Most academics are subject-matter experts. Very few are trained course designers. The result? Educators who design courses without the oversight of educational designers tend to replicate their own learning pathways rather than designing for the students in front of them, or the careers those students are heading into.
That’s the problem my new Substack article addresses, introducing the 8-Stage Learning Design Framework (8-SLDF). Over the coming weeks, I will be unlocking each stage one by one.
At its core, the 8-SLDF is built on Constructive Alignment, the idea that Intended Learning Outcomes, assessment, and teaching activities must be inextricably linked. But it goes further, pushing beyond the cognitive domain to address five distinct areas of human development:
- Cognitive
- Affective
- Metacognitive
- Interpersonal
- Psychomotor
The framework also challenges us to think about AI honestly: not as a replacement for design thinking, but as a sense-checking colleague with real limitations.
If you work in higher education, learning design, or curriculum development, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
