Educational Design Cycle – Step 2: Design

If you use the principle of constructive alignment (Biggs and Tang, 1996) in your teaching, you find that it creates a lot of clarity: the students know what they are going to learn during the course (learning objectives) and the activities at home and in the lectures/working groups feel “logical” because they lead to these objectives. The test content and format also does not come out of the blue: students know what is expected of them because they have practiced it during the learning activities. This connection also creates clarity for you and other colleagues: it is logical and clear what students are being assessed on and what students should know and be able to do. When students or teachers experience frustrations within the educational content, we often see that the goals, activities and assessment are not fully aligned. See also the explanation in the Assessment Cycle.

Learning objectives are essential in the educational process. They define what knowledge and skills students should have acquired by the end of a learning activity. They communicate teacher expectations and help students direct their efforts and monitor their own progress.

Effective learning objectives meet seven crucial criteria:

Taxonomie of Bloom

Establishing learning objectives is facilitated by Bloom’s Taxonomy. This describes different types of mastery levels of learning objectives. The cognitive domain – the ability to take in information and use it in a meaningful way – is classified into six levels, ranging from simply memorizing facts to generating new knowledge (see also step 1: Designing from the assessment cycle). Additional explanations can be found here.

Action verbs

Each level from Bloom’s Taxonomy can be combined with appropriate action verbs. Action verbs focus on tangible tasks, such as describing, designing, listing, and so on. Ambiguous terms such as “understand,” “see,” or “become familiar with” are not suitable as action verbs in learning objectives because they do not indicate concrete actions or behaviors. However, they can be assessed through a tangible task, such as “explain” or “compare. Good examples of action verbs can be found here.

Knowledge and understanding

The terms “knowledge of” and “understanding of” are often used in learning objectives. Not only are they not action verbs, but they are often confused with each other or considered interchangeable. Yet they represent two different levels of learning. ‘Knowledge of’ refers to the acquisition of factual information, e.g., ‘Italian Neorealism began in 1944.’ This information can be reproduced as learned. ‘Understanding of,’ on the other hand, involves a deeper comprehension of knowledge. It presupposes making connections, interpreting facts and describing knowledge in one’s own words. For example, ‘explain why no clear end date for Italian Neorealism can be given’. This difference is crucial; while “knowledge of” requires reproduction, “understanding of” requires application and interpretation, which implies a different approach in teaching and testing.

An example of a well-stated learning objective is

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• identify and describe the major political developments of Egyptian civilization.
• analyse and interpret these developments in their historical context, using primary and secondary sources.
• present on paper their analysis in a well-structured and academically sound essay, making proper use of source citations.

After you have formulated the learning objectives, you can start thinking about assessment. This involves both formative tests (interim tests in which you and the students gain insight into their level in relation to the learning objectives) and summative tests (tests to assess students and to close a study component).

There are many different types of tests possible, for example an MC test, open book exam, essay, oral presentation, case study, making a video/podcast/blog or creating a portfolio. Also see the Assessment Selection Tool. It is recommended to make use of different test forms in your course. The choice of the appropriate test form is determined by the cognitive Bloom level of your learning objectives. Suppose the learning objective is at the Bloom level of “analyze,” then your students will not achieve that level by rehearsing simple facts in an MC test. Tips for constructing good test questions and the number of questions in a test for a reliable result can be found in step 2 ‘Constructing’ of the assessment cycle.

Important principles for your test design

There are four important principles to consider when designing your test:

1. Validity: Are you measuring what you want to measure? Content validity tests what you intended students to learn? Are all learning objectives covered in your testing? Are subjects being tested that are not in your learning objectives? Comprehension validity tests the appropriate level of learning? Are all learning objectives being tested at the right level (Bloom’s Taxonomy) and with the right test format?
2. Reliability: Are you measuring in a consistent manner? Your tests should produce comparable grades over time (e.g., compared to previous years) and between assessors. Are similar answers assessed the same way and are there no differences between assessors?
3. Usability: Is the test practical for you as a teacher and for the students? Do you have enough time to develop and review the tests? Do students have enough time to prepare and take the test and are any resources available to them?
4. Transparency: Are students well informed about the design of the test, what is expected of them, the grading procedure, and the minimum requirements for passing?

See the Assessment Cycle for more information.

Now that the learning objectives have been formulated and you have determined which test form(s) you want to use, you can start determining the learning activities. We tend to focus mainly on the activities that take place during lectures or study groups, while the activities students do at home are just as important. So how do you ensure an ideal fit between all the activities?

Ideal blend

During the design process, we are looking for an ideal blend of learning activities. As a teacher, you initiate activities – both within and outside contact hours – to promote interaction. This involves interaction between the instructor and the students, between the students and the content, and between the students themselves. In line with the UvA educational vision, we strive for a student-centered learning environment where:

• students are actively engaged with material;
• learn with and from peers;
• students are challenged;
• digital functionalities are used for enrichment;
• activities at home connect to activities during meetings on campus.

Which learning activities fit your learning objectives?

Also consider the level of the learning objective you want to test. If you want your students to be able to make an analysis, it is important to match the learning activities to this level. Build up to this level step by step.

Example: you want your students to be able to analyze a court case. It is then important that your students have first started working at a knowledge level. For example, what laws should they know and what previous cases are important? Perhaps it would then also be wise to first apply the theory they have learned in a concrete situation, for example, through a complex criminal case. In this example, three different teaching activities have now been described at three different Bloom levels.

Looking for activating teaching methods? Check out TLC’s card set for active learning in the classroom

Cohesion in your learning activities with the ABC design method

Are you curious about how to incorporate the various learning activities into a cohesive whole? Within the TLCs, we use several design methods for creating this whole. One hands-on method we use regularly is the ABC learning design method. In a short period of time (about 2 hours) you create an outline of your new teaching or redesign, defining the activities at home and during lectures/workgroups each week.

We recommend that you go through the ABC method at least once with the support of a TLC colleague. Afterwards, participants often indicate that they like experiencing this method with someone outside the team who monitors the process. In this way, you become familiar with the method and can then implement it independently with immediate colleagues using our materials.

Picture made in Miro. 

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