The analysis phase is crucial for identifying key priorities in your course (re)design and lays a solid foundation for the following steps. During this phase, you collect information about the course’s aim, target audience, and key tasks, as well as how the course aligns with the broader program and the university’s educational framework. Contextual factors, such as available resources and timelines, are also taken into account. Additionally, students’ grades and other information about their learning as well as feedback about the course from students, teachers, and other stakeholders – gathered during the evaluation phase – offer valuable insights to guide the focus of your redesign.

Key actions 

Completing the following four analyses will give you the information needed to (re)design your course effectively and help you focus on the key areas during the process.

• Needs and curriculum analysis. Identify the importance of the course for (future) students, the program, or society. Consider why the course needs to be (re)designed and how it connects to other courses and the curriculum’s end goals. Relevant sources include evaluative information from previous iterations, such as student grades, other information about student learning and feedback from students, teachers or other relevant stakeholders as well as program overviews and other policy documents from your program and university.
• Learner analysis: Analyze the students who will take your course. Investigate their prior knowledge, the variability in their understanding, their motivation for the topic, and any other relevant characteristics that may influence their learning experience.
• Task analysis: Examine the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that students need to acquire by the end of the course. Define these outcomes and break them down into specific components. Consider the steps required for mastery, potential misconceptions, challenges students may face, and any elements of the course that may be redundant or unnecessary given the overall course objectives.
• Context analysis. Get an overview of the contextual factors that influence your design possibilities, such as allocated time for teachers to teach the course, the available rooms, educational technology, time investment of students in the course, assessment possibilities, involved stakeholders. Gain insight into the formal steps required during a course (re)design, such as when and how changes to learning goals or assessments need approval. Include these steps in your planning to ensure your course design is successfully implemented.

Checkpoint questions 

• Can you describe the aim of the course, its role in the curriculum, the characteristics of the students taking the course, and what needs to be learned during the course?
• Do you have an overview of the contextual factors relevant to your course design?
• If you are redesigning a course: what relevant information is available about the previous iteration of the course?
• What are the most important points to focus on in your course (re)design?
• Do you have a plan for completing your redesign that includes the necessary formal steps?
• Do you have all the knowledge and skills needed to complete your design?
• Have relevant stakeholders contributed to or evaluated the analyses you’ve conducted, if possible?
• Do you have any blind spots related to your course (re)design? How can you gain a different perspective to identify these blind spots?

Once you have gathered all necessary information and determined the key focus points for your course (re)design, you move on to the design phase. This phase involves creating a detailed outline for your course by defining intended learning outcomes (ILOs), determining appropriate assessment methods, and planning teaching and learning activities. The ultimate goal is to ensure all these components are constructively aligned, meaning they work together cohesively to support student learning.

Key actions 

• Define intended learning outcomes. Use insights from the needs, curriculum, and task analyses to articulate clear and specific learning outcomes for your course. Consider the knowledge students should acquire, and identify essential sources (e.g., books, articles, or other materials) that give access to relevant bodies of knowledge.
• Define summative assessment. Decide on the types of summative assessments that will measure whether students have achieved the ILOs. Examples include exams, written assignments, or lab reports. After selecting an assessment type, decide on the weight and timing of the assessments.
• DevelopCreate an assessment matrix to visualize the alignment between learning outcomes and assessments. This ensures that all outcomes are adequately assessed and that there are no gaps or redundancies.
• Define formative assessment. Decide on the formative assessment that will be incorporated in the course. Formative assessment activities provide students and teachers with information on students’ progress towards the goal and are not graded. Examples of formative assessment include: feedback on an assignment, mock exam questions and peer feedback. You can also include formative assessments in your assessment matrix.
• Plan teaching and learning activities. Develop an overall course structure, including a timeline and format for sessions (e.g., lectures, seminars, practicals). For each teaching session, specify the session’s learning goals, key activities and formative assessment opportunities. Consider how these activities support students in achieving the ILOs and prepare them for the summative assessments.
• Leverage available resources. Theories about teaching and learning (e.g., about cognition, motivation and self-regulation) can help to substantiate the choices in your course design as well as to provide new inspiration. You can also leverage information sources within and outside Utrecht University about specific themes, such as interdisciplinary education, community-engaged learning and inclusive teaching. You can also schedule a consultation with an educational advisor to receive guidance on specific themes, the overall course structure, or individual course elements.
• Prepare all organizational arrangements. Ensure that practical matters such as room reservations, technology, and timely preparation of materials are arranged. This intranet page offers guidance on these aspects, including scheduling, preparing teaching materials, and organizing exams.

Checkpoint questions

• Does the course design address the key focus points identified during the analysis phase?
• Is the course constructively aligned?
• Is the course design feasible within its practical constraints?
• How does the course design support learners with less experience and challenge advanced learners?
• How inclusive is your course design?

In the development phase, you bring your course design to life by creating and compiling the instructional materials that will shape your students’ learning experience. During this phase, you will focus on creating teaching and learning activities that foster active participation, constructing assessments that accurately measure student progress, and assembling the necessary materials to support both teachers and students.

Key Actions 

• Create teaching and learning activities. Develop a timeline for the teaching sessions and the preparatory activities students will undertake at home. For each session, design activities that promote active learning. A lesson plan can guide you and your colleagues in delivering the program for each session.
• Assemble and prepare all course materials. Prepare a comprehensive list of required reading materials and create additional resources, such as student instructions, handouts, PowerPoint presentations, or knowledge clips.
• Construct summative assessments. Design summative assessments, including the exam questions, assignments, deadlines, test instructions, answer keys and assessment forms. Decide on how to convert test scores into grades and determine the cut-off point. Consider ways to improve the reliability of the grading process by minimizing rater biases. Ensure students have all necessary information about the test, such as deadlines, instructions, and details about test review and resits.
• Build the online environment and syllabus. The online learning environment and syllabus are critical for guiding students through the course. Check for available templates from your program to ensure consistency and usability.
• Coordinate with your teaching team. For larger courses, determine the support and information your colleagues may require. Schedule regular meetings with the teaching team during the course to facilitate communication and alignment.
• Plan for student feedback. Plan how you will gather student feedback during and/or after the course. Prepare evaluation tools, and, if necessary, arrange to collect additional data (e.g., through focus groups or reflective assignments) for deeper insights into student experiences. The UR-SoTL roadmap can be a helpful resource for this.

Checkpoint questions 

• Do students have all the information they need about the course?
• Do your colleagues have information and support they require?
• Are all course materials finalized and ready for use?
• Are all technological tools and platforms functioning properly?
• Do your in-class and out-of-class activities encourage active learning?
• How inclusive are your teaching materials and assessments?
• Have you defined how you will evaluate the course and made arrangements to gather all the information needed?

The implementation phase is where the course is put into action and delivered to students. It’s not only about teaching but also about ensuring that all elements of the course, from the technology to the collaboration between teachers, are functioning as intended.

Key actions

• Communicate expectations. At the start of the course, clearly communicate learning goals, course expectations, and available resources to students. Provide an explanation of the course setup to help students understand its structure and rationale.
• Make adjustments when necessary. Use feedback from midterm evaluations, formative assessments, or other sources to identify areas that may need clarification or adjustments during the course. Be flexible in addressing these needs while maintaining the overall course objectives and adhering to formal guidelines regarding what can be changed.
• Execute a test analysis. Before assigning grades, it may be necessary to conduct a test analysis for exams with both open-ended and closed-ended questions. This analysis will help identify any quality issues that may require adjustments to the test’s composition or scoring approach.
• Document changes and insights. Throughout the course, take note of any changes you implement or ideas you develop regarding what works well and what doesn’t. Recording these observations will make it easier to refine the course for future iterations.
• Seek support when necessary. When faced with challenging decisions, such as issues related to academic integrity or other sensitive matters, don’t hesitate to consult senior colleagues, the program coordinator, or other trusted advisors for guidance.

Checkpoint questions 

• Have you ensured students have the necessary information to begin the course successfully?
• Do you have someone to consult for advice on difficult decisions?
• How are you keeping track of potential improvements for the next iteration of the course?

The evaluation phase after the course aims to assess the effectiveness of the course design and delivery. Ideally, a variety of information is collected, including your own reflections, feedback from colleagues, student results, student evaluations and, if relevant, feedback from external stakeholders involved in the course. This phase provides information that can inform future iterations of the course as well your own professional development.

Key actions 

• Review your initial analysis. Reflect on whether you achieved the intended aims for your course (re)design. Pay particular attention to the areas that required the most focus in your course design and assess whether the design was successful in this area.
• Examine constructive alignment: Review how well the learning goals, assessments, and teaching activities were aligned with each other. Evaluate whether each component effectively supported student learning and whether adjustments are needed for better coherence.
• Evaluate the quality of the summative assessments. Consider the overall quality of the summative assessments.
• Analyze the student experience: Identify where students may have struggled with the learning goals and whether additional support could have helped them succeed. Reflect on the course’s learning climate and how factors like student engagement and inclusivity impacted the overall student experience.
• Assess whether you have reached other learning outcomes: Reflect on whether the course achieved any unintended learning outcomes. Think about whether these outcomes were desirable and how they contribute to the overall educational goals of the course.
• Identify strengths and points of improvement: Using the analysis described above, as well as your own reflections, feedback from colleagues, student grades, course evaluations, and other relevant data, identify the strengths of the course that should be retained and the areas for improvement in future iterations. At Utrecht University, there are funds available to support improvements to your course, including the USO grants and SoTL grants.
• Reflect on your own growth. After the course ends, reflect on your own growth as a teacher and course designer. Think about the skills and insights you’ve gained, and identify areas you would like to further develop. To support your continued development, the university offers a range of workshop and courses, along with opportunities for a consultation with an educational advisor.

Checkpoint questions:

• Did your course (re)design address key points raised during the analysis phase?
• Was your course constructively aligned?
• What was the quality of your summative assessments?
• Where may students have needed more support in their learning?
• Was the learning environment safe and inclusive?
• Did you reach any unintended learning outcomes, and were they desirable?
• What are the most important strengths and points of improvement for the course?
• What are your own strengths and areas for improvement related to teaching and course design?
• What resources within the university can you use for your own professional development and the development of the course?