University course design and delivery

How to design in-person, hybrid and online courses that maximise student engagement, inclusion and learning. Here, you can find advice on instructional design including lesson planning, creation and organisation of educational materials and effective use of digital technologies; as well as teaching methods and styles to help you achieve specific learning outcomes.

Eight tips for making teaching and learning more enjoyable for learners

From mixing up the teaching space to drawing on real-life examples, Perçem Arman outlines ways to make lessons more fun and thus increase participation

Perçem Arman

Near East University

Female engineering students working on a robotics project

Transforming the classroom through experiential learning

A pilot programme aims to expand undergraduate students’ access to high-impact learning experiences to strengthen skills such as teamwork and problem-solving. Kate Williams looks at its outcomes

Kate Williams

Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities

big versus small in the microlearning arena

Using fun and interactive micromodules to energise learning

Lee Chien Ching and Tan Kian Lip Erick share the intricate process of producing a micromodule that attracts students through an enjoyable, interactive learning experience

Tan Kian Lip Erick , Lee Chien Ching

Singapore Institute of Technology

Mastering generative AI: crafting reusable prompts for effective learning design

Richard McInnes and Ajay Kulkarni discuss how to get consistent quality and replicable results when using generative AI to support course design and development

Richard McInnes, Ajay Kulkarni

Adelaide University

Young black man studying at home on laptop

Moving microcredentials forward: how universities are incubators and early adopters

Education innovation will transform lifetime learning in two main ways: compacting instruction into digestible bites and standardising how microcredentials are used and delivered in (and beyond) higher education

Jonna Lee , Eric Scott Sembrat

Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities

Student in her bedroom sitting on the floor on her laptop listening to music

Sparking online joy: five ways to keep students engaged

Five guiding principles to use when designing and developing content for short online courses that will keep students engaged

Andrés Ordorica , Marcello Crolla, Lizzy Garner-Foy

The University of Edinburgh

A plan to prevent disengagement

What educators can do to overcome three common causes of student disengagement with learning

Adeola A. Matthew

The University of the West Indies

Why hybrid learning needs hybrid faculties

Online courses should be integrated into everyday faculty functions to improve remote and in-person classes as well as the overall student experience

An Jacobs , Norma Rossi

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Loughborough University, University of St Andrews

Student carrying out an assessment exercise

These are the best practices and most common mistakes in learning assessment

Cecilia Tagliapietra Ovies says that, while there is no single formula for learning assessment, there are certain basic principles institutions can follow to help ensure success

Cecilia Tagliapietra Ovies

CETYS Universidad

What makes an effective microcredential programme?

Short, flexible and skills-focused, microcredentials must balance the needs of students and industry. Here are tips on how to develop courses that achieve this

Temesgen Kifle

The University of Queensland

Teaching how to use numbers as a tool for justice

Statistics are not neutral, writes Wendy Castillo. Here, she explains how to use QuantCrit to show students the effect that historic racism and bias have on data collection and analysis

Wendy Castillo

Princeton University

The power and the peril of virtual reality in higher education

From investing in training to identifying educational objectives, Mark Milliron offers advice on fully realising VR’s promise for universities

Mark Milliron

National University

Learning by doing: practical tips from a decade of making Moocs

Lessons gained during a decade of developing and refining massive open online courses from two online learning experts

Stuart Nicol , Fiona Buckland

The University of Edinburgh

How to design and build microcredentials in four steps

A team from Tecnológico de Monterrey explains how to plan, design, deliver and measure microcredentials at your university

Verónica Alejandra Pérez Aguirre , Laura Patricia Aldape , Karla Margarita Banda Martínez

Tecnológico de Monterrey

How humour stimulates critical thinking, creativity and communication skills

After assigning students to write comedy scripts instead of seminar papers, André Martinuzzi and Angelo Spoerk explain how humour has great potential as a learning method

André Martinuzzi, Angelo Spoerk

Vienna University of Economics and Business

University students sitting a written in-person exam

Help your students to become assessment literate

Practical suggestions to address a staff-student disconnect relating to the purpose and practice of assessment and to enhance assessment literacy on your courses

Eleanor Aspey, Gillian Ulph

The University of Manchester

Embracing generative AI as a co-design partner for designing and developing courses

Generative AI is here to stay, so what opportunities are there for educational developers and learning designers to leverage it as a partner when designing courses?

Richard McInnes

Adelaide University

A young woman looking happy as she works at a laptop

A reflexive writing workshop to enhance engagement with learning

Reflexive writing workshops can help boost students’ interest and motivation in relation to their studies. Aspasia Eleni Paltoglou explains how these can work

Aspasia Eleni Paltoglou

Manchester Metropolitan University

Seven questions about storytelling in the classroom

Ng Lee Keng explains why and how telling stories in class can transform student engagement and make your lessons more interesting

Ng Lee Keng

Singapore Institute of Technology

A diverse group of people representing different potential students

Bring your learners to life through personas

Understanding your learners and their needs enables you to develop more engaging courses, and personas are a great tool to help you achieve this, as Andrés Ordorica explains

Andrés Ordorica

The University of Edinburgh

Using active learning to increase student engagement and understanding

Creating an active learning environment in a large group setting is challenging. Ingrid Sierp shares ways to increase engagement, encourage attendance and gauge understanding in real time

Ingrid Sierp

Adelaide University

Using film to prompt discussion in legal studies

Movies and television programmes can challenge students’ perceptions and enrich their understanding of the law. But designing an effective module requires more than a must-watch list, writes Michael Randall

Michael Randall

University of Strathclyde

How ‘service learning’ can improve outcomes for students, educators and local communities

A guide to using service learning, in which students oversee projects in the community, to enhance theoretical classroom teaching

Tachagorn Chansema

Siam University

A look back over 10 years of Moocs

Lessons learned over a decade of developing and delivering massive open online courses (Moocs)

Melissa Highton

The University of Edinburgh

Asian student reading and studying at home for flipped classroom

Show students that the flipped classroom is much more than self-directed learning

Tan Bhing Leet provides three suggestions to help educators maximise the benefits of flipped classrooms

Tan Bhing Leet

Singapore Institute of Technology

Practical tips for designing activities using ChatGPT

Including generative AI in students’ learning is still in its early stages. Agustín Rodríguez Hernández provides general considerations he has picked up thus far

Agustín Rodríguez Hernández

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Medical student in virtual reality headset

Using VR to change medical students’ attitudes towards older patients

A five-minute virtual reality exercise has the power to dramatically shift students’ understanding of and empathy for dementia patients’ experience

János Kollár

Semmelweis University

Teaching guides ADHD students in digital learning

With the right support, students with ADHD can thrive in digital learning environments

Don’t generalise about digital learning being problematic for students with ADHD. Rather, find the digital tools that develop their unique talents, argues Dustin Hosseini

Dustin Hosseini

University of Glasgow

Universities on Fire climate change podcast

Campus talks: the AI university is coming

AI expert Ashok Goel is back on the podcast to help us understand the implications of ChatGPT for higher education and what will happen next

Ashok Goel

Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities

Training students for jobs that do not exist yet

The rethinking of course materials and programmes to incorporate future trends is a key requirement for all forward-thinking providers, write Aaron Taylor and Victoria Rafferty

Aaron Taylor, Victoria Rafferty

Arden University

A group of students sitting in a group talking

Break the ice early to build student belonging

Ice-breaking activities borrowed from the performing arts that can help students form bonds and build belonging from the start of a course

Kelly Edmunds , Leanne Fridd

The University of East Anglia

A multiple choice quiz can be useful for formative assessment

The myriad advantages of using formative assessment

G.K. Suraishkumar looks at ways to assess students’ learning more effectively through formative assessments and argues for basing grades entirely on this method

G K Suraishkumar

The Indian Institute of Technology Madras

Teacher helping black student in computer class

Co-creation as a liberating activity

How to use student co-creation to bring active participation and collaboration into the learning experience, based on insights from the Liberated Learners open educational resource

Terry Greene

Trent University

Conceptual image of someone using AI generated knowledge

How ChatGPT killed my discussion boards and prompted new prompts

Advice on learning and discussion prompts that require students to think beyond the remit of AI responses

Sara Cline

Athens State University

The flipped classroom: an evidence-based approach

The flipped classroom is most effective when it places active learning at its core, research suggests. A new model for flipped learning, developed by Manu Kapur and colleagues, aims to do just that

Manu Kapur

ETH Zurich

Grow your own accessibility allies

The steps to making learning content accessible include identifying areas that need attention, overcoming barriers and recruiting allies to get the job done, writes Luke Searle

Luke Searle

University of Southampton

A student raising a hand with a question in class

Want to know how your class is going? Ask your students

A guide to what, when and how to ask your students for feedback on your course in order to inform improvements to your teaching

Stephanie Foster, Kalpana Gupta

The University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado State University

A racing driver and his co-pilot in a simulation

Co-pilots: a new way of improving hybrid teaching for everyone

Bringing in a ‘co-pilot’ instructor to support the running of hybrid classes can improve the teaching and learning experience for students and their lecturers, write Omar Merlo and James Eteen

Omar Merlo , James Eteen

Imperial College London

A woman logging onto her laptop while eating lunch

A quick guide to designing and delivering effective bite-sized learning

A beginner’s guide to creating content, using the relevant tech tools and fostering active engagement through bite-sized learning

Patrina Law

The Open University

Introducing microcredentials: a guide for educators and students

May Lim provides insight on how to design effective microcredentials that provide tangible benefits for students’ job function and career aspirations

May Lim

Singapore Institute of Technology

Four steps to design a course that motivates students and consolidates learning

Yolanda Domínguez Medina, Mayela Beatriz Rodríguez Romo and Martha Fabiola Espinosa Mata outline the key stages for designing engaging courses

Yolanda Domínguez Medina, Mayela Beatriz Rodríguez Romo , Martha Fabiola Espinosa Mata

Tecnológico de Monterrey

What to do when your students don’t seem to care

Ayten Ordu outlines some of the strategies available to academics when students have lost their enthusiasm for lessons and lectures

Ayten Ordu

Near East University

Spice up your lectures: engagement strategies for higher education

Ibham Veza and Davannendran Chandran provide an exhaustive checklist of practical strategies for captivating students and retaining their attention

Ibham Veza, Davannendran Chandran

Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP)

Successful group work is all in the selection process

For students, group work can boost learning, critical thinking and problem-solving skills, but the benefits of collaboration may depend on how teachers put individuals together

Temesgen Kifle, Suzanne Bonner

The University of Queensland

Young Indian student looking thoughtful at a laptop

A translation exercise to improve students’ creative writing

Literary translation and writing have a cyclical, reciprocal relationship, as novelist Maithreyi Karnoor explains with a task to tap into students’ feel for language

Maithreyi Karnoor

Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology

Learning design illustration of computer screen, light bulb, pencil and books

Learning designer may be the best job you’ve never heard of

This role is the bridge between students and academia – and makes use of many transferable skills you may already have in your toolkit

Vanessa Jefferson

Online Education Services

Techno-pedagogic design for blended and online courses

Techno-pedagogic design for blended and online courses

Course design for online and blended learning that combines pedagogical know-how with appropriate use of technology. Albert Sangrà presents design models that can help

Albert Sangrà

Open University of Catalonia (UOC)

How to train entrepreneurs in five steps

What training is needed to help aspiring entrepreneurs develop the skills they will need? George Chondrakis shares five vital steps

George Chondrakis

Esade

University lecturer being an LGBTQ+ ally

How can we make LGBTQ+ students feel welcome through our teaching?

Practise inclusivity, speak out against harmful behaviour in your classroom and, most importantly, continue to learn, says Chris Pearce

Chris Pearce

UNSW Sydney

A woman communicating with a chatbot on her laptop

How to make ChatGPT work as a teaching assistant: a case study in law

A guide to working with AI writing tool GPT-4 to train it as a useful teaching assistant to answer students’ questions, based on Benjamin Liu’s experience doing so in law

Benjamin Liu

The University of Auckland

5 6 7 8 9 10 ...19