Eye-opening Art and Craft in Course design Tony Earl
Why is this website based on an art and craft approach so worthwhile?
The art and craft approach in course design is a powerful methodology that offers numerous possibilities. As one of the reviewers of Tony’s book stated at the time of publication, “You need skills such as the formulation of learning objectives and conducting task analysis, but you should also be able to use your imagination and intuition. This focus on art is exceptional and often missing in course design.” The reviewer further remarked that the process, instruments, and skills associated with craftsmanship reflect creativity and intuition, which are integral to the design process. Concepts like art, intuition, and imagination are seldom employed in instructional design theories, although these concepts are fundamental in course design.
The demand for effective, efficient, valuable, well-liked, and feasible courses in higher education is increasing. More students need to complete higher education quickly and using IT requires well-designed courses.
Most higher education teachers must develop their courses or modules since there are no established methods like in secondary schools. They may use designs from colleagues, either following them closely with minor tweaks or adapting them to their context. However, what can you do if you are unhappy with your course design or if changes in the curriculum lack clear examples?
Tools for fast and professional course (re)design
The book reflects Tony Earl’s ideas about course design. He was not a conventional education scientist. Hence, Tony used scientific results but added concepts, models and heuristics to enable a systematic and design-oriented approach. Moreover, he forced you to think outside the box with the help of some crazy ideas like the Think Tank, the Four Referents, the Response Environment Organizer (REO), and the Melody of a Course. His tools stimulate systematic and creative thinking.
Colleagues considered Tony Earl to be an excellent teacher and instructional designer.
So ......
We learned from him how to design a higher education course, which worked. He offers us some excellent ideas for a course’s fast and efficient (re)design. Therefore, we strongly believe that these ideas will help teachers to (re)design courses that fit modern ideas about higher education and also do their views on good higher education.
Jan Nedermeijer, Ans Ronduite and Pierre van Eyl.
Contact: jannedermeijer@hotmail.com
- 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, ask yourself: do my ideas fit my educational vision and learning objectives?
- The Figure shows the alternation between divergent and convergent thinking during the Basic DD process. Divergent and convergent thinking are both essential aspects of course design.
- 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.
