Course Design

Course Design Studio sessions are designed to provide practical strategies for anyone involved in designing courses and learning experiences. They include a brief, high-level overview of the topic, step-by-step instructions on the specific tools mentioned, and dedicated time for both questions and hands-on, personalized support. 

The Course Design Intensive is a multi-day program, where you work in a supportive atmosphere, both individually and collaboratively, to design or re-design a UBC credit course that you teach or are planning to teach.

Course Design for Large Enrolment Classes: Creating Multiple Choice Questions to Assess Higher Order Thinking

Series:

Quizzes are often used to check recall and understanding, but they can also be used for assessing higher-order thinking skills: application, analysis, and evaluation. We will introduce some best practices and share practical examples and approaches to designing multiple choice questions that assess students’ ability to apply their knowledge to complicated problems, analyze cases, and evaluate options. Guest faculty facilitators will (more…)


Upcoming Dates

  • In-person
    September 15, 2026
    1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Facilitators

Student Voices in Course Design

In-person
Series:

Student Voices in Course Design is an interactive workshop for faculty and staff interested in creating more inclusive courses by partnering with students in the design process. In this session, we’ll explore practical approaches to actively seeking and incorporating student perspectives into course materials, activities, and assessments. Through hands-on activities and real examples, you’ll learn strategies for meaningful student-faculty collaboration where students (more…)


Upcoming Dates

  • In-person
    September 22, 2026
    10:00 am - 11:30 am

Facilitators

Tools for Designing Interactive Courses

In-person
Series:

Student engagement is a critical factor known to significantly enhance student learning outcomes. Learning technology can play an important role in fostering this engagement in university courses. In this workshop, we will explore different active learning techniques and demonstrate how learning technology can help leverage these techniques to foster student engagement in both in-person and online environments. This interactive, 90-minute workshop (more…)


Upcoming Dates

  • In-person
    October 26, 2026
    11:30 am - 1:00 pm

Facilitators

Course Design for Large Enrolment Classes: Turning Exams into Learning Using Two-stage Exams

Series:

Midterm and final exams are high-stakes evaluation events that can be stressful for many students. Changes in the exam structure may turn exams into valuable opportunities for peer learning through discussion and feedback. In a two-stage exam, students first complete a test individually, and then immediately work in small collaborative groups. In this one-hour workshop, guest faculty facilitators will discuss how they adapted this assessment approach for large classes, including exam design, classroom logistics, practical considerations for implementation, student feedback, and lesson learned. Participants will (more…)


Upcoming Dates

  • In-person
    November 17, 2026
    1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Facilitators

Course Design for Large Enrolment Classes: Creating Fair, Equitable, and Inclusive Group Work

Series:

While group work is widely used to promote student-led collaborative learning, many instructors continue to navigate how to make it equitable and effective in practice to meet intended learning outcomes. In this workshop, guest faculty facilitators will share how they address key design challenges such as individual accountability, equitable participation, and assessment of both process and product to support meaningful collaboration among students. Participants will leave with practical ideas for implementing and facilitating group work in their own courses. Browse the other events (more…)


Upcoming Dates

  • In-person
    December 9, 2026
    12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Facilitators