All designs on Coursensu are created with this building block. It can define the structure of any learning experience imaginable.
It contains:
Each of this building blocks is also known as a content item, they describe the high level learning experience. Within each block lives a storyboard, to add rich and detailed learning content as well as how they all connect together, and to other aspects of the learning experience.
The foundations of this 'block' is derived from a combination of learning science, design process and user-experience. This page unpacks what goes into the building block, and how you can use it to design exceptional learning experience, based on research.
We incorporate research-based knowledge as a foundation to our platform. This emphasises the critical role that research plays in understanding how people learn and how we can use this to shape effective learning experiences.
The purpose of our platform is maximise the potential of every learning experience our users create. This results in their learners experiencing the most effective methods for an active experience that helps them gain lifelong knowledge, skills and understanding.
We share the same goal - to design the most effective experience for our learners. To achieve this, we dug deep into the research.
This page covers each area in more detail, and how you can get involved in our developmental research.
Underneath the platform's hood is a repository of pedagogic methods, frameworks and best practice. We have an open, and evolving, library of over 350 teaching, learning and assessment methods. Integrated into the platform, users design learning experiences and draw from these methods to guide their decisions.
In addition to these methods are more than 700 reference points for active learning. This includes the technologies used, which can shape the design, delivery and approach taken. The active learning verbs, categorised by the three domains of Bloom's Taxonomy. Lastly, a compilation of interactions for how we interface with technology which can directly drive the learner's experience.
Anyone can explore the open collection to discover new methods or approaches. Logged in users can favourite methods and store their own for re-use across their designs.
Many learning design frameworks rely on established learning science from respected academics. We integrated Learning Types which draw on work by Professor Diana Laurillard [1] [2]. Her work states there are six learning types which can be used to define a learning experience:
We extended these types to include three more ways to define (and filter) active learning approaches:
We added three 'alternative' types because we know sometimes the learning experience is defined by an active learning verb (Blooms), a technology or a form of interaction.
The learning types extend the toolkit available to you, to help you make more informed decisions during the design process.
Learning needs purpose and this is core to every design on Coursensu. We help you ensure clear and visual constructive alignment [3] so that your content aligns with course objectives, teaching methods, and assessments. This creates focused and effective learning experiences appropriate for adult learners. This is appropriate for higher education [4], skills for any learner [5] and those creating content for professional training or career development.
You can start your design with defined purpose statements which are created in our 'Purpose writer' tool. The purpose statements you create are connected to course content, showing very clearly how it aligns. These visually clear indicators are intended to show the engagement across all planned activities and assessments.
Bloom's Taxonomy [6] (and the revised versions [7]) offer a structured framework for categorising cognitive learning processes. On our platform, these frameworks appear as active learning verbs [8] integrated into the designer tools. We've curated a collection of over 240 taxonomy -derived verbs across the cognitive, affective [8] and psychomotor [9] domains. These are embedded within the platform to encourage the creation of learning-centric experiences [10].
Fun fact: these taxonomies inspired 'sensu' in our name, symbolising our commitment to making sense of these hierarchies and utilising evidence-based methodologies.
Our platform is built on collaboration. We want you to work together because 'building design capacity in teachers offers opportunities for large scale, sustainable change' [11]
So of course, we want you to engage educators/SMEs to lead to greater outcomes. We built Coursensu with real-time collaboration to ensure visibility of all contributors which leads the path to more user-centred design processes [12]. Collaboration, or co-design [13], is defined by cross-stakeholder or team-based process to design an educational innovation.
Coursensu facilitates roles, sharing contributions and making an shared learning design experience visible before production, to encourage inclusive design approaches. We believe this results in a more successful experience for the intended learners [14] [15].
Data-driven insight refers to the process of using data analysis to uncover valuable and actionable information. We combine the research-based outcomes above with the additional, on-demand AI co-pilot sources (a large language model) to collect, process, and interpret your design data.
This results in producing advice and guidance based on a deep understanding of trends, patterns, and correlations between a large dataset and your design. Such insight is used to guide and improve your decisions.
Please note, the integrated AI co-pilot is on-demand, meaning each request is initiated by you and this is the only way for your data to be sent to a third-party service. All AI guidance is wrapped as a 'suggestion' or 'idea' by the co-pilot.
We all rely on research findings to inform and improve our decision-making. At Coursensu, these decisions drive key platform developments. Our aim is to enhance the overall learning experience through better design choices.
Recognising that research is an ever-evolving field, we understand the importance of continuously seeking new sources of knowledge to inform our future decisions. This insight underscores our commitment to being research-informed and showcases the sources that inspire our work.
We do not stand still. We are enthusiastic to get involved with research projects. If this interests you and your organisation, please contact us (hello@coursensu.com).
[1] Laurillard, D. (2013). Rethinking university teaching: A conversational framework for the effective use of learning technologies. Routledge.
[2] FutureLearn (2022). The Conversational Framework. Video / Online Course https://www.futurelearn.com/info/courses/blended-and-online-learning-design/0/steps/191671 (Last accessed 9 Oct 2023).
[3] Biggs, J. (1996). Enhancing teaching through constructive alignment. Higher education, 32(3), 347-364.
[4] Kandlbinder, P. (2014). Constructive alignment in university teaching. HERDSA News, 36(3), 5-6.
[5] Cole, R., Reynders, G., Ruder, S., Stanford, C., & Lantz, J. (2019). Constructive Alignment Beyond Content: Assessing Professional Skills in Student Group Interactions and Written Work. In Research and Practice in Chemistry Education: Advances from the 25th IUPAC International Conference on Chemistry Education 2018 (pp. 203-222). Springer Singapore.
[6] Bloom, B. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals., Volume 1. Longmans.
[7] Forehand, M. (2005). Bloom's taxonomy: Original and revised. Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology, 8, 41-44.
[8] Clark, D.R. (2004). Bloom's Taxonomy: The Affective Domain. Retrieved from http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/Bloom/affective_domain.html on 30 October 2023.
[9] Clark, D.R. (2004). Bloom's Taxonomy: The Psychomotor Domain. Retrieved from http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/Bloom/psychomotor_domain.html on 30 October 2023.
[10] Washington University. Cognitive, Affective, and Psychomotor Domains Grading. Retrieved from https://courses.washington.edu/pharm439/Bloomstax.htm on 30 October 2023.
[11] Bennett, S., Lockyer, L., & Agostinho, S. (2018). Towards sustainable technology-enhanced innovation in higher education: advancing learning design by understanding and supporting teacher design practice. British Journal of Educational Technology, 49(6), 1014–1026.
[12] Newton, P. M., Da Silva, A., & Peters, L. G. (2020, July). A pragmatic master list of action verbs for bloom's taxonomy. In Frontiers in Education (Vol. 5, p. 107). Frontiers.
[13] Norman, D. A. (1986). User-Centered System Design: New Perspectives on Human-Computer Interaction. Routledge.
[14] Roschelle, J., Penuel, W., & Shechtman, N. (2006). Co-design of innovations with teachers: Definition and dynamics.
[15] Perna, S., & Nunziante, P. (2021). Learning design, co-designing learning: Collaborative learning design workshops for innovation in teaching/learning and faculty development programs.
Last updated: 4 December 2024
