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Professor Beth Sattely works with students in the chemistry class.

Foundations of Course Design

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For new teachers or course designers

This guide is for those who are new to teaching, designing a course, or refreshing and updating their foundational knowledge.

Covers the foundations of pedagogy and course design

It includes course design frameworks, definitions of common terms, general Stanford resources and services, and core pedagogic concepts and strategies. While this guide is most applicable to the early stages of planning a course, the concepts in this guide are widely applicable to teaching in general.

This guide generally does not include example activities, specific tools, or strategies specific to a particular course mode or discipline area. If you're looking for more concrete and specific strategies consider the other Teaching Guides or the Browse Topics section of this website.

Use the side menu to navigate

Use the menu on the left side of the page to navigate through the various topics and content pages. If you are on a device with a small screen, use the menu icon in the upper-right corner of the page.

Sections within this guide

Theory to Practice

These learning frameworks and theories can deepen your understanding of the basics of course design.

Course Planning

This section offers broad strategies to inform your overall course design plan.

Feedback and Assessment

Approaches for professors to use when giving students useful feedback and assessing their learning.