Are you designing a new, for-credit course entirely or hoping to redesign an existing course? Design or re-design your course now, by participating in the Course Design Intensive (CDI).
What is the CDI?
An intensive week-long program, where you will work in a supportive atmosphere, both individually and collaboratively, to design or re-design a course that you teach or are planning to teach.
Throughout the week, participants will acquire a broadened understanding of course design concepts, and will gain skills and tools they can apply to their own course. Ultimately, the goal of the CDI is to support instructors as they work to enhance their students’ learning.
Program goals
The purpose of a well-designed course is to support learning. As such, strong course design is learner-centred. While many variables influence course design, alignment between learning outcomes, assessment approaches, and teaching and learning activities are the backbone of a well-designed course.
During the Course Design Intensive (CDI), you will design or revise your course using principles of a learner-centred approach.
By the end of the CDI, you will be able to:
- Design or re-design a learner-centred course.
- Apply principles of alignment to your course.
- Determine various learning activities and assessment strategies that best support your course learning outcomes.
- Engage in peer learning as a means of iterating and refining your course design.
The Big Idea for the CDI is that course design both influences and is influenced by learning.
Format of the CDI
The CDI is a week-long workshop with a blend of synchronous and asynchronous learning activities spread throughout the week. We meet collaboratively online or in-person a few times during the week, and you are expected to continue to work on your own throughout the week. There will be opportunities for consultations and check-ins with facilitators and peers to support you along the way.
The CDI takes a “flipped” approach to course work, and you will be asked to complete preparatory work prior to each day of the workshop, which we will build upon during our synchronous time together. The CDI utilizes a Canvas site to house all the asynchronous learning activities and resources that you will use throughout the week.
Who is it for?
This workshop is for UBC faculty members who have full responsibility for an academic, (for-credit) course. That course can be face-to-face, blended, or online. PhD students and postdoctoral scholars may be eligible to participate provided they have full responsibility for an academic (for-credit) course at UBC.
UBCO faculty, please also check out the CTL Course (re)Design Intensive.
Non-UBC faculty members are eligible; however, they will be charged a non-refundable participation fee of $600.
Registration
August 2025, both online and in-person options will be available.
The workshop will take place between August 12 and 19.
There will be four, 90-minute gatherings during the week. Both the kick-off and the capstone events are mandatory. There will optional peer-sharing events and consultations throughout the week. The CDI relies on the active participation of all learners who, as a team, collaborate to support each other in enhancing their course design. Your active participation and online presence are required on these three days:
- Tuesday, August 12, 2025 (time to be confirmed)
- Friday, August 15, 2025
Optional support and peer-sharing
- Friday, August 15, 2025
- Monday, August 18, 2025
The course design process takes time, and we want you to be successful during this week! We recommend you clear your schedule as much as possible during the week of the CDI in order to progress on your course plans alongside the rest of the cohort.
Registration will open in early May.
