Instructional Design Services
What is Instructional Design?
Instructional design applies to learning theories, evidence-based teaching strategies, and academic technologies to create effective, engaging, and accessible learning experiences. Our instructional designers collaborate with instructors to align learning outcomes, course materials, assessments, accessibility, and instructional strategies with best practices in teaching and learning.
An instructional designer (ID) is a learning and teaching expert who helps instructors design effective, engaging, and accessible learning experiences. Instructional designers apply learning theories, evidence-based teaching strategies, and academic technologies to support instructors in planning, developing, and improving their courses.
At the IDC, our instructional designers collaborate with instructors to align learning outcomes, course materials, assessments, accessibility, and instructional strategies with best practices in teaching and learning. Whether you’re developing a new course, refreshing an existing course, or looking for ways to improve student learning, an instructional designer can help you plan, develop, review, and enhance your course
Ready to get started? Book a consultation to work with an instructional designer on your course design and development needs.
Design Services
Our instructional design services support instructors at every stage of course development, from creating a new course to redesigning an existing course or reviewing a course for improvement.
We offer differentiated course design models based on the level of support a course requires.
New course development typically receives comprehensive backward-design support, beginning with course goals and objectives and progressing through aligned assessments, activities, and content. This approach provides a structured process for building a new course from the ground up.
Existing courses may require a more targeted level of support, such as a consultation, course review, or focused redesign. The level of support depends on the scope of the work. For example, reviewing or refining an existing online course may require less support than substantially redesigning a course or taking a face-to-face course and building anew in an online format, which requires additional planning, development, and alignment for the online learning environment.
This approach allows the IDC to scale its services based on instructor needs while maintaining a consistent quality framework through Quality Matters (QM) and alignment with Regular Substantive Interaction (RSI), Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and accessibility standards.
Service Types
Our course design services can be applied across face-to-face, synchronous, asynchronous, and hybrid modalities, with the level and focus of support tailored to the needs of each course. Services may range from full course development to targeted consultation or review, with attention to the specific instructional strategies, student interactions, activities, and technology required for each modality.
- New course development: full design consultation, course map, assessment plan, module structure, and build support.
- Course redesign: focused review of outcomes, assessments, and opportunities for improvement, followed by targeted revision support.
- Course review: a review of an already developed and previously taught course, focused on strengths, gaps, and recommendations rather than a full redesign.
Planning & Preparation
Every course is different, so the amount of time and support needed will vary. Factors such as the course delivery method, existing materials, course complexity, and the type of support needed can affect how much time should be planned for course development.
Plan based on your course needs:
- New courses typically require the most lead time because the course structure, learning outcomes, assessments, and learning activities are developed from the ground up.
- Course redesigns may require less time when learning outcomes and existing course materials are already well established.
- Online – asynchronous or synchronous courses may require additional planning for course structure, student directions, interaction, activities, technology, and supporting materials.
- Hybrid courses require planning to coordinate online and face-to-face learning experiences effectively.
Starting early allows time for collaboration, development, review, and refinement before the course begins.
Additional Opportunities
- Enroll in Instructor Certificate Courses to explore teaching and learning topics through self-paced learning experiences. Browse available courses, descriptions, and self-enrollment instructions on the Instructor Certificate Courses page.
- Explore Professional Development Opportunities to enhance your teaching practices, collaborate with colleagues, and discover new teaching strategies and innovative approaches to using technology for teaching and learning. Browse workshops, webinars, book discussions, and on-demand resources on the Professional Development Opportunities KB page.