Designing Engaging Face-to-face Courses , Practical strategies for adjuncts and new instructors to create inclusive, well-structured courses with confidence.
Course Description
Designing a course that truly supports student success can feel challenging, especially for new and adjunct faculty who are balancing multiple responsibilities. This course provides a clear, step-by-step guide to help you use existing course outlines to build engaging lessons, transparent assignments, meaningful assessments, and inclusive learning experiences. Instead of starting from scratch, you will learn practical strategies you can apply right away to strengthen the teaching you already do.
Throughout the course, you will explore proven approaches grounded in psychology and instructional design, including Bloom’s Taxonomy, the TILT (Transparency in Learning and Teaching) framework, and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Each section combines short video lessons, practical examples, and ready-to-use templates, so you can immediately adapt the strategies to your own courses. You will also complete short activities and quizzes that reinforce your learning and help you design materials you can use with your students.
This course is designed specifically for faculty who teach primarily face-to-face and want to strengthen the design of their courses. It will be especially valuable for adjunct faculty and new instructors who may not have had formal training in instructional design but want practical, research-based strategies to improve student engagement, transparency, and inclusivity. Whether you are teaching at a community college, university, or in a training environment, you will leave with the tools and confidence to design courses that are well-structured, student-centered, and accessible.
By the end of this course, you will know how to interpret course outlines, design transparent assignments, develop assessments that measure learning effectively, and apply inclusive teaching practices. More importantly, you will gain the confidence to create learning experiences that not only meet institutional requirements but also engage and support your students.
Who this course is for:
- This course is designed for adjunct faculty, new instructors, and educators who are beginning their teaching careers, especially those with primarily face-to-face experience. It will be valuable for anyone who wants to learn how to interpret course outlines and design aligned lessons, assignments, and assessments that support student success. No prior instructional design experience is required, only a willingness to apply practical strategies for more engaging and inclusive teaching.
