4. Course Design in Modern Higher Education: A New Approach
Table of Contents
Combine three didactical elements in IT-education
In course design, Teacher designers prepare the right combination of F2F teaching and the pedagogical options available through E-learning and self-study activities.
The basic idea is that the teacher designer uses the powerful features of the three teaching and learning activities areas.
The expected results of the design task are
- The teachers have a course in which they can teach optimally.
- The students have a learning environment where they can study successfully.
- They use the offered learning and practice materials, achieve good test results and value the course.
The specific features of your design task are crucial to consider.
A design task is only a design problem if it cannot be solved by applying standard approaches.
Also, you do not start a challenging and intensive design process if you can deduct a solution from your problem description.
A design task should give enough freedom to formulate relevant solutions. The design task should not be too broad. The problem description should not be too small because this might limit your thinking about possible solutions. This means you can miss the best solution.
Meticulous planning of your course design and development process is crucial because…
- Course design tasks will be different.
- The teacher designers’ experience, necessary skills, insights, and attitudes will differ significantly.
The stages in the design process and available support should be adapted to these differences.
What is Course design?
The formal definition of ‘design’ ‘is the plan, structure and strategy of instruction used and conceived to produce learning experiences that lead to pre-specified learning goals (…). Although it is sometimes necessary to do ad hoc design in instruction and research (in response to unanticipated needs and circumstances), a design is created in advance.
Much like the design of a shoe, a painting, a chair, or a spaghetti fork, the design of a course, lesson, or research project is abstract. Initially existing as a concept in the designer’s mind, it is later given tangible form. The design’s quality significantly influences the experiences it provides. It shapes and directs students’ learning experiences within a course or lesson, both overtly and subtly. Ultimately, the effectiveness of the design is measured by the quality of the experiences it facilitates.
They emphasised that design is a crucial element of professional educational practice, bridging theory and practice. The design learning process culminates in creating lesson plans, validation documents, and course handbooks.
The primary stages of design are identified as
- Investigation: What are my users and what do they need? What principles and theories are relevant?
- Application: How should these principles be applied in this case?
- Representation or modelling: What solution will best meet the user’s needs? How can this be communicated to developers and or directly to users?
- Iteration: How does the design withstand development demands? How useful is it in practice? What changes are needed?
They describe the design for learning as follows:
‘the process by which teachers (and others involved in support of learning) arrive at a plan or structure or designed artefact for a learning situation or setting’. Possibilities are learning resources and materials, the learning environment, tools and equipment, learning activities and the learning programme or curriculum’.
Course designers emphasise the role of design in course development stronger than before. To elaborate on the role of course design in more detail, I have analysed the typical design features in technical design, design thinking, problem-solving, creativity and existing course design models. I used these features to upgrade the course design and development process, as presented on this website.
The complete analysis is in Part 4 of my book. Nedermeijer, E. (2023). Evidence-based blended and online learning. Course Design for University Teachers.
The Delft Design Guide describes state-of-the-art design, including perspectives, models, approaches, and methods. Many of the features described in this book are relevant to course and curriculum design.
‘A good design solution is hardly ever a lucky shot, but more likely, the results of the thorough design process. Knowing the process gives you a foundation and structure to optimise the results. Just following the steps is not enough, and passion and full dedication are needed to find goods and mixed solutions/results and create high-quality output.
‘Design is meant to create value!’
Van Boeijen et al. (2020) detail the Basic Design Cycle in the Delft Design Guide as a model that embodies the iterative design process. While the cycle primarily focuses on the design of tangible products, it also applies to various design processes, including course design and development.
The cycle outlines the different phases a designer experiences while addressing a design issue. In theory, a single cycle might suffice. Still, multiple iterations are common in practice—ideally, one would progress spirally from a broad concept to a detailed course program.
The Delft Design Guide outlines various design models, methods, approaches and perspectives. These include the design process for product innovation, agile design and development, integrated creative problem-solving, user-centred design, co-design, co-creation and service design. In these frameworks, the phases of the fundamental design model are merged according to situational traits. Indeed, the Snake model is predicated on the basic design cycle. Consequently, I intend to employ this foundational design cycle to formulate my primary design and development strategy.
The practice of evidence-based medicine is a process of lifelong, self-directed learning. Caring for our patients requires clinically important information about diagnosis, prognosis, therapy, and other clinical and healthcare issues.
In this process, you should:
- Convert this information needs into answerable questions;
- Track down the best evidence to answer them (whether from the clinical examination, the diagnostic laboratory from research evidence or other sources) with maximum efficiency;
- Critically appraise that evidence for its validity (closeness to the truth) and usefulness (clinical applicability);
- Integrate this appraisal with our clinical expertise and apply it in practice;
- Evaluate your performance.
- Design is goal-oriented and normative;
- Design is meant to create value;
- The design process is also a learning process for the designer;
- Searching for relevant (new) information is an important source for new ideas;
- There is no best or standard solution;
- Quality criteria are crucial;
- Obstacles are rigid thinking and no realistic targets;
- Reformulation and helpful structuring of the relevant information is necessary;
- Use of visualisation.
Translation of evidence-based design features into the course design context.
- Decide in advance on steps in your design process;
- Take the complexity of the design problem into account;\Conduct a systematic, thorough analysis and description of the learning environment’s elements utilising the available design tools. Update these descriptions as needed throughout the design process.
- Discuss and brainstorm with colleagues and students (in a team);
- Avoid rigid thinking and try to solve problems that are too broad or too narrow;
- Develop a clear insight during the design process into relevant information about the elements of the learning environment, the learning process and relevant scientific evidence;
- Search for the core(s) of the learning process. Formulate the organiser for your course;
- Formulate and update when necessary the quality criteria and requirements for your course;
- Apply your already used learning activities and materials;
- Formulate and visualise design ideas and design concepts:
- Design different route maps and select the best;
- Make a design for the challenging and new learning activities you have selected.
- Creativity requires both originality and effectiveness;
- Look for the best examples, analogies, metaphors, … of your design task;
- Try lateral thinking or thinking outside the box;
- Apply alternate divergent and convergent thinking;
- Use Scamper to generate ideas;
10. Use the options of visualisation and storytelling for the route maps, the course content, learning objectives, …;
11. Try out, evaluate and adjust your design of your qualities.
In a design process, you alternately think of divergence and convergence.
Divergence and convergence thinking are both essential aspects of course design. The divergent side creates possible new pedagogical options for your course design. At the same time, the convergence side makes choices about which ideas are most promising. Before finishing a design activity, always ask yourself: do my ideas fit my educational vision and learning objectives?
Creativity and intuition are vital elements of divergent thinking in a design process. In other words, without creativity and intuition, your pDD process will end. Some tips on stimulating your creativity are given in Creativity.
In convergent thinking, you need creativity to adapt or combine promising ideas.
(Roozekrans, 2020) (Van Boeijen et al., 2020).
Emerging idea of your course
During the pDD process, a concept for your course materialises. Initially, you develop the route map, followed by the blueprint, and ultimately, the final program. Gradually, you construct your new course.
The primary inputs that drive this emergent process include pedagogical concepts for IT application, strategies for integrating IT into your course, a systematic portrayal of your course in the diamond diagram and the learning environment.
Different Versions of the Course Design and Development Process
You should adapt your course design process to the complexity of the design task, your experience, and your available time.
The design situation A is that the teacher designer or the teacher’s team must design a completely new course, including new course content, didactics, requirements, etc.
It is an open problem and asks a lot of your creativity. (A wicked problem).
The teachers do not have concrete ideas about a possible learning process and environment. It’s a full-fledged design assignment.
The design situation B is that the teacher has several new ideas for crucial changes in the pedagogical approach for which (s)he redesigned the complete course.
For example, implement the idea of ‘blended learning’ or ‘active learning’.
The course content and learning objectives will only change slightly.
The design task is more complicated than the third Design Situation. The teacher needs more information about the pedagogical possibilities the pedagogical concept offers.
In design situation C, the teacher already has ideas for using IT to improve the current course. The maximum of changes is 4 – 7.
Learning objectives and the course content will not change very much.
The redesigned course should be effective, efficient, valued and well-liked. The redesigned course should be feasible for students and teachers.
The IT environment is already working.
