Developing High-Impact Course Design Institutes: A Model for Change

Drawing on the authors’ extensive experience and robust survey data, this critical resource unpacks the inner workings of one of the most powerful mechanisms for improving teaching and learning in higher education: the course design institute (CDI).

CDIs are intensive, often multi-day facilitated experiences where instructors design or redesign a course based on learning-focused and equity-minded teaching and learning principles. This resource offers a comprehensive introduction to CDIs, discussing both key elements and why they are worth the time and investment to design, implement, and assess. The chapters cover the values, structures, and approaches that designers use to develop CDIs, along with evidence of their transformative impact on instructors and institutional teaching cultures. The book also provides institutional leaders the rationale and evidence needed to support investment decisions.

Developing High-Impact Course Design Institutes is a playbook providing educational developers with the critical background knowledge and vetted direction needed to launch or refine their own CDIs.

Jordan D. Troisi is Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Colby College, USA, where he leads course design initiatives.

Michael S. Palmer is Professor and Barbara Fried Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence at the University of Virginia, USA.

Mary C. Wright is Associate Provost for Teaching and Learning at Brown University, USA.

Lori A. Hostetler is Accessible Design Coordinator in the Learning Design and Technology unit of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Virginia, USA.

Carol A. Hurney is Associate Provost for Teaching and Learning at Colby College, USA, where she founded the Center for Teaching and Learning.