Teaching Frameworks

Backward Design

Backward design is framework that comes from Wiggins and McTighe, positing it as an inverse approach typically used by instructors where a course is developed by identifying content and activities and devising assessments from those elements. The backwards design approach instead encourages deliberate design by having instructors identity what a successful outcome would be, then determine how that could be measured or assessed and then use that information to plan instruction and learning activities. 

Using a Backward Design approach encourages alignment within the course, letting instructors develop and select approaches and activities that will encourage student success on assessments. 

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Two-Eyed Seeing (Etuaptumumk)

Two-Eyed Seeing is a framework from Mi'kmaq elder Albert Marshall that seeks to benefit from the strengths of Indigenous ways of knowing and western ways of knowing. A key principle of this approach is weaving between perspectives

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Community of Inquiry

The Community of Inquiry for Online Education is a framework based on the work of C.S. Peirce and John Dewey, adapted for online pedagogy by Garrison, Archer, and Anderson (2000). The premise of the framework is that there are three elements essential to the educational experience. These elements are described as teaching presence, social presence, and cognitive presence. 

The Venn diagram that presents how the elements come together into the educational experience (By Matbury - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32442058).

Teaching Presence 

The teaching presence is the group of elements that include the design, direction, and facilitation of the components that are intended to help the learners achieve the experience's learning targets. A key piece of teaching presence is that it is NOT "teacher presence". Teaching presence elements may primarily come from the course instructor, but can also come from the course environment, and even the course learners. 

Social Presence

The social presence elements are components that allow students to bring interest and identity to the course, allowing themselves to present and be received as real people within the course. These are mostly reflected in opportunities for student-student and student-instructor interaction. 

Cognitive Presence

In the Community of Inquiry framework cognitive presence is supported by quality teaching presence and social presence. Cognitive presence speaks to how learners engage and participate in the course, such as the depth and quality of reflection, their ability to construct meaning. 

Learn more about the Community of Inquiry framework

Universal Design for Learning

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework designed to make learning experiences more inclusive. The UDL framework is presented as guidelines and maintained by the Center for Applied Special Technologies (CAST). UDL approaches inclusive design by challenging instructors to provide multiple means of engagement, representation, action & expression with the ultimate goal of fostering learner agency. 

Engagement

The recommendations for fostering student engagement involves welcoming interests and identities, creating opportunities for students to have choice and autonomy within courses, designing authentic learning and assessment experiences and nurturing the joy and play that come with authentic learning. Instructors should evaluate course designs to maintain motivation within the course.  

Representation

Representation speaks to the "What of Learning", assessing and evaluating the content and the media that presents it. The guidelines recommend that instructors offer multiple ways to perceive course information and offer students control over how that information can be displayed (e.g. ensuring that an etext has the options for students to zoom-in or enlarge text). 

Action & Expression

Action & Expression are the means that students interact with the course and demonstrate their learning and capacity. The UDL guidelines that instructors employ multiple media as means of communication with students incorporating tools like images, drawings, films, manipulatives, etc. Additionally where possible instructors should consider options for allowing students choice over the media they use to demonstrate learning. 

Learn more about the Universal Design for Learning guidelines