Purposeful Course Design

Purposeful Course Design

COURSE ALIGNMENT + DESIGN FOR LEARNING + DESIGN FOR FLOURISHING

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So students feel empowered and confident in their learning and problem-solving and feel a sense of belonging to their schools and their larger human community. (Ryan & Deci, 2017 p. 354)

Purposeful course design puts student learning and emotions at the heart of every course. It consists of research-based practices in cognitive and skill development coupled with research on ways to promote student well-being and flourishing.

Flourishing in Education

Core Values in Purposeful Design

Components of Purposeful Course Design

Purposeful Course Design Tools & Resources

Additional Considerations

guide

References

Contact

flourishing in education

“Flourishing” is a term that dates back as far as Aristotle's and is still being discussed and researched today. Though not the final say on what flourishing looks like in an educational setting, researchers Richard Ryan and Edward Deci describe flourishing through an educational lens: “By flourishing, we mean becoming motivated, vital, resourceful, and fully functioning adults. Flourishing individuals feel both empowered and confident in their learning and problem-solving and feel a sense of belonging to their schools and their larger human community… …The promise and hope of school is not only that they enable and enhance cognitive learning and growth in specific subject areas…, but also that they facilitate the development of high-quality motivation, engagement, participation, citizenship, and social-emotional well -being. The capabilities for engagement and self-regulation will likely be more serviceable in subsequent life than any particular facts learned in the schools…they should not discourage, demotivate, or kill the confidence of the students they serve or leave them feeling alienated, reactive, excluded from society, or more antisocial.”1

”1 Ryan and Deci, Self-Determina-on Theory: Basic Psychological Needs in Mo-va-on, Development, and Wellness."

Core Values in Purposeful Course Design

Autonomy

Competence

Relatedness

In course design, social connection is often seen in focusing on building a community of learners through icebreakers and introductions at the start of a semester, facilitated discussions, and group work. However, what is often missing in traditional models is helping students connect the course to a larger purpose. How does it relate to the context of the curriculum? How is it relevant to you outside of class? How can you connect it to community-based or experiential learning like internships that you participate in? (Connecting to purpose also supports competence and autonomy!)

Ryan and Deci, “Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation from a Self-Determination Theory Perspective.” Vygotsky, Mind in Society.

The Components of Purposeful Course Design

Column C: What are student-centered course design practices for flourishing?

Column B: What are student-centered course design practices for learning?

Column A: What is course and curricular alignment?

These columns are not siloed!

4 Ryan and Deci, Self-Determina-on Theory : Basic Psychological Needs in Mo-va-on, Development, and Wellness.

aCTIVITIES

University, School, and Curricular Goals

Here are some activities to help make up your purposefully designed course

My Course Goals

My Content

5%You can represent figuresthis way

University, School and Curricular Goals

Topic 1. Write a great headline

Topic 2. Write a great headline

Show enthusiasm, sketch a smile, and maintain eye contact with your audience can be your best allies when telling stories that excite and arouse the interest of the public: 'The eyes, chico. They never lie'. This will help you make a 'match' with your audience.Leave them speechless!

Topic 3. Write a great headline

Topic 4. Write a great headline

Topic 5. Write a great headline

Topic 6. Write a great headline

Emory Teaching Toolkit Resources

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We are in the era of the digital information explosion. This causes our way of obtaining information to have changed, we have moved from traditional reading to a cognitive strategy based on navigation.

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Here you can put a highlighted title

Here you can put a highlighted title

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LIESL WUEST

Director of Learning Design and Technology

Relatedness, also referred to as belonging, involves people feeling socially connected, cared for by others, and significant among others. It is also connected to people giving to others and being part of larger social organizations. A lot of language around flourishing is about connection and purpose—both to other individuals as well as to values and communities.

Did you know... We retain 42% more information when content is in motion? It's perhaps the most effective resource for capturing the attention of your audience.

Pro Tip: Interactivity is the key to capturing the interest and attention of your audience. A genially is interactive because your audience explores and engages with it.

Professional Skills

Bring your creation elements to life with animation. It's impossible not to pay attention to moving content!

Write a great headline

Do you feel like your text is still missing something? Add animation to capture your audience.

Write a great headline

Write a great headline

Write a great text by clicking on Text in the left sidebar. Note: fonts, size, and color should suit the theme you are addressing.

Write a great headline

Disciplines like Visual Thinking facilitate visually rich note-taking thanks to the use of images, graphics, infographics, and simple drawings. Go for it!

Practical Examples

Your content is liked, but it only engages if it's interactive. Capture the attention of your audience with an interactive photograph or illustration.

With this function... You can add additional content that excites your audience: videos, images, links, interactivity... Whatever you want!

We are visual beings.We are capable of understanding images from millions of years ago, even from other cultures.

Narrative beings.We tell thousands and thousands of stories. ⅔ of our conversations are stories.

Did you know... The window allows you to add more extensive content. You can enrich your genially by incorporating PDFs, videos, text... The content of the window will appear when clicking on the interactive element.

Social beings.We need to interact with each other. We learn collaboratively.

Digital beings.We avoid being part of the content saturation in the digital world.

Columns A, B, and C are interrelated. Regardless of which lens you look through, you are likely supporting multiple needs by incorporating these research-based best practices. • For example, strategies to support autonomy in the classroom include things like listening to students and considering their perspectives, giving them time to work and to talk, acknowledging improvement, and providing progress-enabling hints when stuck. Behaviors that lead to a controlling environment are things like not providing enough time for students to work or giving them the answers without allowing time for them to work, making demands or directives, and using direct questions to control the situation. The strategies that support autonomy in the classroom align closely with research-based best practices in cognitive development like active learning and providing continuous feedback, connecting to self, and expanding on known information, and could easily be emphasized as a way to support both psychological and cognitive growth.

• Plan the structure of your communication.
• Prioritize and give visual weight to the main points.
• Define secondary messages with interactivity.
• Establish a flow through the content.
• Measure the results.

With this feature... You can add additional content that excites the minds of your audience: videos, images, links, interactivity... Whateveryou want!

Basic Concepts

• We are visual beings. We are capable of understanding images from millions of years ago, even from other cultures.
• Narrative beings. We tell thousands and thousands of stories. ⅔ of our conversations are stories.
• Social beings. We need to interact with each other. We learn collaboratively.
• Digital beings. We avoid becoming part of the content saturation in the digital world.
• Creative beings. Fun is needed for creativity, creativity for innovation, innovation for success... Fun is success.

• Explorer beings. We turn visual communication into an experience when we add interactivity, animation, and storytelling.

“Competence concerns the feeling of mastery, a sense that one can succeed and grow. The need for competence is best satisfied within well-structured environments that afford op8mal challenges, positive feedback, and opportunities for growth”2. Competence supports curiosity, exploration, and manipulation—all critical components of learning. It’s a “just right challenge”, where students aren’t bored because it’s too easy or discouraged because it is too hard.3

Tip: Interactivity is the key to capturing the interest and attention of your audience. A genially is interactive because your audience explores and interacts with it.

• Improve communication on any topic.
• Matches your audience...
• And makes them part of the message.
• Has a color suitable for its theme.
• Represents data with graphics.
• Uses timelines to tell stories.

Did you know... We retain 42% more information when the content moves? It is perhaps the most effective resource for capturing youraudience's attention.

Tools and Resources

Did you know...90% of the information we assimilate comes through sight? Visual resources are very helpful to reinforce your message: images, illustrations, gifs, videos... Not only because they remain in memory, but also because they are more attractive and easier to understand.

• It is clear and structured
• Tells stories hierarchically.
• Matches your audience.
• Adapts fonts and color to the theme.
• Includes images and entertains.
• Represents data with graphics.
• Uses timelines.
• Is animated and interactive.
• Excites the brain through multimedia elements.
• Does not exceed with bullet points 🙃​.

Info

Write a greatheadline

We are visual beings. We are able to understand images from millions of years ago, even from other cultures.

Social beings. We need to interact with each other. We learn collaboratively.

Digital beings. We avoid being part of the content saturation in the digital world.

Tip: Interactivity is the key to capturing the interest and attention of your audience. A genially is interactive because your audience explores and interacts with it.

Different aspects of autonomy include providing choices in learning (materials and practice), autonomy-supportive vs. autonomy-controlling environments, and structural elements like grading, evaluation, and mastery. Empirical research shows that the more students feel they have a choice in how they participate in the course, the more perceived self-worth, intrinsic motivation, and cognitive competence they have. Overall, students learn better.

Did you know... We retain 42% more information when the content is in motion? It's perhaps the most effective resource to capture the attention ofyour audience.

Write agreat headline

• We are visual beings. We are capable of understanding images from millions of years ago, even from other cultures.
• Narrative beings. We tell thousands and thousands of stories. ⅔ of our conversations are stories.
• Social beings. We need to interact with each other. We learn collaboratively.
• Digital beings. We avoid being part of the content saturation in the digital world.
• Creative beings. Fun is needed for creativity, creativity for innovation, innovation for success... Fun is success.

• This is the first step of course design. The first column in the course review helps you look at your course in relation to where it sits in the university, in your college, and in your program. Knowing this will help you better facilitate exercises around course purpose. • Course alignment, starting on page two, helps you keep your course goals tightly connected to your choices in content and materials, learning activities, and assessment. You should be able to draw a line connecting all pieces. • Alignment is a critical educational component in inclusivity, transparency, accessibility, and equity. It communicates to students what you intend to do, why, how, and your plans for feedback about their proficiency in completing these plans (i.e. grades).

Tip: Interactivity is the key to capturing the interest and attention of your audience. A genially is interactive because your audience explores and interacts with it.

Did you know... In Genially you will find more than 1,000 templates ready to showcase your content and 100% customizable, which will help you tell your stories?

• Improve communication on any topic.
• Match with your audience...
• And involve them in the message.
• Has a color suitable for its theme.
• Represents data with graphics.
• Uses timelines to tell stories.

With this feature... You can add additional content that excites the minds of your audience: videos, images, links, interactivity... Whateveryou want!

• Plan the structure of your communication.
• Prioritize and give visual weight to the main points.
• Define secondary messages with interactivity.
• Establish a flow throughout the content.
• Measure the results.

• Column C reviews strategies that support autonomy, relatedness, and competence in a course to support a student’s psychological growth, motivation, and sense of well-being. Together, this can improve a student’s overall feeling of flourishing. • Drawn from Ryan & Deci’s (Self-Determination Theory (SDT)4 , the elements of autonomy, relatedness, and competence are essential needs for psychological well-being in any environment, including education. (This has been empirically researched from many perspectives, fields, and environments!)

With this function... You can add additional content that excites your audience's brain: videos, images, links, interactivity... Whatever you want!