Course (Re)Design Institute

Whether you are developing a new course or want to spruce up an existing course, the CTL Course (Re)Design Institute will provide you with a collaborative environment to enhance your teaching practices. While working alongside SHU faculty and staff colleagues, you will utilize the goal-centered, backward design approach; explore innovative teaching strategies; and leverage SHU resources and technologies to enhance your course design. This experience is designed to foster community, improve student engagement and create meaningful learning environments.

The CTL Course (Re)Design Institute is open to all full-time and part-time SHU faculty.

Person addressing a class with a slide on a screen behind them that says what is a course redesign institute anyway

Institute Goals

The main goal of the Institute is to provide guidance, space, support, and community for SHU faculty as they get a jump-start on their preparations for an upcoming course.

By the end of the Institute, participants will:

  • Form a community of SHU colleagues to collaboratively develop and enhance each other’s teaching practices
  • Use the backward design approach to articulate/refine learning goals for a selected course
  • Develop/refine learning activities and assessments to align with course learning goals
  • Identify pedagogical and communication techniques to engage students, foster community and enhance accessibility
  • Leverage SHU institutional resources and guidance to enhance overall course design (e.g. SHU syllabus template)
  • Determine applicable SHU-supported technologies to facilitate effective teaching (e.g. artificial intelligence, Blackboard, Feedback Fruits)
  • Engage in dedicated work time to (re)design selected course in collaboration with SHU faculty and staff colleagues

Institute Curriculum

Note that says community at heart of learningModeling the Backward Design approach, the Institute begins with a discussion of what our institute goals are, and what our learners will know or be able to do by the time they complete the institute. We then explore how we know our students have met our learning goals through formative and summative assessments. Finally, we focus on how to create learning environments that promote student belonging and success.

Each day consists of community sessions with presentations and interactive learning; “choose your own adventure” time when participants can engage with experts, work on their courses or attend additional workshops; and community sessions to share our work and learning as a full group. You can also view a sample institute schedule here.

Participant Testimonials

After the Institute, we ask participants to reflect on their experience. When asked about  their biggest takeaway, participants responded:

  • “I am so grateful I had the chance to participate in this program. I am feeling reinvigorated for next semester and excited to try new methods.”
  • “Coming in with a lot of foundational knowledge, I still learned a ton and this was very motivational.”
  • “I am rethinking how I approach course design completely (i.e backward design) and focusing on the whole picture and then the specifics as opposed to vice versa.”
  • “There is an amazing array of resources available to support my course redesign; I now know the breadth of these resources and who I can contact for help.”

Interested in joining us?

SHU faculty can find Course (Re)Design Institute announcements and applications via their SHU email and in our CTL News Archive. Applications open during the middle of the spring semester for our May institutes.