Course (re)Design Intensive

An intensive multi-day workshop, the CDI supports instructors as they consider “why,” “what” and “how” they envision students learning in their course. Participants will work in a collaborative space to provide and receive constructive feedback to one another as they draft a plan for a course they plan to teach. Co-designers are welcome to attend together. 

The workshop draws on the principles of backward design and is structured around a 4-part process: articulating course scope & context, defining learning outcomes, determining assessments, and selecting instructional strategies. Participants will acquire a broadened understanding of course design concepts and gain skills and tools they can apply to their own course.  

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 (re)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: 

1. follow a step-by-step process in designing a learner-centred course that aligns their goals and the needs of their program;
   
2. apply the principles of Backward Design in articulating course scope & context, defining learning outcomes, determining assessment for/as learning, and selecting instructional strategies;
3. deepen their reflective practice and consider how choices throughout the course design process support equity & inclusion;
4. produce a course plan and list of next steps to complete your course (re)design. 

The Big Idea for the CDI is that course design both influences and is influenced by learning. 

The CDI is a multi-day, in-person workshop with pre-work to be completed asynchronously prior to each day. You will be invited to join a Canvas course to access assignments and resources. There will be opportunities for individual work and feedback from facilitators and peers to support you along the way. Scheduling varies from 4.5 days within one week to a distributed format over two weeks. Please check the CTL calendar for specific offerings.  

This workshop is for UBC faculty members who are responsible for teaching an academic (for-credit) course. That course can be in-person, online, hybrid, or multi-access. PhD students and postdoctoral scholars are eligible to participate provided they have responsibility for an academic (for-credit) course at UBC. Co-instructors are encouraged to participate together.  

Also, check out UBCV’s CTLT CDI.

Non-UBC faculty members are eligible; however, they will be charged a non-refundable participation fee. Please contact the CDI coordinator, Barbara Komlos, at barbara.komlos@ubc.ca, for more information.

Summer 2025

June 16th – June 26th, Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays

The tentative schedule for the core program is as follows:

Core Schedule 

The CDI relies on the active participation of all learners who, as a team, collaborate to support each other in enhancing their course design. If you are unable to attend a portion of the core programming, please specify on the application form.

We also invite you to join theme-based, 3-hour studios to supplement the core programming or as stand-alone sessions:

Studio Schedule 

 * Topics can include:  learner agency, co-designing, trauma-informed pedagogy, ungrading, contract grading 

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• “[The CDI] gives a very good holistic view of expectations for teaching, things that we can forget to think about when just trying to get through the content without thinking deeply about the who, why, and how of it.”
• “The most important aspect of this course was being in a room with folks from different disciplines and departments. It was an interesting melting pot of conversation about different approaches to teaching that inspired and reinforced my own ideas and approaches. It also allowed connections to be made for support across boundaries that exist in different departments and course expectations.”