Design and plan courses and programmes

Course design is the idea that our teaching and learning should involve some degree of planning. In other words, the way we structure our courses should be informed by principles of good practice.

These principles include:

clear and concise course aims and learning outcomes
appropriate teaching and learning activities
appropriate learning supports and resources
assessments that appropriately measure learning (valid and reliable).

You should first determine what you want your students to learn. Learning Outcomes outline what your students are expected to know, understand and be able to do once they have completed your course. These should be aligned with the overarching goals of your discipline and course programme as well as relevant University graduate/ postgraduate graduate profiles. You can access the University's graduate profile here.

A conversation with the Director of the programme (that your course is a part of) is an important early step. The Director may have advice on gaps in the programme's graduate profile that your course should address. They might also have suggestions about skills and capabilities that the course might address in addition to its knowledge outcomes. Learning outcomes for a programme will be relatively broad compared to outcomes at a course level, which will be more specific.

Listen to Professor Helen Sword talk about how she plans her courses.

Curriculum/ Constructive Alignment

We can plan our teaching using the concept of constructive alignment. Constructive alignment states that the three main elements of the teaching process (learning outcomes, teaching and learning activities, and student assessment) must be aligned. Alignment occurs when there are clear and logical connections between these three components:

learning outcomes (what you want students to know, understand, and be able to do)
learning activities (tasks, interactions, etc., to enable students to achieve outcomes)
student assessment (to measure whether students have achieved the intended outcomes).

To learn more about each component of the model, click here to view a more extensive summary.

The steps involved in the alignment of course learning outcomes, methods and assessments can be summarised as follows:

Define the intended learning outcomes;
Choose teaching and learning activities that are likely to lead to the achievement of the intended learning outcomes and
Develop assessments that require students to demonstrate their achievement to the specified standard of learning expressed in the assessment criteria.

Example: Taking a History

Learning outcome: Students will be able to obtain clear, comprehensive and relevant case histories.
Teaching activities: Lecture on obtaining clear, comprehensive and relevant case histories; tutorial on obtaining clear, comprehensive and relevant case histories; clinical skills sessions in which students are paired to practice obtaining clear, comprehensive and relevant case histories; and supervised session with a patient to practice obtaining clear, comprehensive and relevant case histories.
Assessment: Students are assessed on their ability to obtain clear, comprehensive and relevant case histories.

In this example, the activities enable students to achieve the intended learning outcome. Achievement consists of mastering a particular skill to a particular standard. The assessment must require students to demonstrate the skill at the desired standard.

Practice Point - Curriculum Alignment

Capabilities in course design might be evidenced by showing that you are able to write clear learning outcomes that are supported by appropriately chosen learning methods aligned with assessment. If you're familiar with how to write learning outcomes and with the theory of alignment, you might want to start an ePortfolio record to evidence your activity in this area. You'll need to start your work in this area with a particular course/teaching activity; this will probably be a course/teaching activity that has presented you with some challenges, e.g. students may not be grasping the necessary concepts or skills or students may be performing poorly in the assessment.

You can also demonstrate early and core capabilities in the Design and Planning of Courses and/or Programmes by showing that you are responsive to student feedback and to reviews of your courses/programmes.

You might demonstrate extended capabilities/leadership in this area through innovation in curriculum and course design and/or by membership in curriculum review committees.

Course Design Innovation

Innovation in course design arises when:

we identify a challenge or problem
we realise that student learning can be improved by changing one of the components of our course.

We should always consider innovation in the context of improving teaching effectiveness and use evaluation data as a guide. In other words, when we innovate in our courses, we should reflect deeply on the process and draw on best practices and the experience of other educators. You may also consider writing up the change you made and submitting a paper to an educational journal.

Innovation should not happen for its own sake and should be driven by a particular problem or opportunity that calls for a new way of doing things. Examples of challenges/opportunities at a curriculum level include a perceived need to adopt a new approach to teaching, e.g. taking a problem-based approach to the curriculum or taking a case-based approach to the curriculum. Adopting a new teaching approach can also drive change at the level of a course. Changes at the course level may lead to changes at a curriculum level if the innovations prove to be effective.

Innovations at a curriculum and/or course level may also be prompted by changes outside of our control. For example, students may demand more flexible study options and/or distance education opportunities that allow them to continue working while they study. A particular university may make its programmes available online, prompting similar innovations in "competing" universities.

It is also important that we think critically about the impact of innovations. Click here to learn more about evaluating innovative projects.

Listen to Associate Professor Roger Booth talk about innovation in course design.

Practice Point - Leading the Design/Redesign of Courses

Extended capabilities in the area of Design and Planning of Courses and Programmes might also be evidenced by leadership in the design and implementation of courses and programmes at an institutional level. You might, for example, chair a curriculum review committee or lead a Board of Studies for a programme. Distinction in the Design and Planning of Courses and Programmes might be evidenced by international activity in this area, e.g. members of international accrediting bodies or consultation on international projects.

Further Resources

Biggs, J., Tang, C. & Kennedy, G. (2022). Teaching for Quality at University. Maidenhead UK: Open University Press.