Course Design

Course design begins with people.

Every course has its own context. The instructor brings expertise, experience, teaching preferences, and goals for their students. Learners bring different backgrounds, responsibilities, abilities, and levels of preparation. My role as an instructional designer is to understand those perspectives and help bring them together in a learning experience that is clear, accessible, engaging, and manageable.

I approach course design as a collaborative process. I begin by listening: What does the instructor want students to learn? What is already working well? Where are students struggling or becoming confused? What challenges is the instructor trying to solve? From there, I help organize content, align learning activities and assessments with course goals, improve navigation and accessibility, and make intentional use of technology.

Good instructional design is not about forcing every course into the same template or applying a framework simply because it is familiar. It is about asking the right questions, solving problems, and making thoughtful design decisions based on the needs of the people who will teach and learn in the course.

The result should still feel like the instructor’s course—just clearer, more intentional, and easier for students to navigate and learn from. My goal is to support instructors in creating courses that work for their students while also respecting their expertise, their teaching style, and the realities of their workload.