Course Design
What is Course Design?
Course design involves creating a structured learning experience by aligning learning objectives, teaching strategies, content, materials, and activities. It also includes organizing and chunking content into manageable units or modules that support student learning and engagement.
What is Quality Course Design and Development?
Effective courses begin with intentional design. Using backward design, accessibility, and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) from the start helps align course goals, assessments, activities, and materials while supporting the needs of all students.
Key considerations include:
- What should students be able to do by the end of the course and each unit?
- Are assessments and activities aligned with the learning objectives?
- Do instructional strategies support inclusion and engagement?
- Are course materials accessible?
- How will feedback and evaluation inform course improvements?
Backward Design
As with all quality course development, start by using the backward design model (Wiggins and McTighe, 2005) when designing or redesigning your course. In the backward design process, you structure student learning based on assessments that are intentionally designed to provide evidence that students have achieved the course goals
The first step in backward course design is to clearly articulate the final results of the course. Begin by asking yourself:
- What do I want my students to be able to think and do by the end of the course?
- How will my students be different by the end of the course?
- What are the course goals (aligned with program goals)?
- What are the unit/module objectives (aligned with course goals)?
Learning Goals & Objectives
Bloom's Taxonomy, which is organized into six categories (levels of understanding), lists a variety of verbs to represent the action expected of thinking and doing. Bloom's Taxonomy can be used to develop goals and objectives for the course.
Goals are broad, generalized statements about what is to be learned in the course. Course goals are aligned with the program curriculum goals.
Assessments
After creating course goals and unit objectives, the next step is to determine how students will demonstrate their learning. Consider a variety of assessment approaches, including authentic and flexible options, to provide a more complete picture of student learning while supporting engagement, diverse learning needs, and deeper learning.
Once assessments are identified, you can plan the activities, assignments, communication, and course content that align with your objectives and goals.
The Course Design Worksheet can help you organize and storyboard your course before building it in Blackboard. It provides a visual outline of your course flow and helps you connect objectives, assessments, activities, and content.
Course Design Resources
Once you have established your course goals, objectives, assessments, and learning activities, the next step is bringing everything together into a clear, organized, and cohesive course. You don't have to do it alone. The IDC offers instructional design consultations to help you plan, develop, review, or improve your course. Book a consultation to work with an instructional designer based on your course and teaching needs.
The IDC has also developed resources to support you throughout the course design process. Use these resources to organize your ideas, check alignment and quality, build a student-friendly course structure, and prepare your course for the start of the semester.
Plan Your Course
Course Design Worksheet - Use the Course Design Worksheet to storyboard your course and organize your goals, objectives, assessments, activities, and content before building your course in Blackboard.
Review & Improve Your Course
IDC Exemplar Course Design Rubric (2025 version) - Download and use the rubric to review your course and identify opportunities to strengthen course design, alignment, accessibility, and the student learning experience.
Regular Substantive Interaction (RSI) - Learn about the importance of meaningful and consistent interaction between instructors and students, particularly in online courses.
Build & Prepare Your Course
Explore a simple, consistent Blackboard course structure that helps students easily find information, resources, activities, and assessments
Start of Semester Course Checklist- Course Checklist
Use this checklist as a final review before making your course available to students.
Related Resources
- Book a consultation with an instructional designer
- Instructor Certificate Courses
- Instructional Design Services
- Professional Development Opportunities
- Online Teaching and Learning