How We Learn:
Canvas-Based Course with eLearning
Target Audience: Graduate and postdoc students, new college instructors
Learning Outcomes: Employ strategies to activate students’ prior knowledge. Identify ways to move students from extrinsic motivation to mastery-based intrinsic motivation. Incorporate evidence-based strategies for memory and learning into your teaching practice
Responsibilities: Instructional design, eLearning design and development
Tools Used: Adobe Illustrator, Canvas, custom HTML and CSS, Canva (for video development), Articulate Rise
Development Time: 12 weeks
Project Overview
Serving as the first course in a multi-course sequence, How We Learn is an online, asynchronous course designed to help new graduate instructors and postdoctoral scholars meet university teaching certification requirements and earn digital badges under updated institutional policies. Originally offered as a one-hour, in-person workshop, the course introduces foundational learning theories that shape student motivation, memory, and engagement—including the information processing model and growth mindset—while emphasizing practical, classroom-ready strategies that instructors can apply immediately.
I led the full instructional redesign in close collaboration with Michelle Gaston, Assistant Director for Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Development, and graduate student researcher Echo Yan, whose work in behavioral psychology informed the course’s theoretical framing. My role began with observing the live session and then restructuring the content for an online, self-paced environment. This work included rewriting and sequencing the material, developing video scripts, producing animated instructional videos, and designing the overall course flow. I built the course in Canvas using a combination of custom HTML/CSS and Articulate Rise to create an experience that felt cohesive, interactive, and approachable rather than transactional. Once the course was complete, we conducted focus groups and quality assurance reviews to ensure it worked as intended for real instructors.
A central challenge and focus of the project was enhancing and refining the learner experience as participants moved through the course. We strived to reduce cognitive load, clarify transitions, and ensure accessibility without sacrificing engagement. Assessment leaned heavily on structured, discussion-based activities to support peer learning, reflection, and action planning. These discussions were intentionally designed to feel personal and specific, prompting participants to connect learning theory to their own teaching practices and create actionable goals for their professional development.
Below, you can view a full walkthrough of the course, along with the two instructional videos developed as part of the redesign.