Lis Conde | Lead Learning Designer at Keypath Australia

In this video (part 2 of 2), Lis Conde continues the discussion on challenging existing pedagogical beliefs to elicit effective learning design practices, and delves deeper into the concept of constructive alignment to ensure learning objectives are met.

Acknowledging the uncertainty in the higher education sector accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, Lis emphasises the importance of standing out as an institution for your teaching quality, and how thoughtful assessment and course design can give institutions a distinct competitive advantage.

Lis defines the basis of any good learning design as a clear objective of what you want your students to achieve, supported by class time for them to engage authentically with the content. Lis contends that educators tend to be missing reflective practice as a guiding principle in their teaching, and explains how learning designers can serve as trusted advisors for educators in rethinking course design and identifying areas of improvement.

Sharing a number of practical examples from her body of work, Lis also unpacks cognitive principles applied to the teacher-student exchange which highlight the importance of nurturing students’ cognitive engagement. She talks about empowering students so instruction is not just a didactic exercise, and how embedding choice in course design helps foster long term interest and engagement in students. Finally, she offers recommendations for the use of technology to facilitate cognitive capacity and remote learning outcomes.