Curriculum and Instructional Design Guidelines: Introduction

We strive to deliver a Bruin Experience throughout the learning journey at Bellevue University.  Students will start at different points, pursue different fields of study, and bring different backgrounds and experiences to the University.  We want to meet them with appropriate courses and support services to help them succeed.  Furthermore, the University has long prided itself as an institution providing active, applied learning with faculty and staff who are invested in student success.  Now, we can renew and strengthen those practices.

We have pivoted often as the student profile has shifted, job requirements have changed, and new markets have emerged.  Our track record shows how responsive and flexible we are in serving the market.  Technology and Learning Management System (LMS) advances and updates from the Department of Education have opened possibilities to do even more in the active learning environment, especially in our online classes.  And that is what we will do.  We will reset our courses to give students a new Bruin Learning Experience from start to degree completion.

Our overarching intentions are that the Bruin Experience is represented by:

1.  Applied and active learning as our “trademark.”

2.  Consistency in course structure or look and feel (courses are distinctive as Bellevue University courses).

3.  Interactive, relationship-oriented, social learning experiences.

4.  Alignment of objectives, assignments, activities, assessment, and feedback within the course and between/among courses in a major or degree.

It is difficult to fully define or lay out how the courses should be designed, but we have a new template and can assert specific characteristics detailed on the following pages.  The template and guidelines provide a framework for faculty and designers to follow but provide latitude to accommodate the various curriculum areas and types of courses offered by the University.