Course Design Models

There are many different ways to design your courses. Several course design models are described in this section. The models provide strategies and structure to designing your course and break the design process into steps making a daunting task more manageable. Intentionally designing your course supports student success by providing a course that is well organized and engaging. Alignment with learning outcomes is evident and students have a clear pathway to successful course completion.

Explore this page to learn more about overall course design. The buttons below will bring you to pages describing several course design models (also accessible in the table on the left):

Bloom's Taxonomy

ADDIE

Understanding by Design

Constructivist/Student Centered

Adult Learning Theories

Cognitive Load

You can adhere to a single design model, take bits and pieces from several, or design your course in your own way. There is no single, right way. Planning and organizing your course is key. The purpose is to design courses intentionally with consideration of navigation, consistency, and how the learner will experience the course. However you design your course it is important to consider specific aspects (Wind, 2022).

Determination of course needs - Who are your students and what do you want them to get out of the course? Consideration is given to the content to include as well as how to present that content.
Designing the course - This is the plan for the course. Consider how learning objectives, content, assessments, and communications relate to each other and design a plan for ways to present and engage students.
Teach the course and evaluate - Be involved in the course throughout the semester. Conduct self evaluations of how things are going as well a soliciting feedback from the students and others (See Course Reviews tab).

To focus on specific aspects of course design take a look at the Elements of Course Design tab.

You can access specific supports from UMA's LXD's to assist with your course design and instruction. Supports described on the LXD Supports page include information on the LEAD Course and the Distance Course Development Grant.

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A Course Design Process That Works for You - Article

An article with a brief overview of course design and an extensive list resources to support you in the process. There are links to webpages, videos, articles, and additional resources options from Faculty Focus.

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Why Less is More When Online Learning (ELM) - D2L Resource

The link brings you to the D2L Brightspace Community where you can create a free account to access a wide variety of resources including the Why Less is When Online Learning which refers to the acronym ELM. ELM identifies how the course design can be over complicated due to Expert syndrome, Learning outcomes, and Memorable (or not) content. The Community offers many support resources for working in Brightspace.

References:

Faculty Focus. (2021). A Course Design Process That Works for You. Retrieved from https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/course-design-ideas/a-course-design-process-that-works-for-you/

McClosky, K. (2022). Why less is more when online learning. D2L Instructional Desing Best Practices. Retrieved from https://community.brightspace.com/s/feed/0D55W0000063IzP?fromEmail=1&s1oid=00D6100000080tO&s1nid=0DB6100000001Aq&s1uid=0055W000000INwo&s1ext=0&emkind=chatterGroupDigest&emtm=1647149908862

Wind, D.K. (12/1/2022). How does instructional design play a role in the success of online learning? Linkedin Newsletter. Retrieved 12/1/ 22 from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-does-instructional-design-play-role-success-david-kofoed-wind%3FtrackingId=b8SDhn%252FcTbCSeFqQZCHCsQ%253D%253D/?trackingId=b8SDhn%2FcTbCSeFqQZCHCsQ%3D%3D

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