Instructional Design Considerations
The backward design framework helps us plan our course structure and ensures we are aligning our assessments and instruction to the intended learning outcomes. There are other considerations, however, that we should take into account when we design our courses. These considerations will ensure that we are maintaining a student-centered perspective and provides us with further opportunities to weave our pedagogy into the course design process. The considerations and a brief explanation of their importance in the course design process are listed below.
Personal Teaching Philosophy / Guiding Assumptions and Principles
Informs all course aspects: instruction, instructor/learner dynamics, and the construction of meaning. Consider your personal philosophy regarding the purpose of teaching.
- What role do your learners play?
- How is meaning constructed within the content, assessments, and course interactions?
- What is your overall goal when teaching? Within the course?
Audience
Informs content, assessments, and instruction: are your learners majoring in this subject? Are they part of the general student population?
Knowledge Type
Informs content, assessments, and instruction: Theoretical? Practical? Both?
Resources and Materials
Informs content, assessments, and instruction: Materials (text, multimedia); Consideration made for timing and location of access (pre-class? during? post-class? online? independent? ).
Pedagogical approach
What types of instructional techniques or activities might you do with your learners (or have your learners do) to reinforce and scaffold the concepts covered in these resources and materials?
Activity
Now that you have a more thorough understanding of the intricacies of course design, take a moment to make some preliminary notes regarding the instructional design considerations that have been presented. After you have made notes in the boxes below, click on the “Export” option to save a copy of your document to your device for future reference.
