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Blueprints on flexible teaching

Flexible teaching is a way to design and deliver courses that promotes student learning and success in any modality, whether face-to-face, online, or hybrid. For those who are interested in flexible teaching and what it might look like for your courses, the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning has compiled “Blueprints” to help you imagine the possibilities for flexible teaching in any type of course. The blueprints are designed to be an overview of flexible teaching, whereas the Flexible Teaching Guides offer more thorough options and best practices.

The blueprints include flexible teaching ideas for Seminars (12-18 students), Small Lecture Courses (20-40 students), Large Courses (>40 students), Research Experience for Undergraduates, Labs, Demonstrations, Data Analysis, Studio Courses, and Performance-based Courses. The format of each blueprint follows a consistent formula, answering the following questions:

  • What will my students learn?
  • How will I know what my students learned?
  • What will I do in my course?
  • How will we communicate? (This question is answered for most of the blueprints.)
  • What kinds of materials are appropriate for the course?

Also included are “Optional Additions,” which offer supplemental ideas that could integrate with any of the blueprints. Optional additions include Tutorials, Project-based Learning, Inviting Guest Experts, and Team Instruction. All of the optional additions answers the question, “What is/are my goal(s)?” The Tutorials section offers a Solution for faculty-student interaction. The Project-based Learning section answers the questions “How will I know what my students learned?” and “What will I do in my course?” in addition to “How will we communicate?” The section on Inviting Guest Experts also answers the questions “How will I know what my students learned?” and “What will I do in my course?” as well as “How will we engage?” Finally, the Team Instruction section introduces four different types of Instructional Team (2+ faculty, faculty + TAs, faculty + PhD students, and entire department or core group of instructors) and an Approach to Team Instruction for each.

Whatever your instructional goals, CITL’s Blueprints for Flexible Teaching can help you determine how to offer your students the best learning experience regardless of your mode of delivery. After you explore the Blueprints, you can move on to the in-depth Guide to Course Design, Guide to Course Materials, and Guide to Course Delivery to plan and implement your flexible course strategies.

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