Systematic Assessment of a High-Impact Course Design Institute.

Herein, we describe an intensive, week-long course design institute (CDI) designed to introduce participants to the scholarly and evidence-driven process of learning-focused course design. Impact of this intervention is demonstrated using a multifaceted approach: (a) post-CDI satisfaction and perception surveys, (b) pre-/post-CDI surveys probing pedagogical confidence and perceptions regarding importance of syllabi components, and (c) pre-/post-CDI syllabi analysis using a reliable syllabus rubric validated for higher education courses. The combined results of these qualitative and quantitative studies indicate that participants value the CDI experience, believe they learn basic principles of learning-focused course design, report they are more confident enacting learning-focused concepts in the classroom, believe they are better able to design learning-focused syllabi, and they actually design more learning-focused courses/syllabi.