designing thing - and how much time to spend on it. I haven;t even thought about delivering something like a lecture...

I think it will depend on how far "off-topic" you are having to go. I work in a brand new Schol and the amount of work that goes into a module is huge but thatis patly because we are approaching the curriculum from a completely different angle to anywhere else.

DH works at another School in the same University and runs a final year module which is completely within his comfort zone and spends very little time on the module but spends ages on tutorial stuff.

At teh uni I attend some lecturers provide excellent and in depth reading lists (especially the ones who have kept up to date and have a passion for what they lecture in)
others have basic reading lists in no particular order adn don't seem familiar with the subject this can be off putting as you find marking reflects theri Knowledge base rather than the wider subject
lecturers don't know everything and the good ones admit this and learn as tehy go

Is it a pure academic subject? if not (eg if it's partly vocational) there might be other stakeholders you want to consult as part of the planning process, eg professional organisations or employers.

Designing courses from scratch is a massive job, but in my department we try to build on previous incarnations of the same course or other similar things we teach and rework those modules - nothing wrong with trying to avoid reinventing the wheel wherever possible.

You don't need to have read everything you are putting on a reading list, honest! And the cooler lecturers will be totally open about this and interested in the students' opinions if you come to discuss it.