By Arup George
How can an educational program empower learners to construct knowledge on top of what they already know? And what makes a program engaging in a way that makes learning inherently rewarding? Is there a systematic approach to designing deeply enriching educational programs? In short, can we master the art of course design, if indeed such an art exists?
Let’s start with a story.
A university student1 was walking home after a late-night party. Seeing that he was wobbly, a police officer stopped him and asked where he was headed. Without missing a beat, he said: “I am going to attend a lecture.”
The police officer asked, “At 2:00 am, who is conducting the lecture?”
“My mum!”
Every time I have told this joke during a lecture, the class has received it with uproarious laughter. The grain of truth in this joke is apparent – you would avoid a lecture if you could.
I have sat through numerous lectures myself with the same feelings as the wobbly student before I became one who must deliver them. So, at a visceral level, I had accepted that lectures can’t be inherently enjoyable, they can only be made tolerable. Nevertheless, I used to put a lot of effort into preparing lectures, just as a surgeon must prepare for surgery regardless of how their patient feels about being under the knife.
My standard preparation playbook has been as follows:
I decide on the topics that I will teach.
I group the topics into logical units to be delivered.
I design examinations that test how much the students have “got it”.
The focus used to be on the content and its delivery. I rarely considered the learners and the background knowledge they bring along. I also often overlooked deeper factors, such as how a course will shape its participants in the long run.
Although I did not know it then, content-driven courses only encourage regurgitation. They do not evoke deeper feelings, understanding, or new connections that lead to surprisingly creative use of knowledge. Not so surprisingly, a teacher who lectures a content-driven course is likely to be perceived as one who talks when people are trying to sleep. I admit that I might have been one of these teachers, and would have remained one had I not attended the Course Design Institute.
Course Design Institute (CDI) workshops transformed me. Their fundamental idea is that to design a course that enables learning, we must start with identifying the learning goals. Then, we will need to design assessments with clearly defined and communicated standards that let the participants know what excellent work looks like. Next, we will need to design learning activities – lectures, group work, design projects, etc. – that progressively impart the skills that enable the participants to do their assessments well. Those learning activities should have ample opportunities to provide frequent, prompt, caring, and personalised feedback that discerns acceptable and exceptional work. Like the deft hands that deliver a gastronomic delight by finely balancing the salts, acids, fats, and heat at a Michelin-star grill, the CDI coordinators showed me how to integrate the triumvirate of goals, assessments and activities to create a gourmet educational experience. Whether the subject is circuit design, evolutionary biology, statistics or artificial intelligence does not matter. The art is universally applicable.
Active learning is a powerful idea that enables profound learning and retention. Although I knew little about active learning or how to manifest it in my courses, I could summon its cousin – passive learning – easily. Passive learning is where the notes of the teacher become the notes of the learner without passing through the mind of either. Just follow my earlier playbook, and you can summon it too.
CDI workshops demystified active learning for me. To open the doors to active learning, I understood that I must present information and provide ample opportunities for my class to apply it. More importantly, I understood that I need to provide opportunities for the learners to think about what they are doing by engaging in reflective dialogue. I also found out that I must weave these into all the learning activities in myriad ways to facilitate active learning.
The cherry on top of the pedagogical pudding that the CDI put together was the exposure to the brilliant course designs by my cohort’s exceptional colleagues. Hayley’s Ecology, Sustainability and Environmental Science course showed me how to interweave complex feedforward paths into courses that give participants opportunities for continuous improvement. As I have let her know, I will take inspiration from her work and incorporate them into mine. (That means I copy and paste her ideas into my context.) Jared’s course on the future of work is another example with ample design and delivery lessons. As I understand, it aims to impart the skills to be successful in the modern-day work environment. The diverse background of the CDI cohort – law, finance, engineering, business, health, etc. – accentuates how universally applicable the course-design ideas are.
Art creates. Science discovers. When art and science break even, we get good design. At the CDI, I understood the science of course design and got inspired to do the art. My students will now have plenty to keep them engaged (and awake)!
I encourage you to go and experience the CDI workshops with Alex, Angie and Himani. You will broaden your horizons, reimagine your courses, and lead your course participants to be lifelong self-directed learners. Just do it, because it is worth it.
1 Definitely not from UNSW 😊