You may find, as you plan, that the major points you want to make fall into a natural order—perhaps temporal or historical—that will help students master the content. There may be some kind of underlying logical structure to the examples you have chosen; for instance, perhaps you will be using a series of physical demonstrations that build on each other.

In other situations, the logical sequence of activities will reflect the natural sequence of learning in a particular discipline. In “Effective Explanations” faculty member John Lowe explains how the discovery process in chemistry shapes how he plans his classes:

Some books and lecturers will start by defining groups and then proceed to give examples. However, I have found that it’s easier for a student to start with a simple, concrete example and then generalize from that. ...I believe that the order in which humans make discoveries is the order in which we learn most naturally. The normal order in science is first to observe specifics and then to generalize and abstract, yet we often ask our students to begin with the abstract and then observe specifics.

Finally, don’t forget to plan how you will open and close the class. The beginning of class needs to capture students’ interest and show how today’s class connects with what they’ve previously learned. Closing on an appropriate note is nearly as important as opening on one. There are many different ways you can bring the session to a logical conclusion, but even a brief summing up can greatly aid students’ retention of the material and bring closure to a class.