At Howest, we use the ABC Course Design method to (re)design course units in a structured and thoughtful way. This also forms the central method for the short learning opportunities designed within RUN-EU.

During the bootcamp day, you will work with this method. By way of preparation, we will give you the necessary background information hereafter. Both about the method itself and about important didactic frameworks on which it is based.

In what follows, you will get insight into:

The background of the design method
Learning and the different learning activities
The definition of blended learning
The possible blended models to design a course or learning opportunity

Background ABC Design Method

The ABC design method (Young & Perović, 2016) was developed at University College London (UCL). It aims to set up a design for blended learning for a concrete course unit in a short period of time. The method is aimed at designing course units in higher education. ABC stands for 'Arena Blended Connected', linking to (1) 'Arena', UCL's professionalisation programme, (2) 'Blended' learning and (3) the 'Connected' curriculum referring to research-based learning, a key pillar within UCL. However, it is simpler to think of ABC as referring to the first letters of the alphabet and thus as a starter kit for shaping your course.

In the original design method, design teams of about four people work intensively for 90 minutes to create a visual learning dashboard of one concrete training component per design team. This is best done in face-to-face sessions to allow exchange and discussion to run as smoothly as possible and to get to work with concrete materials. The ABC-method is particularly appreciated for its’ hands-on, design-based and student-oriënted approach.

The video below gives a first impression of the workshop set-up, more information can be found on the website:

Howest additions

At the Educational Development Service of Howest, we made some further developments on this method. Specifically, we developed three"plug-ins" to the original ABC method.

Blend models or scenarios as a supplement tot the ABC start sheet
Teaching method cards as a stepping stone to the learning dashboard
A learning dashboard for structured course design

The total duration of the workshop thus increased to three hours, but with a more concrete end result.

Howest additions to the method

References

Young, C., & Perović, N. (2016). Rapid and Creative Course Design: As Easy as ABC? Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 228, 390-395.

Young, C., &Perović, N. (2020). ABC LD – A new toolkit for rapid learning design. European Distance Education Network (EDEN) Conference 2020, Timisoara, Romania.