Now comes the part most faculty instinctively jump to first, choosing what students will read, watch, explore, and do. In backward design, this step comes last because the materials and activities you choose should directly support the learning and assessment you’ve already mapped out.
Design with the endpoint in mind
Rather than beginning with the content you feel obligated to “cover,” take advantage of the hard work you have already done. Revisit the learning goals and objectives for your course and consider what your students will need to be successful. You may find it helpful to jot down answers to the following questions before you begin selecting or designing course materials.
- What knowledge, skills, or mindsets will support my students?
- Where might my students struggle or need additional support?
- What kinds of practice will help students build fluency or confidence?
With answers to questions like these, you will be able to select materials that scaffold student learning. The goal is for your course materials, activities, and assessments to build cohesively toward the desired learning outcomes for your students.
Actively engage students in the learning process
A growing body of research shows that students learn and retain more when they have opportunities to actively work with ideas during class as compared to lecture-only instruction. That’s not to say that we should avoid lecture altogether. Break your class sessions into small, coherent segments and plan for a brief activity every 15-20 minutes. Providing short pauses helps students connect new ideas with their prior knowledge and check their understanding. It also affords you an opportunity to see where students are and provide actional feedback to guide their learning.
Activities do not have to be graded, nor do they have to be overly complex. If you are new to teaching, you might feel more comfortable starting with simpler activities such as the following:
Ensure access for all students
As you design your course, be sure to build flexibility into your materials and activities so that all students have multiple ways to access, engage with, and demonstrate their learning. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework that can help in our efforts to plan courses with the diversity of learners in mind from the very beginning.
When we approach course design with UDL in mind, we anticipate the barriers that students might encounter in a learning experience and select materials and activities to minimize barriers in advance. For example, consider the materials you might assign to students to introduce them to a core concept or idea. UDL would encourage selecting a variety of materials that would provide students multiple ways of acquiring that information (e.g., video, reading, podcast). Building in opportunities for choice can make a big difference in students’ sense of belonging, ability to participate fully, and overall engagement in the course.
The goal isn’t to create individualized paths for every student. Rather it’s to design a course where more students can be successful without needing special accommodations. When learning materials and activities are flexible, clear, and intentionally structured, learners spend less energy navigating barriers and more energy engaging with the ideas that matter most.
A few final thoughts
Whatever you decide, be sure to select activities that align with your learning outcomes and that fit your style and the rhythm of your course. In addition to active engagement in class, pay special attention to what you are asking students to do outside of class. For example, if you are planning to spend most of the upcoming class session asking students to work in small groups on application problems you might consider a short pre-class assignment that engages students with basic ideas in advance. Or perhaps you introduced a complex idea in class and so you might consider a homework assignment that gives students an opportunity to clarify and reinforce what they learned.
Curate materials carefully. A short, well-chosen article can do more than three chapters of textbook reading. A diagram or brief demonstration might illuminate a concept better than a lengthy lecture. Library resources, OER materials, short instructor-created explanations, podcasts, interviews, and worked examples can all be useful. Finding a balance will be important for supporting students without overwhelming them. When in doubt, revisit your learning outcomes and assessments and select only those that are most well-aligned with what you want your students to learn.
Additional Resources
- Active learning resources from Teaching in Higher Education
- Sample active learning activities from University of Minnesota Twin Cities
- Brown, P. C., Roediger III, H. L., & McDaniel, M. A. (2014). Make it stick: The science of successful learning. Harvard University Press.
- Lang, J. M. (2021). Small teaching: Everyday lessons from the science of learning. John Wiley & Sons.