Course Design Institute

Registration for this summer's Institute is not yet open, and some of the details (including the end date) are still being cofirmed. We will update this description and open up registration in April 2024; please email Virginia.Pitts@du.edu if you would like to be notified when that happens.

WHAT IS THE COURSE DESIGN INSTITUTE?

The Course Design Institute (CDI), happening July 29-August 2, is a week-long, immersive experience focused on designing courses for significant learning – that is, learning that has the potential to change students’ lives in lasting and important ways. The Institute brings faculty members together to engage in meaningful guided discussions, hands-on workshops, and working sessions to design or redesign a course in which all components (outcomes, assessments, and activities) align to result in significant learning.

WHAT WILL I GET OUT OF IT?

Though active participation and mindful engagement in this Institute, you will – in addition to completing a draft of the high-level design for your course – be better-prepared to: 

• Intentionally design a course in which all components (outcomes, assessments, and activities) align with each other to result in important and lasting learning for students.
• Use research-based perspectives on how learning works as "tools to think with" in designing learning experiences.
• Articulate significant learning outcomes for your courses - that is, the lasting and most important learnings you hope students will come away with, and that can be used as a “north star” in designing/adapting your courses.
• Identify assessments that support both you and your students in determining the extent to which the desired learning outcomes have been achieved.
• Identify learning activities that will lead to the desired learning outcomes, and that actively engage students in the learning process.

WHAT IS THE FORMAT OF THE SUMMER CDI?

Most of this institute will happen face-to-face, and will include guided discussions, hands-on workshops, and working sessions led by the Office of Teaching and Learning staff. However, there will be asynchronous components as well as we draw upon what we've learned over the past few years to make the most of both the online and in-person modalities. The institute will culminate in a share-and-celebrate event on the final day of the institute.

Please note:

• The on-campus portion of the CDI will run Monday 7/29 – Friday 8/2, 8:30 am to 4:00 pm. However, there will be some times on those days (specifically, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday after 1:30 and all day Thursday) when you will be working on your own and welcomed to work off-site to do that work if you choose. We will send additional detail on the structure/schedule as the CDI gets closer; in the meantime, to get a better sense of what this might look like, you can find an itinerary from last summer's CDI here.

• Before the institute begins, participants will need to complete 3 hours of pre-work. This pre-work – which will consist of some video and activities in Canvas - can be done anytime the week before the institute begins.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE CDI?

University of Denver faculty interested in designing or redesigning a course that will be taught during the 2024-2025 school year are encouraged to apply. We hope to be able to accommodate all faculty members who are interested. However, capacity is limited, so if we are not able to accommodate everyone, priority will be given to faculty who have not yet taken the CDI.

REGISTRATION

Registration for this summer's Institute is not yet open, and some of the details (including the end date) are still being cofirmed. We will update this description and open up registration in April 2024; please email Virginia.Pitts@du.edu if you would like to be notified when that happens.