curriculum Archives – Ding https://ding.global/category/curriculum/ Creative Learning Design Fri, 15 Aug 2025 23:07:50 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.2 https://ding.global/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/cropped-ding_Bulb_FinalVector_03-32x32.png curriculum Archives – Ding https://ding.global/category/curriculum/ 32 32 188783216 Why scenarios are more effective than a best practice approach to learning https://ding.global/why-scenarios-are-more-effective-than-a-best-practice-approach-to-learning/ https://ding.global/why-scenarios-are-more-effective-than-a-best-practice-approach-to-learning/#respond Fri, 15 Aug 2025 23:07:48 +0000 https://ding.global/?p=6692 The post Why scenarios are more effective than a best practice approach to learning appeared first on Ding.

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Picture this: you’re at a friend of a friend’s flat-warming. There’s an underwhelming selection of supermarket nibbles on paper plates and your host is stress-eating Pringles straight from the tube. There are two specific personalities at this party, and watching how people respond to each of them tells us something fascinating about learning.

First, there’s The Prig—who, true-to-form, is holding court by the vol-au-vents. Just listen as they speak with unwavering certainty about the “correct” way to handle ChatGPT in education, the foolproof detection methods, and the essential policies every institution needs. Turns out, they’ve mastered the instruction manual for AI-proofing assessment and, God help us, they’re going to read out every page to you.

Why best practice is a prig

The Prig is the living embodiment of ‘Best Practice’—and despite their impeccable credentials and redoubtable expertise, you’re thinking a selection of uncharitable thoughts and backing towards the nearest door…

Target attributes for 21st century learners

Meanwhile, in another room, another person is talking just as animatedly, but they’ve drawn a crowd.

“Right, you’ll never guess what happened to me this week…” they begin, and suddenly everyone’s leaning in. “So I’m marking essays—yeah, I teach, don’t look so surprised—and I spot one that’s clearly been ChatGPT’d. But here’s the thing: it’s from a student who’s working two jobs, caring for elderly parents, and still showing up to every seminar. Do I fail them for academic misconduct, or do I find another way to address this? What would you have done?” 

This is Scenario-Based Learning personified—not a know-it-all but a bit of a ‘Fleabag’ who trusts you enough to figure things out for yourself. 

Fleabag is that brilliant, achingly honest BBC series where Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s imperfect protagonist navigates life’s lessons with humour and self-awareness. As role-models go, Fleabag is no one’s paragon, but she excels at role-modelling the importance of engagement. Fleabag doesn’t have the answers. Fleabag makes mistakes and her knowledge is incomplete and partial, but unlike the Prig in the kitchen, we want to spend more time in her company, not less.

Why we retreat from best practice

In our webinar “How Scenario-Based Learning Delivers the Skills that Matter,” Phil and I explored this curious paradox. Why do we instinctively retreat from paragons of perfection? And why, despite knowing their advice might be sound, do we so rarely follow it?

“Best practice approaches often function as a full stop…It creates the illusion that learning is complete once the correct method has been identified.”

Phil went further: “I think best practice produces resistance in learners.”

That resistance has a name: reactance. Despite being a well-documented psychological phenomenon, it’s rarely acknowledged as the learning barrier it actually is.

Reactance theory, first developed by psychologist Jack Brehm in the 1960s, describes our fundamental psychological need to maintain autonomy. When we perceive that our freedom to choose is being threatened, we experience an uncomfortable motivational state that drives us to restore that freedom. We don’t just passively resist—we actively push back.

The mechanism is as predictable as it is powerful. Tell someone they must do something a certain way, and they’ll immediately start cataloguing reasons why it won’t work for them. Present a solution as the only correct approach, and they’ll become remarkably creative in finding alternatives. Insist that your method is foolproof, and they’ll take it as a personal challenge to find the fool in it.

This is more than simple stubbornness—it’s a fundamental feature of human psychology. We are meaning-making creatures who need to feel that our choices matter, that our context is understood, that our autonomy is respected. Strip away that sense of agency, and we’ll fight to get it back.

Filming the scenario at IOSphere HQ

Watch the webinar

But what if, instead of constraining choice, we expanded it? What if, instead of presenting solutions, we presented problems?

“Scenarios generate engagement through conflict,” Phil explains in the webinar, drawing from storytelling principles. “Stories come from characters, and stories begin at the point where you put two characters into conflict with each other.”

While The Prig presents a world where everything works smoothly according to prescribed rules, scenarios thrive on problems, complications, and competing priorities—the messy reality where our judgement actually matters.

This approach works because effective scenarios “let people off the hook” by creating psychological safety: “People feel invested in it because they see it’s relevant, but it also gives them permission to have a go and also permission to fail. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t matter.”

The psychological shift from constraint to choice, from prescription to invitation, from certainty to productive uncertainty, changes everything about how learning feels. Instead of our autonomy being threatened, it’s being exercised. Instead of being told what to think, we’re being asked to think.

Phil captures this perfectly when he explains why we’re drawn to flawed characters over perfect ones: “We are more drawn to things that perhaps are closer to our own more imperfect selves.” 

[Pause. Look directly at the camera.]

Right, so we’re about to present you with “Five Key Takeaways” from Tony and Phil’s webinar—which is, let’s be honest, exactly the kind of best practice packaging we’ve just spent 1,500 words explaining why you’ll instinctively resist…

Five key takeaways about scenario-based learning

1. Best practice is a full stop, but scenarios are a quesiton mark: Best practice approaches often function as a full stop, creating the illusion learning is complete. Scenarios keep the conversation going by presenting problems that demand active thinking.

2. Conflict drives engagement: Stories begin at the point where you put two characters into conflict. Perfect solutions are boring. Messy dilemmas with competing priorities stick in our minds and mirror real professional life.

3. Scenarios build functioning knowledge: Traditional curricula miss the crucial skills—navigating ambiguity, making ethical decisions, adapting to change. Scenarios develop this knowledge by forcing learners to apply expertise in messy, imperfect situations where it actually matters.

4. Scenarios make learning personal, not universal: Generic scenarios feel abstract and trigger the “yeah, but that won’t work here” response. When scenarios reflect learners’ specific context—their industry, culture, and challenges—they feel immediately relevant and actionable.

5. Intentionality beats implementation: Don’t just add scenarios because you’re reading this thinking “scenario-based learning is best practice for avoiding reactance.” Be clear about what specific skills and mindsets you’re developing, or your scenarios will function as set-dressing not as the actual learning experience.

Experience it for yourself

Our PGDip in Learning Design Methods provides a pathway that practices what it preaches. The programme doesn’t simply tell you about learning design—it invites you into a 14-week scenario where you wrestle with the challenges firsthand, developing the kind of functioning knowledge that emerges when theory meets the hot mess of real-world practice.

You might also like:

 

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]]> https://ding.global/why-scenarios-are-more-effective-than-a-best-practice-approach-to-learning/feed/ 0 6692 Producing employable graduates: integrating employability into the curriculum https://ding.global/producing-employable-graduates/ https://ding.global/producing-employable-graduates/#respond Mon, 09 Jun 2025 20:54:11 +0000 https://ding.global/?p=6579 The post Producing employable graduates: integrating employability into the curriculum appeared first on Ding.

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Whether we like it or not, producing employable graduates is the number one currency in Higher Education. Yet despite the hard work of many dedicated professionals to improve graduate employability, alarming statistics persist.

A recent ISE report revealed that 27% of graduates don’t meet employers’ expectations. Yet simultaneously, graduates struggle to find jobs amid market saturation and employers’ unrealistic demands.

Derek Yates, Head of The Creative Lab at Ravensbourne University, is working hard to help creative graduates become more employable. So Phil and I thought he would be an ideal person to talk to about this problem.

More than just a creative agency

When discussing employability in creative education, institutions often default to establishing “creative agencies” where students complete live briefs for external clients. However, as Yates, points out, this approach can be problematic.

“The problem with taking students on client briefs is they’re not professional, and they need to be allowed to be that,” Yates explains. “There’s a danger of undermining the industry in terms of pricing and suggesting that what professionals do is so easy that even students can do it.”

Instead, Ravensbourne has developed Creative Lab as “a space where industry and education can discover and learn together.” This subtle distinction shifts the power dynamic from service provision to collaborative learning, benefiting both students and industry partners.

Integrating employability into the curriculum

When institutions try to tackle employability, a common problem is leaving it too late in the learning experience. Producing work-ready graduates requires more than a bolt-on service or final-year workshop, it needs to be integrated much earlier in a course. Ravensbourne’s approach includes a university-wide work-based learning module that students complete at the end of their second year, giving them focused time to engage with industry projects without competing academic priorities.

Yet effective employability integration begins much earlier at Ravensbourne. Their Professional Life Practice module runs across multiple semesters, starting with fundamental skills like understanding what their subject is, developing proactive behaviours, and teaching research skills. This progresses to industry research, and culminates in practical experiences.

The hidden curriculum and professional behaviours

While subject-specific learning outcomes dominate formal curricula, the “hidden curriculum” – those unwritten rules and professional behaviours that govern success in any discipline – often remains tacit. Phil pointed out that we need structures to address “behaviours that would either disempower or produce power in young people.”

This hidden curriculum includes seemingly mundane aspects like punctuality, communication confidence, and collaborative behaviours – elements rarely explicitly taught but integral to professional success. Bringing these elements into formal learning outcomes shows students that employability isn’t just about subject expertise but about socialisation into professional communities of practice.

This is also an issue of social justice. For students from disadvantaged backgrounds—those working multiple jobs, without industry connections, or facing other barriers—making this hidden curriculum explicit is about empowerment.

Yates’ Creative Lab produces work-ready graduates by creating accessible experiences through partnerships with organisations like Creative Conscience and New Wave magazine. One student’s feedback captures this perfectly:

“The difference that work-based learning made for me is that I’ve had a conversation with an employer.”

These small victories in navigating the hidden curriculum matter just as much as high-profile collaborations with major brands.

professional behaviours

Redefining employability 

If we are to prepare the current and future generations of students for the workplace, we need to expand our definition of employability beyond simply landing that first job. Phil suggests such a definition:

“The capacity to apply and adapt knowledge effectively in variable contexts; the possession of fundamental attributes that enable individuals to mobilise their knowledge in response to uncertainty.”

Here are three ways to do this:

Prepare students for career complexity

  • Professional life includes challenges like redundancy, negotiating pay rises, and career pivots. Create forums and scenarios where graduates can discuss these realities, potentially involving alumni in ongoing conversations with current students.

Make the hidden curriculum visible

  • Incorporate professional behaviours into learning outcomes, making them central to assessment rather than peripheral concerns. This levels the playing field for students by showing everyone the factors that really power success and progression. Scenario-based learning is one highly effective way of achieving this.

Initiate honest conversations about success

  • Even the most successful professionals simultaneously experience confidence and uncertainty. Teaching students to integrate these seemingly contradictory perspectives prepares them for sustainable careers rather than offering false guarantees.

We won’t produce work-ready graduates through with CV workshops and guest speakers. Sustainable employability requires an integrated, developmental journey that reveals the hidden curriculum of professional practice from the early stages of a learning programme.

If we can better prepare graduates for the complex realities of professional life, we will be doing the important work of preparing them for success while also giving them the skills to shape the workplace.

You might also like:

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We run a PGCert, PGDip and MA in Creative Teaching and Learning Design.

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]]> https://ding.global/producing-employable-graduates/feed/ 0 6579 Open Day: PGCert, PGDip, MA in Creative Teaching and Learning Design https://ding.global/open-day-pgcert-pgdip-ma-in-creative-teaching-and-learning-design/ https://ding.global/open-day-pgcert-pgdip-ma-in-creative-teaching-and-learning-design/#respond Fri, 15 Nov 2024 20:14:54 +0000 https://ding.global/?p=5839 The post Open Day: PGCert, PGDip, MA in Creative Teaching and Learning Design appeared first on Ding.

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If you want to teach in higher education (HE), you’ll need a PGCert. And if you want to work in a professional learning role, you’ll benefit from having a PGDip or MA.

So we thought we’d make it easy and combine all three qualifications.

Our PGCert, PGDip and MA in Creative Teaching and Learning Design gives you the knowledge and skills to be a useful, employable learning professional. In our Open Day video, we provide all the key information you need to find out if this is the right course for you.

See what our students say
Open day 1: What is the course all about?

Why study creative teaching & learning design?

Most people assume learning design just about education. But that’s like saying architecture is just about buildings.

Learning design is about understanding how people absorb and use knowledge, and then creating experiences that make that process work better.

Teaching is about delivering learning experiences in a way that will inspire and motivate them.

Creativity enables you to respond to any situation productively. When you combine all three, you have a skillset that enables you to solve problems and be useful in unfamiliar situations. 

Open day 2: What can you do with this qualification?

You have more skills than you think

Here’s something interesting: many experienced educators don’t realize how valuable their skills are outside traditional teaching. Think about it – if you’ve ever taught, you’ve probably:

  • Figured out how to explain complex ideas to different audiences
  • Created engaging experiences that keep people interested
  • Managed multiple stakeholders with competing demands
  • Made things work despite limited resources
  • Adapted your approach based on what works and what doesn’t

Sound familiar? These aren’t just teaching skills – they’re leadership skills. They’re problem-solving skills. And they’re increasingly valuable in a world where organizations struggle to handle change and communicate effectively.

swiss army knife

What about AI?

We’re at an interesting moment. AI can generate content instantly, but it can’t design meaningful learning experiences.

Organizations need people who understand both the technology and the human side of learning. They need people who can look at a business problem and recognize when it’s actually a learning problem in disguise.

Learning design isn’t just about creating courses – that’s more instructional design. It’s about understanding how to help people transform – whether that’s learning new skills, adapting to change, or seeing things differently. It equips you with skills that are resilient in the face of AI:

    Agility
    The capacity to swiftly adapt and navigate complex situations, comprised of adaptability and versatility. 

    Innovation
    The ability to generate and implement original solutions, comprised of proactivity and creativity.

    Holistic Problem-Solving
    Integrating knowledge across disciplines, comprised of critical thinking and synthesis.

    Principled Action
    Making decisions guided by ethical considerations, comprised of accountability and ethical reasoning.

    Target attributes for 21st Century Learners

    Click image to enlarge

    The creative superpower

    Phil, our Director of Learning Experiences, describes constraints as being like a north-facing garden. You can complain about the lack of sun, or you can get creative and design something beautiful with shade-loving plants. That’s what good learning design is about – working creatively within constraints to create something that works.

    Is if for you?

    If you’re fascinated by how people learn, if you enjoy solving complex problems, if you’re interested in how technology is changing how we share knowledge – learning design might be your next step. Whether you’re an educator looking to broaden your impact or someone from another field interested in the human side of knowledge and learning, there’s never been a more interesting time to develop these skills.

    Remember: good learning design isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about asking the right questions and being creative with the solutions. In a world of rapid change and information overload, that’s a valuable skill indeed.

    Apply for PGCert
    Apply for PGDip
    Apply for MA

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    Want to learn how to build great courses?

    We run a PGCert, PGDip and MA in Creative Teaching and Learning Design.

    Find out which stage is right for you.

    Take the Diagnostic
    Take our diagnostic quiz!

    The post Open Day: PGCert, PGDip, MA in Creative Teaching and Learning Design appeared first on Ding.

    ]]>     https://ding.global/open-day-pgcert-pgdip-ma-in-creative-teaching-and-learning-design/feed/ 0 5839     The Art of Employability: How To Design Learning Experiences That Close the Skills Gap https://ding.global/the-art-of-employability-how-to-design-learning-experiences-that-close-the-skills-gap/ https://ding.global/the-art-of-employability-how-to-design-learning-experiences-that-close-the-skills-gap/#respond Fri, 25 Oct 2024 12:08:58 +0000 https://ding.global/?p=5784 The post The Art of Employability: How To Design Learning Experiences That Close the Skills Gap appeared first on Ding.

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    When Phil from Ding said, ‘I’m fed up with talking about employability,’ we thought we’d better do something about how to close the skills gap.

    So we put our heads together and took a long, hard look at the structural factors in course design that might inadvertently be producing the skills gap in higher education courses.
    _ 

    The problem with Bloom’s Taxonomy

    I’ve long been a fan of Bloom’s Taxonomy because it’s a useful tool for helping people write better learning outcomes. But the more Phil and I looked at Bloom’s Taxonomy, the more we could see how it has created a problematic “left-to-right” progression in higher education.

    This linear approach postpones the kind of ‘useful action’ that employers want until later stages of learning, creating an artificial separation between knowing and doing. The result? Graduates who struggle to adapt to workplace complexity despite having strong subject knowledge. 

    Bloom’s and declarative knowledge

    To set up our critique of Bloom’s taxonomy, we aligned the table of verbs with the concepts of ‘declarative’ and ‘functioning’ knowledge. In a previous webinar about The Art of AI in Assessment, we considered how AI is forcing a shift away from assessing declarative knowledge because lower-level activities such as ‘listing’, ‘comparing’ and ‘describing’ are all easily automated by AI. 

    In doing this, we showed how higher-level skills such as ‘evaluating’, ‘producing’ and ‘collaborating’ are less likely to be compromised by students using AI to produce work. The outcome of this was the realisation that there is a structural problem in many university courses, where Level 4 prevents students from practicing and developing the skills that will underpin their future employability.

    A picture of Bloom's Taxonomy aligned with a table showing the shift from declarative knowledge to functioning knowledge

    Click image to enlarge

    Identifying target attributes

    We’ve done a lot of work with institutions around employability. And we’ve also been fortunate to have conversations with employability specialists such as Matt Dowling from The Freelancer Club, and legendary fashion designer Zandra Rhodes.

    From these conversations, we’ve identified four attributes for 21st century learners. These attributes are made up of core employability skills and AI-resilient attributes that will prevent graduates from being automated out of their roles:

    Agility
    The capacity to swiftly adapt and navigate complex situations, comprised of adaptability and versatility. 

    Innovation
    The ability to generate and implement original solutions, comprised of proactivity and creativity.

    Holistic Problem-Solving
    Integrating knowledge across disciplines, comprised of critical thinking and synthesis.

    Principled Action
    Making decisions guided by ethical considerations, comprised of accountability and ethical reasoning.

    Target attributes for 21st Century Learners

    Click image to enlarge

    A curriculum design model for baking in employability

    Having identified these four top-level attributes, we’ve attempted to bring them together in a spiral approach to learning design. This approach develops these attributes from day one through repeated practice, instead of postponing complex tasks until later in an undergraduate programme.

    Now, if you know your learning theories you’ll probably recognise two key theories in this model: Kolb’s Cycle of Experiential Learning and Bruner’s Spiral Curriculum. These models have absolutely informed our thinking on the skills gap, and our model attempts to bring elements of both theories to advocate for immediate engagement with doing, followed by experimentation, connection, and refinement.

    This creates a continuous cycle where learners develop professional capabilities through active engagement rather than passive absorption

    Ding Spiral Approach to Curriculum Design for Closing the Skills Gap

    ‘Just do it’

    The research we’ve done into closing the skills gap has revealed a clear message: ‘just do it’. A powerful key to success is the ability to do things in a principled and considered way, and to keep doing them.

    The implications for higher education providers are significant. Rather than treating employability as an add-on service or final-year consideration, this approach integrates professional capability development throughout the curriculum. This addresses a core pain point for academic leaders: the need to close the skills gap while improving student satisfaction and engagement metrics, without adding more content to already packed curricula.

    However, this isn’t simply about activity for activity’s sake. It’s about creating structured opportunities for learners to engage with complexity early and often, building confidence through supported risk-taking in safe environments.

    We illustrated this through a practical example: rewriting traditional learning outcomes for a photography course. Instead of starting with “describe fundamental principles,” the spiral approach begins with “initiate a photography project using manual settings.” This shift creates immediately engaging learning experiences while developing core professional capabilities.

    What next?

    We concluded the webinar with a call to move beyond tinkering with existing systems. The skills gap persists not because of a lack of awareness, but because of structural issues in how we design learning experiences. Adopting a spiral approach that foregrounds doing is one way to create learning experiences that naturally develop the attributes employers seek while maintaining academic rigour.

    Rethinking curriculum design along these lines has the potential to address many of the persistent problems in higher education including improve student outcomes and satisfaction, and closing the skills gap through structural rather than superficial change. Importantly, tThe approach doesn’t require additional resources or bolt-on services – instead, it positions the course as the engine of transformation by reimagining how existing learning experiences are designed and delivered.

    If you’d like to explore how this approach could benefit your institution, we offer a programme review service that helps implement these principles in practice. We’re not tinkerers, we help you make changes that will really move the needle and deliver the outcomes you’re aiming for. 

      You might also like:

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      We're experts in end-to-end course development

      Whether you need a new course, or more capacity to deliver existing courses, we’ve got you covered.

      Our quick diagnostic tool will help you determine the type of engagement that would best fit your requirements

      Use our project partnership tool
      Ding Shape SorterThe

      What sector are you interested in?

      Ding is here!

      Edtech and Entrepreneurs

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      The post The Art of Employability: How To Design Learning Experiences That Close the Skills Gap appeared first on Ding.

      ]]>       https://ding.global/the-art-of-employability-how-to-design-learning-experiences-that-close-the-skills-gap/feed/ 0 5784       Matt Dowling: Preparing graduates to be freelancers https://ding.global/matt-dowling-preparing-graduates-to-be-freelancers/ https://ding.global/matt-dowling-preparing-graduates-to-be-freelancers/#respond Tue, 01 Oct 2024 23:03:06 +0000 https://ding.global/?p=5658 The post Matt Dowling: Preparing graduates to be freelancers appeared first on Ding.

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      Why graduates need a freelancer mindset 

      Freelancing is increasingly a career option for young professionals. This is partly as a result of the gig economy, but also because it is a natural fit for particular professional disciplines.

      For graduates from reative courses such as fashion, film-making, music, animation and ceramics, freelancing has always been recognised as a likely career option. 

      But despite this, it’s often the case that students feel under-prepared to enter the world of freelancing. And it’s precisely this need that led our guest on this episode, Matt Dowling, to launch the Freelancer Club – an organisation dedicated to supporting and championing the cause of freelancers everywhere.

      In this episode, we ask Matt what skills a freelancer needs, and how we might design learning experiences that prepare students to become confident freelancers

      The sophisticated knowledge and skills of the freelancer

      During the discussion, Matt explains that the core curriculum for training freelancers includes knowledge and skills such as communication, organisation, teamwork and empathy. This resonated with our webinar on The Art of AI in Assessment, and the argument that these attributes are deeply human and highly sophisticated. In the episode, Matt explains how he’s using AI trainers to create simulated experiences to help graduates practice and strengthen their freelancing skillset.

      Enjoy the podcast!

        You might also like:

        We're experts in end-to-end course development

        Whether you need a new course, or more capacity to deliver existing courses, we’ve got you covered.

        Our quick diagnostic tool will help you determine the type of engagement that would best fit your requirements

        Use our project partnership tool
        Ding Shape SorterThe

        What sector are you interested in?

        Ding is here!

        Edtech and Entrepreneurs

        Find out more
        Ding is here!

        Higher Ed and Apprenticeships

        Find out more
        Ding is here!

        Professional Bodies and Consultancies

        Find out more

        The post Matt Dowling: Preparing graduates to be freelancers appeared first on Ding.

        ]]>         https://ding.global/matt-dowling-preparing-graduates-to-be-freelancers/feed/ 0 5658         The Art of AI in Assessment: How Creative Learning Design Can Deliver Robust Outcomes https://ding.global/the-art-of-ai-in-assessment/ https://ding.global/the-art-of-ai-in-assessment/#respond Mon, 30 Sep 2024 13:12:01 +0000 https://ding.global/?p=5628 The post The Art of AI in Assessment: How Creative Learning Design Can Deliver Robust Outcomes appeared first on Ding.

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        In Ding’s recent webinar on the Art of AI in Assessment, we explored how creative learning design can produce more robust outcomes in the age of AI. If you missed it, don’t worry – in this blog post we’ll share the highlights with you.

        We kicked off by suggesting that the concerns around AI in education aren’t entirely new. There are parallels with past technological advancements, from the introduction of writing to calculators, each of which prompted similar waves of concern about the future of learning. This historical perspective helps us approach the AI challenge with a bit more calm and clarity. 

        A shift in knowledge production

        At Ding, we believe AI is producing a shift in education away from assessing purely declarative knowledge (facts and figures that can be easily looked up) towards functioning knowledge. This is the kind of knowledge that really matters in the real world – the ability to apply learning in unpredictable situations, solve complex problems, and think critically and creatively.

        We introduced a ‘spectrum of knowledge’ and discussed how different types of assessment align with this spectrum. Many traditional forms of assessment, like multiple-choice tests or basic comprehension questions, are more vulnerable to AI interference. In contrast, assessments that focus on higher-order thinking skills, like creative synthesis or ethical reasoning, are naturally more resistant to AI “cheating”.

        Ding's AI Knowledge Spectrum

         

        Creative approaches to assessment

        During the webinar, we shared some innovative assessment methods u sed in creative education that are inherently more AI-resistant:

        • The ‘crit’: a convened meeting where students present their work to peers and receive immediate feedback. This real-time defence of ideas is hard to fake with AI.

        • Practice-based research: where learners conduct research by doing and making things, applying theoretical knowledge in practical situations.

        • Interdisciplinary projects: bringing together knowledge from different fields to solve complex problems, something that AI often struggles with.

        These methods not only produce more robust assessments but also help bridge the employability gap by fostering skills like collaboration, adaptability, and critical thinking – skills that employers consistently say they need in graduates.

         

        An opportunity to develop more meaningful assessment

        Implementing these changes in assessment methods can seem daunting, but this shift isn’t just about keeping up with technology – it’s an opportunity to enhance the quality and relevance of higher education.

        The webinar concluded with a call to action for higher education to incorporate  more creative, AI-resistant assessment methods. In doing so, institutions can improve student satisfaction, enhance teaching quality, boost achievement and engagement, and better prepare students for their future careers.

        At Ding, we’re here to help you create learning experiences that are engaging, effective, and future-proof. If you’re ready to explore how creative learning design can transform your assessment practices, we’d love to chat.

          You might also like:

          Want to learn how to build great courses?

          We run a PGCert, PGDip and MA in Creative Teaching and Learning Design.

          Find out which stage is right for you.

          Take the Diagnostic
          Take our diagnostic quiz!

          The post The Art of AI in Assessment: How Creative Learning Design Can Deliver Robust Outcomes appeared first on Ding.

          ]]>           https://ding.global/the-art-of-ai-in-assessment/feed/ 0 5628           Designing learning for the future of work https://ding.global/designing-learning-for-the-future-of-work/ https://ding.global/designing-learning-for-the-future-of-work/#respond Thu, 07 Dec 2023 06:12:34 +0000 https://ding.global/?p=4257 The post Designing learning for the future of work appeared first on Ding.

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          When someone has done a lot of research into the future of work, it’s worth listening.

          At the OEB 2023 conference in Berlin, I was fortunate to attend a presentation by Hartwin Mass – a researcher and futurologist who investigates the future of work. In a recent study, he explored common assumptions regarding Generation Alpha’s approach to work (Gen Alpha are those who were born after the year 2000).

          The aim of the research was to investigate the extent to which Gen Alpha’s expectations from employment differ from those of previous generations. 

          ‘Education is moving from ignorance to uncertainty.
          Once you have uncertainty, you have questions.
          The rest is ChatGPT.’

          Luciano Floridi.

          What younger workers want 

          Mass and his team produced the following insights from the research:

          • Many teenagers find it difficult to resolve conflicts. Increasingly, parents step in to solve problems but this prevents their children developing the skills to negotiate and resolve difficult situations.
            _
          • Teenagers felt they were not being taught how to use digital technologies effectively. Schools teach media skills, but little about how to use technology responsibly.
            _
          • Managers complain that younger workers don’t want to lead. In contrast, the research revealed that younger workers were motivated to lead but they felt organisations were not training them how to lead effectively._
            _
          • Many teenagers struggle with FOBO: Fear Of Better Options. While it is easy to disregard this as a first world problem, it is a genuine challenge for teenagers who feel paralysed by the choice of potential roles and opportunities in the job market.
            _
          • Whereas pre-digital generations have experienced the difference between analog and digital, Gen Alpha only know digital. This means when digital doesn’t deliver the required solution, they have no backup plan.
            _
          • Gen Alpha want both freedom and structure. They want flexibility in their working lives, but also clear boundaries to work within.
            _
          • Graduates entering the workplace want to know what the company will do for them, not just what they have to do for the company.
            _
          • A lack of clear paths for progression and promotion can quickly cause younger workers to become dissatisfied and seek alternative employment.
            _
          young girl reading a book

          Advice for leaders and managers

          The findings from Mass’ research indicated there were five main skillsets that younger workers require to survive and thrive. He offered advice about how leaders and managers can adapt the workplace to help them develop these skillsets:

          Ability to change

          Gen Alpha need support in adapting to an unfamiliar working environment.

          • Provide clear ‘contact partners’ or mentors and ensure they meet regularly. This is particularly important during the onboarding phase.
          • Provide regular, individual coaching sessions where contact partners provide effective training on conflict resolution, negotiation and active listening, and support younger workers to grow and adapt.

          _

          Check out our LinkedIn Live on Designing Learning for the Future of Work

          Ambiguity tolerance

          Gen Alpha struggle to navigate the uncertainties of the workplace

          • Provide effective training on conflict resolution, negotiation and active listening.
          • Provide regular feedback. This feedback should be timely, precise and paraphrased to enable easy application.

          Self-organisation

          Gen Alpha need clear boundaries while they learn what is expected of them.

          • Avoid offering remote working until they are confident in working on their own initiative.
          • Enable younger workers to manage their own time, BUT set clear boundaries, expectations and deadlines for tasks.

          Critical thinking

          Gen Alpha have grown up on social media and need support in learning how to evaluate information.

          • Use regular coaching sessions to ask questions that help them see beyond information from social media.
          • Create opportunities for ‘real’, in-person experiences so they can experience the social dynamics of the workplace and evaluate them in their coaching sessions. These are also an opportunity for the business to learn from Gen Alpha’s experiences and identify ways to adapt and improve.

          Communication skills

          Gen Alpha need guidance on how to use digital devices appropriately, and how to communicate professionally in-person.

          • Offer practical guidance on how to use digital technologies, and model it throughout the business. This includes advice on minimising distractions and using appropriate communication channels, and about when it’s not appropriate to use devices.
          • Provide practical opportunities for them to learn how to communicate professionally and listen actively. This might involve mock presentations with targeted feedback, or role plays and simulations that model effective communication.
          • Help them develop their professional network within the business. Create regular opportunities for them to meet people in different departments and roles, and coach them to ask questions and listen actively.

          It’s also worth exploring how service design can help clarify the journey into an organisation for younger workers. Used together, learning design and service design are powerful tools that can guide leaders and managers in reshaping the workplace for Gen Z and Gen Alpha.

           

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          ]]>           https://ding.global/designing-learning-for-the-future-of-work/feed/ 0 4257           Reducing cognitive load https://ding.global/reducing-cognitive-load/ https://ding.global/reducing-cognitive-load/#respond Fri, 28 Apr 2023 05:45:18 +0000 https://ding.global/?p=3367 The post Reducing cognitive load appeared first on Ding.

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          Have you ever tried to remember a shopping list? Then you will have experienced cognitive load.  

          If you can remember three or four items, that’s not bad. Maybe you can remember eight or nine if you’re good at it. You might repeat the the items to yourself as you go along. Then you’re given one item too many – and splat! The list crumbles, and you’re left with random items, half the list at best. You don’t just lose the one item too many, you lose the lot.

          We can usefully hold onto this thought when preparing lessons, designing courses and teaching. If your students have reached their limit and you choose to give them more, they’re going to be shedding thoughts and ideas and any coherence they felt before they were overloaded. A discouraging waste of everyone’s time – including your own.. 

           

          The value of games

          You can hold onto considerably more material if you play games with it, as memory champions do. They can, for instance, remember a pack of cards because each card is tagged to something – maybe the 10 of spades to 10 Downing St? – and these images can be linked in a story. But the fact is, we can only remember seven plus or minus two numbers as a general rule and without a strategy – the Magic No. 7.

          This was established by George Miller, working at Harvard in the 1950s. He began by asking his students to memorise numbers, and they seemed to get better and better and better at it. Wanting to confirm his findings, that working memory could be expanded, he turned to the alphabet. He found that when he gave the students scrambled letters from the alphabet, they were back to remembering seven plus or minus two items once more. It turned out the students – like memory champions – had created strategies to remember the numbers. For example, one, a runner, was holding the numbers in race scores. 

           

          Activate prior knowledge

          And this leads to Cognitive Load Theory – what educationalist Dylan Wiliam sees as ‘the single most important thing for teachers to know.’ (http://bit.ly/2kouLOq) Coined by John Sweller (1988), it grows out of Miller’s work on Magic No. 7 and the work of Alan Baddeley and Graham Hitch (1974), recognising that working memory has limited capacity.

          SET (Society for Education and Training) Fellow Dan Williams offers a number of ways to use this understanding. The first of these is an old faithful that often gets forgotten: activate prior knowledge. This reduces cognitive load since it engages the long-term memory, which has much greater capacity than working memory. Activating long-term memory will provide hooks onto which new material can be attached, and students will understand more and hold more.

          With this in mind, he doesn’t rate discovery learning, which, he says, makes too much demand on working memory. There is insufficient information in long-term memory to support the thinking and learning.

          a rhino suspended by straps

           

          Activate visual and auditory channels

          Williams suggests, second, that we activate students’ visual and auditory channels together since this provides ‘two points of entry’ into working memory. In doing so, the burden on working memory is lighter since it is shared. There is a caveat here, however: the material going into auditory and visual memory must be in harmony and fully integrated. If it isn’t corresponding, the burden on working memory will be heavier. The old issue of what goes onto a powerpoint slide really needs to be addressed robustly here.

          It’s also important to be mindful of how digital technologies can both increase and decrease cognitive load. When you’re creating digital learning materials, pay close attention to the impact of digital technologies on learners’ cognitive load. 

          Provide worked examples

          Williams’ third point of guidance focuses on the worked example, a step-by-step approach to developing new knowledge, understanding and problem-solving skills. There are, he says, ‘a wealth of studies that have shown the positive impact of using worked examples to enhance learning’ (Chandler and Sweller, 1991).

           

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          ]]>           https://ding.global/reducing-cognitive-load/feed/ 0 3367           The role of personas in learning design https://ding.global/the-role-of-personas-in-learning-design/ https://ding.global/the-role-of-personas-in-learning-design/#respond Mon, 06 Mar 2023 15:08:19 +0000 https://ding.global/?p=3248 The post The role of personas in learning design appeared first on Ding.

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          What are learner personas?

          Learner personas provide a practical way for us learning designers to focus our empathy. But why do we need to do this?

          The reason is to help us determine the difficulty level of a learning experience. When we begin a new learning design project, identifying the difficulty level is one of the most important activities we undertake as learning designers. If we set the difficulty level too high, our learners will become demotivated because they can’t engage with the content and activities. If we set it too low, learners will find the programme too easy and quickly lose interest. 

          This is where learner personas are incredibly helpful, because they help us clarify the prior knowledge, experience and skills that our learners are likely to arrive with. The questions involved in creating a learner persona enable us to begin building an understanding of who the target audience is for the course we’re designing. By empathising with our intended learners, we can determine their likely motivations and frustrations, and anticipate potential barriers to learning that they might face. All of this information guides the learning design process, and helps us choose the most appropriate start point of a learning experience.

          It’s important to mention here that learner personas may already be created for you. For example, a Product Manager will often lead workshops with clients to refine and shape learner personas before approaching a learning designer. But if someone asks you to build a learning programme without a clear understanding of the intended audience, I strongly advise you to help them build out learner personas using the process below.

          So let’s take a look at how to create a learner persona. 

            1. Obtain information about the intended audience

            The first task is to find out as much as you can about the target audience for the course or programme you’re developing. A good place to start is to ask the person who will be responsible for the final programme – this might be a Product Manager, a Programme Leader, or someone with a similar job title to these. Interview this person and ask them questions such as:

            • Why is this course or programme being developed?
            • Who is it aimed at?
            • Where are these people located?
            • What might they already know about the topic?
            • What are they hoping to achieve by taking this course?
            learner personas template

            Next, try and arrange to speak with people from this target audience. You could do this using 1-2-1 interviews or focus groups, or a combination of both. Your aim is to obtain more details about their prior experience and their personal and professional circumstances to further clarify their motivations and constraints. Ask questions such ask:

            • What is motivating you to take this course?
            • What do you hope to achieve by learning about the topic?
            • What do you want to do once you’ve completed the course?
            • What previous experience do you have of the subject?
            • How confident are you in using digital technologies to support your learning?
            • Are there any issues or constraints that could make it difficult for you to participate? 

            2. Develop your learner personas

            Once you have specific obtained information about the target audience for the programme, your next job is to analyse this information and turn it into learner personas (we’ll give you a template for this in the next activity). Your aim here is to develop:

            • A primary persona: this is the ideal applicant for your course or programme. Your primary persona should set out the characteristics of the person you want the most on your programme.
            • A secondary persona: this is the ‘next best’ applicant. For example, they might meet most, but not all of the criteria. 

            While your personas are fictional, they should make it easy for you (and others) to see who the course is designed for – and, just as importantly, who it isn’t designer for. As you develop your personas, you should aim to clarify as clearly as possible the level of prior knowledge and experience that these fictional characters have. In the learner persona template, you’ll see that we’ve asked you to set out the applicant’s:

            • Professional circumstances: this includes their job title and role (if any), professional responsibilities, priorities, frustrations and goals. 
            • Motivations: this section aims to capture why the applicant is interested in learning about the topic.
            • Prior knowledge: the aim here is to describe what the applicant already knows about the topic, and to make visible any relevant previous experience they have.
            • Skill level: these questions examine the skill level of the applicant, and help you determine how confident they are in the technical aspects of the curriculum.
            • Needs and constraints: this section provides a way of capturing factors that could prevent the learner from engaging fully in the course or programme such as childcare, caring responsibilities or geographical location.

            When you’re developing your personas, I strongly advise you to include an image and a name for each one as this makes your persona feel much more real. Adding images and names enables you to empathise more fully with them, and it also makes them easier to refer to in conversations.

            3. Test and refine your personas

            Once you’ve created your personas, you need to verify whether they represent an accurate picture of the intended audience. Arrange a follow-up meeting with your Programme Leader or product manager, talk them through your personas and ask them to confirm whether they agree with your findings. Be prepared for the reality that they may never have created personas before, and consequently they may initially find it difficult to engage with the process. Capture any suggestions and feedback they have, and use this feedback to review and update your personas. Repeat this process until they are satisfied that your primary and secondary personas are accurate.

            4. Use your personas

            Once your personas have been validated, use them! When you’re discussing the course design, refer to your personas by name by asking questions such as ‘Would this activity be appropriate for Anna?’ or ‘Would Sajid be able to participate in this activity?’ It’s a good idea to print your personas so you can easily refer to them – stick them above your computer, put them on the office wall and bring them into meetings. I’ve even heard of some learning designers making full sized mannequins of their personas to bring them to life and make it easier to empathise with them. Do whatever works for you, but make sure you regularly check in with your personas during the learning design process.

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              ]]>               https://ding.global/the-role-of-personas-in-learning-design/feed/ 0 3248               Why ‘little and often’ delivers flexible learning https://ding.global/why-little-and-often-delivers-flexible-learning/ https://ding.global/why-little-and-often-delivers-flexible-learning/#respond Mon, 21 Nov 2022 06:02:39 +0000 https://ding.global/?p=3010 The post Why ‘little and often’ delivers flexible learning appeared first on Ding.

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              At some point in our lives, most of us will have had to write an essay. And many of us will have left that essay until the last minute.

              This situation is the product of poor learning design. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with an essay, it’s that we shouldn’t put learners in a position where they can leave all the work until right before the hand-in.

              Let’s face it, everyone is busy. Most students now have to work alongside their studies, as do most adult learners. Empathising with this reality reveals the need to build assignments that enable them to develop their work incrementally. 

               

              The benefits of ‘little and often’

              This is where a ‘little and often’ approach to learning design can help. Instead of asking for an essay or an exam at the end of a course module, learning designers can break the assignment into smaller tasks. By asking learners to produce small pieces of work on a more regular basis, both they and the tutor can see how much progress they have made, and how far they still have to go. 

              One way to do this is by setting a short task for them to complete each week, and then asking them to upload it to a blog or ‘learning log’. This both enables them to consolidate what they’ve learned during that week, and develop their evidence bit by bit as they move through the course or module. By the time learners reach the end, they are more likely to have experienced deeper learning as they have applied what they have learned in each week of the course.

              ‘Little and often’ is also sometimes referred to as ‘chunking’. Research has shown that breaking content into smaller chunks – particularly video content – can increate engagement and achievement.

               

              Make learning visible

              A key benefit of a little-and-often approach to assessment is that it makes learning visible, and the value of making learning visible is based on extensive research (Hattie, 2009). Not only can you see what your learners have learned, you can provide feedback on it at the time where that feedback is most valuable – i.e. while they still have time to apply it. Making learning visible also means your learners can see how others are progressing. This taps into the power of accountability – if your learners can see the work that others are creating, it can often motivate them to improve their own work.

              By the time the learner reaches the end of the course, s/he should have a collection of evidence that they can use for their end-of-course assessment. Furthermore, if there are any gaps in their evidence, it should be fairly straightforward for them to revisit that online.
               

              Supporting neurodiversity

              ‘Little and often’ is also one of the ADSHE seven principles for supporting neurodivergent students in HE (Association of Dyslexia Specialists in Higher Education). Breaking learning into smaller chunks creates more inclusive, flexible curricula that are more likely to support a broader range of learning needs.

              And the good news is that it benefits all learners.

               

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              The please just post it in the comments below, and the Ding team would be happy to try and answer it for you!

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