You can be confident that every course we develop is firmly grounded in research-based, tried and tested learning design principles.
We are learning all the time. Pearson has hundreds of instructional designers who share resources and research that add to our historical foundation of best practice and cutting-edge experiments in learning.
As we learn we add to our core set of principles:
- Objectives and alignment: Write clear, discrete statements that are sufficiently challenging before creating aligned content and assessments.
- Formative assessment: Include multiple checks during learning so learners can pinpoint gaps/strengths, track progress, and summarise learning.
- Feedback: Provide clear, timely and focused feedback that feeds forward.
- Scaffolding: Set appropriately rigorous tasks so they are within reach of the learner, and then incrementally increase in difficulty.
- Critical thinking: Design activities that get learners to objectively analyse an issue to make a judgement.
- Self-regulation: Empower learners to monitor their own learning.
- Learning transfer: Create opportunities for learners to apply previous learning to new situations.
- Collaboration: Incorporate group work into the curriculum.
- Adaptation: Design the learning experience to adjust to the learner’s prior and learnt knowledge, aptitudes, and/or cognitive abilities.
- Authenticity: Create opportunities for the learner's knowledge and skills to have an impact beyond the classroom.
What makes feedback effective in online instruction?
How learner expectations could be met by implementing specific learning design principles in an online course.
Architectures of instruction
The three core approaches for e-learning instructional architectures.