Jan 3, 2025 · Looking for the best instructional design certifications? Today, you’ll get the 28 top certificate programs and courses. We’ll also explore whether a certificate program is necessary for landing a job as an instructional designer. Ready to learn more? Let’s go. What do you need to become an instructional designer?

Designing a course can seem like a daunting task, so we break it down into a few easy steps to help you navigate creating a structure that's engaging and fun for your students. Begin the process early, giving yourself as much time as you can to plan a new course. Successful courses require careful planning and continual revision.

This guide is for those who are new to teaching, designing a course, or refreshing and updating their foundational knowledge. It includes course design frameworks, definitions of common terms, general Stanford resources and services, and core pedagogic concepts and strategies.

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One of the most robust backward design models developed for higher education is L. Dee Fink’s integrated course design. Fink outlines a streamlined process for designing academic courses, divided into three stages:

When proposing an online course, the online course design must meet the college approved requirements before the course may be scheduled. Consult your college policies for online course design and approval. Prerequisites should be used to reinforce skills and content knowledge. WHEN SHOULD A NEW COURSE BE CREATED?

Designing programmes and courses thoughtfully and rigorously provides a framework for sustainable and effective teaching and learning, which leads to successful student outcomes.

Below, you’ll find a few general principles to keep in mind when you are designing a course or program. Most fundamentally: Begin with the desired end in mind and work to align your learning goals with what students will do or experience and assignments that they will be evaluated on.

These resources include best teaching practices, handy charts of essential information, linked resources for further reading, and videos. The first section guides you through the logistics of setting up a new course and offers resources and advice geared specifically toward graduate student teachers at the University of Toronto.

“Course design” refers to the process of developing course learning aims, then selecting assessments, learning experiences, and materials that will align with aims to develop a course that animate your overarching goals for student learning and enduring understanding.