The design principles I have authored below are part of my final assignment for LRNT 524 – Innovation, Design and Learning Environments at Royal Roads University. In this course, we have explored a number of instructional design concepts, theories and models that shed light on both effective instructional design and optimal design of learning environments with particular consideration for equity and accessibility for learners, culturally responsive practices with a focus on Indigenous learners, and learner engagement.
My nine design principles below are deeply informed by my personal instructional design context and my extensive experience as an educator within k-12 education. I currently lead and teach (ELA, Math, Social Studies and Life Transitions) within the Alternative Education Program at a large high school in northwestern Saskatchewan. The Alternative Education Program is a program for grade 10-12 students who have demonstrated academically that they are not able to be successful within the Regular and Modified educational programs at the high school level. Typically, based on formal cognitive and academic performance assessments, these students are working academically, and in many cases socially, at a grade one to a grade seven level. Typically, students have one or more diagnosed cognitive impairments that are impacting their academic performance. Common diagnoses for students who are enrolled with the program include: high functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Anxiety Disorder, Selective Mutism, Depressive Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Orthopedic Disability, Global Development Delay among other intellectual disabilities. Further to this, many students may have a combination of the above, as well as have a history of trauma, come from very diverse family and economic situations, and may have diverse sexual orientations. Currently, about 40% of the students in the program are First Nations and Metis and about 60% are Caucasian.
I am immensely grateful to get to lead, teach and journey with these individuals every day. The design principles detailed below allow me to design instruction and learning environments that focus on accessibility for all learners, culturally responsive practices for Indigenous learners, and learner engagement for this incredibly socially and academically diverse group of learners. Below each principle is a short description of the principle’s foundation and three examples of what the principle looks like in action.
Design Principles for Diverse Educational Environments
Design with Empathy
Ensure that instruction is designed with the strengths, challenges, experiences, identities, and perspectives of the learners in mind.
This principle is rooted in design thinking (Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford, 2018), as well as the analysis stage of ID models such as ADDIE (Dousay, 2018; Gardner, 2011) and INCLUSIVE ADDIE (Gamrat et. al., 2022).
What it looks like:
- Reviewing students’ cumulative files prior to designing instruction. This includes Individualized Education Plans (IIPs), Records of Adaptation (ROAs), Psychoeducational Assessments or other formal academic assessments.
- Contacting home to introduce yourself to parents/caregivers at the beginning of the school year and setting up a meeting to review individual goals, academic programming for the year and gain insights about learners.
- Conducting informal surveys with learners at the beginning of the school year regarding preferred learning styles, interests, ambitions, goals, likes, and dislikes etc.
Design with Alignment
Ensures that instruction is designed backwards from clear learning outcomes.
This principle is rooted in designing using Backwards Design framework, known in my school division as the Understanding by Design (UbD) framework, founded by Wiggins and McTighe (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005; Brown, 2004)
What it looks like:
- Prioritizing curricular outcomes that the instructor feels are most important to cover given the allotted time.
- Reflecting and authoring the enduring understandings and key questions that will guide unit and course design to compliment designing from the curricular learning outcomes.
- Not basing instructional content and assessment solely on the sequential order and content of a single textbook or other resource.
Design for Universal Accessibility
Ensures that every student has equitable, accessible, and culturally inclusive access to learning and successful course completion through design utilizing the three principles of the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework.
This principle is rooted in the Universal Design for Learning framework which is comprised of three design principles: 1) multiple means of engagement 2) multiple means of representation, and 3) multiple means of action and expression (CAST, 2024; Takacs et. al., 2021).
What it looks like:
- Designing from the perspective that a student can learn and demonstrate mastery of an outcome in a number of ways and that the outcome is the only non-negotiable.
- Utilizing choice menus for learners which list a number of options for content (including modality), assignment, and assessment approaches to demonstrating achievement of an outcome. This provides opportunity for cultural inclusivity, learner engagement through personally meaningful content, and allowing students an opportunity to access and demonstrate learning according to personal strengths, preferences, and accessibility.
- Co-constructing assessment criteria, classroom procedures, seating arrangements, physical classroom structure, and rules and expectations with learners whenever appropriate, and building in as many individual accommodations as possible into the learning environment for all learners to benefit from.
Design Structured and Predictable Learning Environments
Ensures that every learner experiences a learning environment that is safe, orderly, and designed with intentionality so all learners can give their full attention to learning.
This principle is rooted in literature regarding optimal learning environments for students, particularly those who have anxiety or related disorders and/or have a history of trauma (Government of Saskatchewan, n.d.; Crichton & Childs, 2022; Forbes, 2020).
What it looks like:
- Classroom rules, procedures, routines and consequences are clearly established, communicated in multiple formats, and cocreated with students whenever appropriate.
- Classroom uses a reduced lighting strategy with lo-fi background sounds in order to create a calm, low stimulus setting whenever appropriate.
- Maximizing class signage and displays (using both words and symbols) for bell schedules, instructions for accessing technology, the locations of materials, directions to the bathroom, counsellors’ office, library etc., and a large calendar of classroom and school events in order to reduce anxiety for students and promote a sense of belonging and ownership over the classroom and school.
Design for Belonging
Ensures that every learner feels as a sense of belonging to each other, and to the classroom.
This principle is rooted in literature regarding optimal design principles for schools (Crichton & Childs, 2022), as well has the importance of relationships for learning as grounded in Social Constructivist Learning Theory (Brieger et.al., 2020; Millwood, 2013)
What it looks like:
- Intentionally engage learners in tasks that highlight their personality, preferences, skills, likes and interests etc. and displaying these products within the classroom, especially at the beginning of the course.
- Utilize circle processes for class check-ins, and consensus decision making when appropriate.
- Continually look for teachable moments regarding the principles of healthy relationships within class content (ex. novel studies) and the day to day happenings of the class (ex. applying the principle of the Golden Rule).
Design for Real World Application
Ensures that course content and assessment methods are meaningful and relevant to students and foster continual growth toward maximum independence following graduation.
This principle is rooted in literature on effective learning experiences (Crichton & Childs, 2022) and Merrill’s (2002) First Principles of Instruction which states as its first principle that learners learn best when engaged in real world problems.
What it looks like:
- Basing lessons and course content in real world problem solving. (ex. using budgeting, effective consumer choices, and/or entrepreneurship to teach basic math operations, ELA writing skills and social studies concepts).
- Engaging students in increasingly difficult learning tasks which culminate in a real world problem solving task. (ex. learning effective sentence structure and basic grammar first, then effective paragraph structure, and finally creating a school news magazine that will be published for the student body).
- Teaching and utilizing design thinking processes to solve real world problems (ex. design a high school elective course that is believed to be much needed but currently does not exist).
Design for Enjoyment
Ensures that lessons are designed to promote the engagement of all students and that learning and attending school are made enjoyable and memorable whenever possible.
This principle is rooted in literature on effective learning experiences (Crichton & Childs, 2022), Universal Design for Learning (CAST, 2024; Takacs et. al., 2021), and my core desire for students to experience attending school as enjoyable and memorable.
What it looks like:
- Offering experiential, kinesthetic, and cooperative learning experiences for students that bring them out of a typical routine and/or take them outside of the classroom, school or campus.
- Celebratory class events and recognizing students in fun and energetic ways like our current family Christmas dinner, our “You Crushed it” Awards (which include a can of Crush as the trophy), or our YouTube roller coaster celebration for birthdays.
- Designing cooperative whole class learning games that are fun and interactive, are tied to course outcomes, and where winning teams are recognized in a light hearted and fun way.
Design to Remove Barriers
Ensures that learning is designed to allow for flexibility and agility in order to remove any barriers that may inhibit student success and their pursuit of mastery.
This principal is rooted in instructional design models like agile design (Svihla, V., 2018) and the Successive Approximations Model (SAM) (Allen Interactions, n.d) which emphasize flexibility in design and the expectation of multiple iterations of design elements based on feedback until the optimal design solution is found. It is also rooted in the Universal Design for Learning framework (CAST, 2024; Takacs et. al., 2021) in the belief that the only non-negotiable within the learning journey is the course outcome.
What it looks like:
- Being constantly vigilant in looking for fight, flight, or freeze responses to assigned course work, especially from students who have anxiety or depressive disorders and/or a history of trauma.
- Providing students with academic tasks that are proactively leveled for their success and growth as best as possible and iterating quickly as the student gives verbal or non-verbal feedback regarding barriers to success.
- Proactively building strong relationships with students so they feel as safe as possible in disclosing struggles they are having with the learning, allowing you to make quick iterations and pivots to the design.
Design to Value the Learning Journey
Ensures that the process of constructing learning is also designed in a way that establishes its value.
This principle is rooted in Constructivist Learning Theory which poses that learning is constructed by the learner based on the personal relevance of the learning to the learner and their personal and social context (Hayman, 2024).
What it looks like:
- Engaging students in self and peer assessing projects based on pre-established/ co-constructed criteria and allowing students to engage with and reflect on feedback in order to edit projects prior to submitting them for summative assessment.
- Engaging learners in constructing learning through peer interactions such as think-pair-shares etc.
- Individually conferencing with students regarding their progress towards an outcome and coaching students towards approaching learning in ways that are meaningful to them.
References
Allen Interactions. (n.d.). SAM: Successive approximations model. Allen Interactions. https://www.alleninteractions.com/services/custom-learning/sam/elearning-development
Brieger, E., Arghode, V., & McLean, G. (2020). Connecting theory and practice: reviewing six learning theories to inform online instruction. European Journal of Training and Development, 44(4), 321-339. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJTD-07-2019-0116
Brown, J.L. (2004). Implementing understanding by design: A summary of lessons learned. In J.L. Brown, Making the most of understanding by design (pp.12-37). Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development.
CAST (2024). Universal design for learning guidelines 3.0 [graphic organizer]. CAST. https://udlguidelines.cast.org/
Crichton, S., & Childs, E. (2022). Design principles for schools: Putting the science of learning and development into action. Learning Policy Institute. https://k12.designprinciples.org/design-principles
Dousay. T. A. (2018). Instructional design models. In R. West (Ed.), Foundations of Learning and Instructional Design Technology: Historical Roots and Current Trends. https://edtechbooks.org/lidtfoundations/instructional_design_models
Forbes, H.T. (2020). Classroom 180: A framework for creating, sustaining, and assessing the trauma-informed classroom. Beyond Consequences Institute.
Gamrat, C., Tiwari, S., & Bekiroglu, S.O. (2022, March 10). INCLUSIVE ADDIE: Initial considerations for DEI pedagogy. Educause Review. https://er.educause.edu/articles/2022/3/inclusive-addie-initial-considerations-for-dei-pedagogy
Gardner, J.C. (2011). The ADDIE analysis phase [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/JZdv5lrJs4U?si=Yq51mwqUq3tO12qd
Government of Saskatchewan. (n.d.). Supporting students with intensive needs in the classroom: Bipolar, depressive, anxiety or related disorders. https://www.edonline.sk.ca/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_3941_1&content_id=_661474_1&mode=reset
Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford. (2018). Design thinking bootleg. d.school at Stanford University. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57c6b79629687fde090a0fdd/t/5b19b2f2aa4a99e99b26b6bb/1528410876119/dschool_bootleg_deck_2018_final_sm+%282%29.pdf
Hayman, J. (2024, June 17th) Week 3: Instructor notes [Notes]. Retrieved from https://moodle.royalroads.ca/moodle/mod/book/view.php?id=751895&chapterid=264897
Merrill, M. D. (2002). First principles of instruction. Educational Technology Research and Development, 50(3), 43-59.
Millwood, R. (2013, May 10). Learning Theory. Richard Millwood: A New Learning Landscape. https://blog.richardmillwood.net/2013/05/10/learning-theory/
Svihla, V. (2018). Design thinking and agile design: New trends or just good designs? In R. West (Ed.), Foundations of Learning and Instructional Design Technology: Historical Roots and Current Trends. https://edtechbooks.org/lidtfoundations/design_thinking_and_agile_design
Takacs, S, Zhang, J., Lee, H., Truong, L., & Smulders, D. (2021) A comprehensive guide to applying universal design for learning. Justice Institute of British Columbia. https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/jibcudl/
Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design (2nd ed.). ASCD.