Creating Memorable Learning Experiences for Students by “Discovering” Instructional Designer & Faculty Partnerships

Instructional designers (IDs) are trained in pedagogical design, writing measurable and meaningful course objectives, designing course content, developing course activities and materials, and working with a variety of stakeholders.  Oftentimes, faculty members working in higher education settings are training as subject matter experts (SMEs) in their field of expertise; however, they lack the knowledge behind designing and presenting course content in an engaging and relatable manner as they do not have true educational backgrounds.  When instructional designers and faculty members work together to create, redesign, and/or evaluate course elements (i.e., course maps, learning objectives, content sections, curriculum, course activities, etc.), powerful partnerships are forged.  As a result, courses are stronger, built to standards, and provide students with the memorable learning experience they need to succeed.

Faculty and instructional design partnerships are meaningful and beneficial not only to the faculty member working with the ID but also to students taking courses under the faculty.  Having the opportunity to work with an instructional designer allows the faculty member to “discover” a partnership and learn from a peer professional with experience in teaching and education rather than the faculty member’s specific subject matter.  Throughout 2020, 2021, and 2022, an instructional designer partnered with a faculty member in an effort to create a series of “Discover” courses.  These courses have been created for students interested in food science, specifically chocolate, coffee and tea, and genetically engineered and organic foods.  However, due to their interactive and interdisciplinary nature, students from any major can take them.  The courses are designed to create memorable learning experiences for the students as they teach students important concepts behind the making of chocolate, coffee, and tea as well as the history, sources, and controversy behind conventional, organic, and genetically modified foods.  During the course design process of these courses, the faculty member embarked upon a powerful partnership with the instructional designer that has grown into an even stronger relationship undertaking additional projects.

Instructional designers (IDs) and faculty members collaborate with one another to create and structure course learning content.  However, these collaborations are not always seen as a “partnership” because they can be few and far between.  Some institutions mandate faculty members to work with an instructional designer when creating or revising courses while other institutions allow faculty members to approach course design the way they see fit.  Instructional designers build and create learning experiences for students using applicable learning theories.  As IDs work to build such experiences, they have the opportunity and ability to cultivate relationships with faculty members while helping faculty members change their current course design behaviors and “discover” new ways of presenting information to students.  Higher education institutions invest in faculty who bring expertise in specific subject areas; however, not every faculty member receives training in adult learning theories, pedagogical approaches, or instructional design methodologies during their educational journey. Working alongside an instructional designer with expertise in course design, assessment strategies, and pedagogical approaches strengthens a department’s course offerings.  This allows departments to provide an even stronger course offering as content is developed in such a way to provide students an engaging, streamlined, and organized learning experience.  Through the creation of two “Discover” courses for the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences (FBNS) at NC State University, an instructional designer and faculty member forged a powerful partnership that has continued to develop and evolve with the revision of other courses and inception of a cross-country collaborative curriculum development grant project.  During this project, the instructional designer “discovered” new information related to chocolate, coffee, and tea in addition to genetically engineered and organic foods while the faculty member “discovered” the power behind effective course design strategies to create courses students want to take and participate in as part of their post-secondary educational journey.  As a result, courses are stronger, built to standards, and provide students with the experience they need to succeed.  This session will provide members of the higher education community with the opportunity to learn about how faculty member SMEs can partner with instructional designers to work effectively and efficiently and recognize the importance of said partnerships.  

Instructional designers and faculty members bring their own thoughts, ideas, and backgrounds to every course design project.  It is important to leverage these throughout course design projects as both individuals (ID and SME) are able to become stronger in their own content area as well as in interpersonal communication and interdisciplinary areas.  Faculty members create course content based on their knowledge area; however, they tend to teach the way they were taught as most faculty outside the education field aren’t trained to teach or design courses.  Working with an instructional designer on just one project has the potential to change the way a faculty member structures their other courses, presents information, or approaches their teaching strategy.  Working alongside an individual considered an “expert” in their area, whether instructional design, education, or a specific subject such as food science, provides a way to influence departmental culture and foster new approaches to instruction through new ways of thinking.  Additional courses are able to be revised by faculty using strategies and approaches presented and utilized during the instructional design partnership once the partnership is “discovered.” Faculty members brought into departments to revise, improve, and create new courses can make an impact throughout the department by showcasing courses they have created or revised with the assistance of an instructional designer.

Session Learning Objectives:

At the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• discover the benefit(s) of partnering and working with an instructional designer,

• examine useful techniques that can be implemented during course development to ensure learning outcomes are achieved for memorable learning experiences for students,

• review the instructional design partnership steps from the first storyboards created to the final “ready-for-delivery” product, and

• apply the concepts learned into their own courses.

Audience Engagement Activities:

1. Ice breaker (poll):  poll ([1] who’s in the room; if faculty – [2] # of faculty who’ve worked with IDs; [3] how do you tend to teach your classes: in-person, hybrid/blended or online?; if IDs – [2] do you work in academia (K12, HE) or industry environments?, [3] for which learning delivery method do you tend to design: in-person, hybrid/blended, or online?)

2. Think-pair-share: think about how you would create content to teach a specific concept in your subject area (PowerPoint, Word, Pages, other?) and how do you share that content with your students, pair with someone, and share how you would create this content with the help of an instructional designer and how that might be shared with your students.

3. Reflection (Jamboard): What benefits to partnering with an ID do you see or have you received in your experience?  What techniques do you use to teach and share content with students that you can share with the group?