How to Conduct a Large-Scale Course Redesign Initiative

Key Insights

Course design and instructor pedagogy have a critical effect on student learning, completion, and equity. Receiving a bad grade in an early assessment can demotivate students, further entrench a fixed-mindset, and activate stereotype threat for underrepresented students. This increases their likelihood of stopping out. A study conducted by a faculty member at UNC Chapel Hill found that in her lecture-heavy, introductory biology course 1 in 3 Black students and 1 in 7 Latinx students received a D or F compared to 1 in 14 white students.

These differences in course performance were significantly reduced when she incorporated more active learning techniques into her teaching practice. – pointing to the singular impact that instructor pedagogy has on student course outcomes.

Use this brief to understand the challenges, strategy, and implementation guidelines for conducting a large-scale course redesign.