Assistant Professor (Teaching): Learning design

Learning Design focuses on developing activities and materials to ensure that students can achieve the learning outcomes of their programme of study. Learning design can relate to various forms and modes of delivery, such as blended, face-to-face and hybrid.

As a Assistamt Professor (Teaching), you are likely to be designing new modules and creating module assessments. Therefore, it is important to be aware of the key principles of effective learning design to enable your students to meet their learning outcomes and develop crucial graduate attributes.  

Essential Background

• An important aspect of learning design at Coventry University Group is the institutional Key Teaching and Learning Design Values and Principles of Active, Applied, Social, and Inclusive learning.
• The “Coventry Way” approach is very important to learning design at our institution.  See the foreword in “Teaching and Learning Excellence: The Coventry Way” (ed.: Claire Simmons) for a synopsis of this approach.
• When designing a new course you should be aware of the Course Development Approval & Review (CDAR) process. Find more information here.
• Refresh your understanding of constructive alignment and learning outcomes- common principles in many theories of learning design- with this 6 minute video.

Getting Started

• Coventry University has undertaken a major transformation of the undergraduate curriculum which impacts learning design, assessment, and the student learning experience. The postgraduate level project is now underway. Explore the Curriculum Transformation Project’s (CTP) Undergraduate and Postgraduate pages to familiarise yourself with the key principles, if applicable to your course.
• Refer to AEPD’s guidance on course based learning outcomes
• Review the Graduate Attributes guidance. How do your modules foster these skills and attributes in your learning design?
• Watch this video (14:37) from The Open University on the role of Learning Design in student retention (Part of the University of Kent’s digitally enhanced education series).

Take it Further

• This article on the Essentials of Lesson Planning (sourced from a FutureLearn course by the University of East Anglia) explains how an educator might create a plan for a session. It demonstrates the importance of learning outcomes, and refers to Bloom’s taxonomy, which is a very influential model for developing learning outcomes.
• For a quick introduction to several other learning design frameworks, including Universal Design for Learning and Fink’s Taxonomy of Significant Learning (a non-hierarchical alternative to Bloom), see this guide on Frameworks & Taxonomies of Learning from the DePaul Teaching Commons site.
• Explore AEPD’s accredited courses, which focus on developing your academic practice including learning design.
• Consider the expertise across your module team. Are there any colleagues with particular skills in active, inclusive, social or applied approaches that the whole team could benefit from?

Try it Out!

• Review your lesson plans and Module Information documents. Can you identify where Active, Applied, Social, and Inclusive learning is happening? If not, can you talk with other educators in your school to gather suggestions for activities?
• Review the learning journey through your modules. Are there particular pinch points or stress points where students might need more guidance and support? How could you ensure they receive this? When designing new learning activities, how could you avoid these pinch points or lessen their negative impact?
• Connect with your School’s Student Success Coaches. As well as being a great source of support for your students, they can offer insights around common student stumbling blocks that may be addressed with a different approach to your learning design.