Study #1: Measuring Participant Learning
This initial CDI study, based on six years of participant data, anchored our research for the next eight years. The qualitative and quantitative studies into participants’ beliefs and teaching practices following participation in our CDI indicated that instructors believe they learn basic principles of learning-focused course design, report they are more confident enacting learning-focused concepts in the classroom, and believe they are better able to design learning-focused syllabi. This was also the first study to use our award-winning syllabus rubric.
The University of Virginia’s week long CDI is grounded in the literature and supported by the theoretical frameworks of backward integrated course design and Fink’s taxonomy of significant learning (Fink, 2013). The overarching goal is for participants to design or redesign a course—and future courses—grounded in learning focused, evidenced based principles...This focus and intentionality makes CDIs like ours potentially powerful instructional development experiences capable of shifting teacher beliefs, levels of confidence, and practices toward a learning focus. However, to what extent, exactly, do these types of intensive course design interventions impact teaching beliefs and practices and, ultimately, student learning? In other words, can CDIs be viewed as a high impact educational development practice?