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.

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

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

Monterrey Institute of Technology

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

Scientist in yellow lab coat using pipette

How medical education can benefit from global challenges

Worldwide crises, such as a pandemic or healthcare costs in ageing Western societies, often centre on medical education and require it to adapt quickly. So, what can a university learn from such situations?

Béla Merkely

Semmelweis University

Online class asynchronous or synchronous

Synchronous or asynchronous? When to use which when teaching online

Eunice Costilla Cruz and Elizabeth Marcial Morales examine the right time to make use of synchronous moments in virtual courses, and when asynchronous ones are more suitable

Eunice Costilla Cruz , Elizabeth Marcial Morales

Monterrey Institute of Technology

Male healthcare working giving a presentation

Advice for lecturers on how to keep students’ attention

Psychology-based rhetoric training is a way to help lecturers counteract the fall in students’ active attention span. This programme aims to give them speaking skills and confidence that will enhance their effectiveness as educators

Kinga Györffy, András Matolcsy

Semmelweis University

Woman's hands holding a fan colour palette

A simple way to improve navigation in online learning

Five simple steps to use colour to design an engaging menu and navigation system that enhances digital learning environments and platforms

Joskaudė Pakalkaitė

The University of Exeter

Tips for adopting the right technology for blended learning

Start simple, practise and consider what IT support is available when choosing online tools for blended courses, advise Carl Sherwood and John Raiti, among other aspects to consider

John Raiti, Carl Sherwood

The University of Queensland

Man speaking through a megaphone while his shadow is urging silence

Unearthing the hidden curriculum in international classrooms

How educators can help international students navigate the unspoken assumptions, expectations and norms of US higher education

Andrea Feldman

The University of Colorado Boulder

Tips for universities on delivering effective EDI degree programmes

Workplace demand for EDI expertise is growing, and numerous universities are now offering full degree programmes in this area. Eli Joseph offers starting points for doing it well

Eli Joseph

Columbia University

Group of young people in a circle all joining hands in the centre

Why we start undergraduate transdisciplinary research from day one

Hands-on knowledge discovery can give students the chance to put learning into action from the beginning of their studies, write Gray Kochhar-Lindgren and Julian Tanner

Gray Kochhar-Lindgren, Julian Tanner

The University of Hong Kong

ChatGPT and AI can be used to aid university assessment

How ChatGPT can help disrupt assessment overload

Advances in AI are not necessarily the enemy – in fact, they should prompt long overdue consideration of assessment types and frequency, says David Carless

David Carless

The University of Hong Kong

Spruce up lectures to capture the interest of all students

A guide to making lectures more interactive learning experiences that keep students interested

Vitalia Kinakh

The University of Manchester

What should be inside a teaching toolkit?

Teaching practices and student support are highly contextual so how can academic developers create institutional ‘toolkits’ that meet the needs of staff across different schools and departments?

Eleanor Cook, Rachel Griffiths , Caitlin Kight

The University of Exeter

A 100-year-old principle for teaching students digital study skills

A guide to helping students improve their digital study skills through experiential learning

Jennie Fox

The University of Exeter

illustration-photo composite of people seated around jigsaw pieces

Phenomenon-based learning: what, why and how

Phenomenon-based learning empowers students to apply disciplinary knowledge to real-world situations. Here, Sue Lee and Kate Cuthbert outline the principles of PhBL and how it can be adopted in higher education

Sue Lee, Kate Cuthbert

University of Staffordshire

Giving away all content online does not encourage student attendance

Want students back in the classroom? Don’t give everything away online

Empty classrooms are an unfortunate reality of post-pandemic universities. To stop this, we need to explain the fundamentals of learning and tempt students back

Harriet Dunbar-Morris

The University of Portsmouth

Black university student making his voice heard

We must reverse the rapid erosion of student oracy

The inexorable march of technology is leading to fewer direct conversations in universities – here’s how to help your students improve their oral skills

Richard Willis

University of Sussex, University of South Wales

Online teaching competencies to get started

Five key competencies for successful digital teaching

From energising your class to encouraging collaboration, these tips from Carolina Lara Robles and Cynthia Enciso Centeno will help make your online classes a success

Carolina Lara Robles , Cynthia Enciso Centeno

Monterrey Institute of Technology

Image showing someone forging their own path, off the main road

On students’ terms: offering options in assessment to empower learning

By giving students some control over how they are assessed, educators are likely to see a marked increase in engagement and motivation, writes Paul McFarlane

Paul McFarlane

UCL

Checklists and other course quality evaluation tools

Seven steps to make an effective course quality evaluation instrument

Tools such as rubrics and checklists are increasingly common for monitoring the quality of courses, so how do we choose the best one for our purposes?

Richard McInnes

The University of Adelaide

Student considering a question at their laptop

How can we teach and assess with ChatGPT?

A guide to designing teaching and assessments that encourage students to learn with and about ChatGPT

Soumyadeb Chowdhury , Samuel Fosso Wamba

TBS Education

A young woman walking down the street in headphones, reading from her phone

A Spotify model of personalised higher education

With technology offering greater potential for a personalised approach to higher education, Michael Rosemann and Martin Betts look at what universities can learn from the ubiquitous music platform Spotify

Michael Rosemann, Martin Betts

Queensland University of Technology, HEDx

The demand for online education is still growing, so how can we meet it?

Practical strategies for institutional centres of teaching and learning to help faculty meet the increased demand for online education, by LeRoy Hill

LeRoy Hill

The University of the West Indies

Student immersed in a hospital VR setting in the FMH Media Lab at University of Sydney

AI or VR? Matching emerging tech to real-world learning

Defining the problem can determine the best tech to deliver realistic training environments. Here is how one media lab demystifies technology-enabled learning experiences and empowers educators to develop their own

Martin Brown , Philip Poronnik, Claudio Corvalan-Diaz, William Havellas

University of Sydney

How to start adaptive learning for a large cohort

Seven steps for successfully introducing adaptive learning

A team from Monterrey Institute of Technology presents advice for the implementation of an adaptive learning strategy for large student cohorts

Multiple authors

Monterrey Institute of Technology

Five common misconceptions on writing feedback

Misapprehensions about responding to and grading writing can prevent educators using writing as an effective pedagogical tool. Rolf Norgaard and Stephanie Foster set out to dispel them

Rolf Norgaard, Stephanie Foster

The University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado State University

Managing cognitive load for EAL – and all – students

Extraneous cognitive load weighs especially heavily on students who have English as an additional language. Kate Power shares four ways in which you can support them while benefiting all students

Kate Power

The University of Queensland

Student cheating using their mobile phone during an exam

Keep calm and carry on: ChatGPT doesn’t change a thing for academic integrity

ChatGPT is a technological advancement on an already present risk of academic integrity, therefore the same careful approach to assessment design is required to minimise cheating, write Patrick Harte and Fawad Khaleel

Patrick Harte , Fawad Khaleel

Edinburgh Napier University

It takes a village: using a trading game to teach economics

Large-group interactive classroom games can bring learning alive. Here, Suzanne Bonner, K. K. Tang and Terence Yeo share how a scalable trading game uses social interactions to enhance learning

Suzanne Bonner, K. K. Tang, Terence Yeo

The University of Queensland

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