In the modern educational landscape, the integration of gamification into hybrid learning environments has emerged as a promising approach to enhance student outcomes. However, there remains a lack of comprehensive frameworks for designing gamified hybrid courses and validating their impact on student outcomes. This paper proposes a design…

Individualized approaches to online course design benefit faculty in numerous ways. Using a "concierge" model approach, this paper describes the working principles and steps used in course development. The general approach directly addresses many inherent problems with instructional design processes, which often highlight discrepancies…

By using principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) within online learning environments, teacher education faculty have an opportunity to break down barriers and create purposeful course content that will benefit all learners. The application of UDL helps teacher education faculty recruit learner interest, sustain learner efforts, and…

A theoretical model called 'Curriculum Design Coherence' (CDC) is described and justified. The model's purpose is to assist teachers in the compulsory and higher education sectors to design courses that can accommodate the complex and interdependent relationship between concepts and content and between knowledge and skills. Its intended usefulness…

Higher education classes have increased in size at a time of significant resource restrictions for universities. At the same time, employers are looking for graduates with relevant competencies and skills. This poses two key challenges: (1) how to design an experiential curriculum that produces significant skill development and (2) how to ensure…

High-quality digital learning experiences are built on the foundational principles of providing equitable, inclusive, accessible learning environments for all students. In addition, high-quality digital learning experiences are well-organized and thoughtfully designed. These experiences rely on instructional design principles and strategies to…

Today, as educators are transitioning into a new phase of planning for an uncertain summer and fall, they can be more thoughtful about how to deliver high quality online learning. On the positive side, online delivery as an instructional modality is not new. In fact, many colleges and universities have been developing and delivering successful…

Many learners who have not chosen to identify as having physical, sensory, and learning disabilities still may struggle to learn in the online learning environment due to diverse abilities and backgrounds, differing cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and other factors that affect perception, learning ability, and engagement. Given the apparent…

Launched in June 2016, the Smithsonian Learning Lab (SLL) provides access to the digital resources from across the Smithsonian's 19 museums, 9 major research centers, and the National Zoo, to be used as real-world learning experiences. It is designed to aid students in building lasting knowledge and critical skills that take learners from simply…

As the number of on-line classes and the demand for on-line education continues to sky-rocket, it is critical that course developers and university faculty have the skills to effectively design curricula, to develop engaging learning opportunities, and to create responsive courses that meet individual student needs. This paper details three…

In designing a capstone experience, legal educators may encounter a number of tensions between competing pedagogical imperatives and conflicting capstone principles. Should we focus on teaching content or should we focus on developing skills? Should we emphasise integration and consolidation of knowledge, or transition and the development of…

Political science faculty have access to a wealth of innovative pedagogies thanks to a comprehensive literature on teaching and learning in the discipline and related fields. Yet, from among the hundreds of documented possibilities, how does one go about deciding which to incorporate into a given course? Few articles have much to say in response…

This chapter describes an innovative method of curriculum design that is based on combining phenomenographic research, and the associated variation theory of learning, with the notion of disciplinary threshold concepts to focus specialised design attention on the most significant and difficult parts of the curriculum. The method involves three…

This dissertation aimed to understand the influence of cultural patterns on international students' perception and experience with online learning. This case study utilized Hofstede's cultural dimension model as an interpretative framework to understand what are the international students' perceptions and experiences with online courses. Two…

Policymakers and educators alike increasing focus on faculty adoption of interactive teaching techniques as a way to improve undergraduate education. Yet, little empirical research exists that examines the processes whereby faculty make decisions about curriculum design and classroom teaching in real-world situations. In this study, I use the idea…