Learning Design and Student Well-Being

DCAL's Director of Digital Learning Initiatives, Josh Kim, sat down recently with colleagues and resident experts in educational development, learning design, and student wellness to discuss the relationship between learning design and student wellness. Their Q&A, excerpted below, was published on Inside Higher Ed.

What Is the Relationship Between Learning Design and Student Well-Being?

A Q&A with four learning and wellness professionals.

By Joshua Kim
 
What is the relationship between learning design and student well-being?

I put this question to my colleagues Erin DeSilva, Assistant Director of Learning Design and Technology, Prudence Merton, Associate Director of Dartmouth Center for the Advancement of Learning, Caitlin Barthelmes, Director of the Student Wellness Center and Todd Gibbs, Assistant Director for Health Improvement at Dartmouth. 

Each of my colleagues took the lead in answering my specific questions, although this was a collaborative effort.

Q1:  What is the relationship between learning design and student well-being?

Q2: What do instructional designers mean when they speak with faculty about creating a supportive classroom environment?

Q3: What can professors do to make their courses more relevant to the lives of their students?

Q4:  Can you give some examples of what a flexible course design might look like?

Q5: Many professors struggle with how to meaningfully assess student learning.  How is assessment related to student wellness, and what strategies should professors think about adopting?

Read more from Inside Higher Ed.