The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning presents the Summer 2026
Course Design Institute: Dream, Design, Build
What: A multi-day institute composed of three 4-hour workshops. Participants will explore and apply principles of backward design, transparent course design, and other research-based strategies to increase student learning and engagement.
Who should attend: Full-time faculty members interested in creating engaging, well-aligned, and intentionally designed courses.
What last year’s participants said about the Course Design Institute:
“The CETL course design institute gave me productive and practical tools to concretely connect measurable outcomes to assessments, to the activities and scaffolding that will help build to those assessments. Many of the tips will not only optimize student learning, but will also help me streamline my planning process. This was a great use of my work time over the summer.”
“The CDI was incredibly helpful and eye-opening, giving me a fresh perspective on my course and inspiring new ideas for engaging students more effectively.”
“The CDI exceeded my expectations. The staff made themselves available to answer questions and provide guidance in a way that is invaluable.”
Where: In-person at the Orange Campus
When: 10:00am-2:00pm on the following three days:
Tuesday, June 23
Thursday, June 25
Tuesday, June 30
The institute will be limited to 30 participants who are willing to come prepared to actively engage and participate in each of these working sessions. Lunch and refreshments will be provided. Those who participate fully in all three sessions will receive a certificate.
Submit your application by May 10. Please reach out to CETL@chapman.edu with any questions.
Please note that we are only permitted to accept applications from full-time faculty at this time.
Session Descriptions
Session 1: Dream (June 23)
Good course design begins by asking big-picture questions: What do we want students to know by the end of a course? How will we know that the course learning outcomes have been met? How will we measure students’ learning and achievement of these goals? We might also ask ourselves what the purpose of our course is, both from our own perspective and that of our students. What story do we want our course to tell? What might our “dream course” look like?
In this session, participants will apply backward design, a learner-centered strategy for curriculum design, to help ensure that 1) course learning outcomes are clear, observable, and measurable, as well as reasonable and achievable; 2) assessments align to the identified course learning outcomes; and 3) planned learning experiences are appropriately aligned with course outcomes and assessments. We will also explore the concept of the “Tyranny of Content” and how we can shift our focus from content coverage to teaching to support deeper learning.
In this session, participants will:
- Identify the purpose of their course and what story it tells students.
- Evaluate (and revise if necessary) course learning outcomes (CLOs) to ensure they support the purpose of the course.
- Assess course materials to identify and reduce content overload to focus on essential understandings.
- Apply backward design principles to begin mapping of assessments and learning activities to CLOs.
Session 2: Design (June 25)
Having identified the purpose of our course, narrowed the focus of our content, and refined our learning outcomes, we can begin the process of developing a course that supports student learning through significant learning experiences. In this session, we’ll discuss evidence-based practices for creating meaningful and relevant learning activities and assessments. Practical strategies for creating a positive and stimulating learning environment will be explored, such as incorporating emotional hooks, storytelling, and active learning techniques.
In this session, participants will:
- Identify and discuss the six categories within the taxonomy of significant learning and how they can be aligned with CLOs.
- Discuss strategies for creating an emotionally engaging learning environment.
- Begin to develop learning experiences that integrate strategies for enhancing emotional and cognitive engagement.
Session 3: Build (June 30)
Now that we have designed the important aspects of a course on paper, how do we put it all together? How can we design a course syllabus and Canvas course to effectively communicate our expectations and instructions to students? In this session, we’ll explore ways to apply principles of transparent assignment design and general instructional design for the creation of a Canvas course that is easy to navigate and helps reduce logistical rigor for students and faculty alike.
In this session, participants will:
- Apply transparent design principles in the syllabus and Canvas course.
- Begin building (or redesigning) a template or fall term course, applying the principles and best practices discussed in this session.
- Evaluate a Canvas course to ensure alignment with the syllabus.
Additional feedback from previous Course Design Institute participants:
“The Course Design Institute helped me rethink my teaching strategies and also gave me great insights into our students and how to better to engage them. I enjoyed hearing insights from colleagues at other colleges and sharing ideas.”
“The workshop was very useful for my teaching plans. The focus on “student-centered” learning outcomes helped me rethink and improve my course learning objectives. This approach has already made a positive impact on my current course, and I look forward to applying these principles to other courses in the future. It was valuable to consider things from the students’ perspectives to enhance their learning experience.”
“This workshop was balanced out in a way to accommodate everyone’s schedules. I appreciated how it was split into different days. It was great to sit together with our colleagues (groups of 4-5) and we got to know each other but also see what’s being done in the classrooms since many of us are in different departments.”
“I feel that everyone learned or was inspired by something presented each day and we can all take that information and present it to our individual department.”
“CETL workshops always provide a forum for me to think about and improve my approach in the classroom. The interaction with colleagues promotes the feeling of community and helps me see that I am not alone in my struggles. Every CETL workshop has helped me improve my teaching.”
