CEP 800: The Psychology of Learning in School and Other Settings

This course acquaints students with foundational psychological perspectives for understanding learning that occurs in school and other settings. We focus on behaviorism, multiple types of cognitivism, and socio-cultural perspectives. Students have choice in many aspects of this class and will explore and share about phenomena that are central to their own professional contexts. Students will connect theories of learning to their own experiences as learners in a variety of contexts as they work toward the final course project: a professional, polished theory of learning. By constantly examining the relationship between the ideas about learning as explored in this course and the learning situations in the students’ professional contexts, students will find greater meaning and significance in both.

Upon completion of CEP 800, you will be able to explain learning phenomena from multiple lenses and be positioned to provide leadership in these areas.

EAD 861: Adult Learning

Note: This course is offered to MALXD learners through a partnership with the College of Education’s Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education (HALE) MA program.

EAD 861 focuses on developing a better understanding of learning in adulthood and what implications this knowledge holds for facilitating adult learning in postsecondary and other non-formal educational settings. It will examine principles and problems in the field using “cases” of learning in adulthood (through selected movies, autobiographical narratives, one’s personal experiences, and online resources) and theoretical inquiry. Through readings, discussions, use of multiple popular media resources, and writing assignments, it explores who adult learners are, why they learn, how they learn, and the relationship between learning and development. The course aims to think concretely and critically about adult learning by using a four-pronged approach that involves the development of a deeper understanding of:

• What characterizes adult learners, adult learning, and the various contexts associated with “adult learning”, and the historical, social, and philosophical perspectives that influence our understanding of who or what is an adult learner
• What is an adult learner, and what values and assumptions influence their learning (i.e. motivation and development across the lifespan)
• What is adult learning, what are the dominant and critical adult learning theories that inform the nature of learning, and what are their implications for designing adult learning experiences
• What does and could adult learning look like from various critical, spiritual, embodied, and non-western learning theories, and what are the implications of power relations for learning experiences

CEP 822: Approaches to Educational Research

CEP 822 is designed to introduce students to the basics of educational research. Students will be exposed to theories behind quantitative, qualitative, and humanistic research, as well as engage in opportunities to explore aspects of research design across these methodologies. This will include introductions to descriptive and inferential statistics, interview design, interpretive analyses of technological artifacts, and more. The creations in the course are designed to support practical, reflective, and critical inquiry through developing the skills to connect graduate studies to professional work.

Upon completion of CEP 822, you will be able to:

• Understand basic quantitative and qualitative approaches that they can use to study their professional learning environments.
• Design instruments and protocols for quantitative and qualitative research. 
• Rigorously evaluate and interpret personal experiences with technology.
• Find, evaluate, and critique peer-reviewed educational research. 

CEP 820: Teaching and Learning Online

In CEP 820, you will learn about a variety of aspects that go into designing and instructing in online spaces. We will focus on historical foundational aspects of online teaching, course management systems, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), creating communities in online spaces, and assessing learning online. We will use research and theory to critically examine the uses and abuses of online learning. You will engage in several explorations and creations in each unit. We hope this course helps better your online teaching or better prepares you to be an online designer and educator.

Upon the completion of CEP 820, you will be able to:

• Design thoughtful, intentional, and creative online learning environments to support a wide variety of learners.
• Critique elements of online learning.
• Successfully teach – prepare, facilitate, and iterate – online learners.

CEP 813: Electronic Assessment for Teaching and Learning

We believe all designers need a broad understanding of assessment. Thus, in CEP 813 students will have opportunities to explore foundational theories of assessment and to learn ways of enacting assessment strategies in an ever-evolving digitized world. Our class will investigate and implement a wide range of approaches to assessment in digital and electronic contexts, using a variety of tools. We will pursue these goals by cultivating social, critical, and community-oriented dispositions that involve reflecting on our own practices, collaborating together, holding one another accountable, and exercising democratic principles. 

This course begins by introducing assumptions and beliefs about assessments that we will follow up with an exploration of foundational theories and histories of assessment. We will examine dominant methods of assessment and underlying assumptions (e.g., standardization, grading and ungrading), before narrowing our focus to explore and create high-quality assessments. Throughout the course, you will reflect on your own beliefs and practices for learning, as learning, and of learning, particularly in digital contexts. 

Upon the completion of CEP 813, you will be able to create and use assessments that are:

1. Intentional
2. Aligned
3. Meaningful
4. Manageable

UX 835: Accessibility and Design

Note: This course is offered to MALXD learners through a partnership with the College of Communication Arts and Sciences’ Master of Science (MS) in User Experience (UX) program.

To design technologies for people with disabilities, designers need to understand not only these individuals’ unique abilities but also the cultural, social, and political factors that define disability. This course will introduce a theoretical framework of disabilities as well as the concepts of accessibility that are important to designing technologies for all individuals with heterogeneous needs. By the end of the course, students will be able to understand inclusive design principles that will help them design, develop, and evaluate inclusive technologies for people with various human abilities. This course runs during the second half of the summer session.

CEP 856: Learning Design Leadership

To lead projects, initiatives, and teams, instructional and learning experience designers need a robust understanding of leadership. In this course, learners will examine coaching and mentorship models, project management and communication practices, and conceptualize how a project goes from idea to evaluation to support learning design as a leader.

By the end of CEP 856, you will be able to:

• Describe a variety of leadership, organizational management, coaching, and mentorship models that can be applied in practice as a learning design leader.
• Evaluate the potential use of various leadership, organizational management, coaching, and mentorship in your professional context.
• Apply and lead project management and workflow practices for collaborative team projects.
• Employ effective communication practices to lead and support teams with diverse perspectives, through proactive and responsive leadership practices.
• Evaluate design frameworks for your client and organizational needs through a critical lens.
• Create plans from ideation, to implementation, to evaluation for a design project.

CEP 857: Current Topics and Trends in Learning Design

Learning design leaders must be aware of the current and future promising practices and how these stem from historical principles that have laid the foundation for the field. From foundational theories to cutting-edge innovations, learners will examine the social and ethical implications of technology and design, industry standards, and the needs of instructors, learners, facilitators, and clients.

By the end of CEP 857, you will be able to:

• Identify industry standards and needs in order to guide professional work.
• Identify industry standards and needs in order to anticipate emerging and future trends.
• Apply theories and frameworks of instructional and learning experience design to your professional context(s).
• Analyze technologies for usability, accessibility, engagement, and ethical and social challenges and implications.
• Use a diverse range of meaningful and appropriate pedagogical strategies in your designs.
• Create powerful learning solutions for and with learners, instructors, and clients.

CEP 858: Upskilling in Learning Design

Learners will identify actionable goals for their own professional growth in the field of instructional and learning experience design, then build and pursue a plan to advance their skills and knowledge in those target areas. This course is founded on the principle of self-driven exploration and individual goal setting and development.

By the end of CEP 858, you will be able to…

• Identify opportunities for individual growth and leadership development for instructional design through a self-evaluation process.
• Create and implement an actionable plan to support professional development goals.
• Evaluate resources for credibility and applicability to growth goals.
• Design a workflow and evaluation system to self-monitor progress in obtaining goals.
• Develop an individual project to showcase gained knowledge in instructional and learning design.

CEP 807: Capstone Seminar

For the MALXD program’s required final evaluation, learners create an online portfolio summarizing their work in the MALXD program. This portfolio is a collection of writings, reflections on coursework, and showcases of learners’ best works. Learners also personalize their portfolios with individually chosen elements. Learners get formative feedback from peers and instructors throughout the course and the course relies on the value of iteration for improvement. Learners present their portfolios in small group settings at the end of the course. Portfolios and presentations will be evaluated by program faculty and instructors. Work presented must demonstrate the learner’s competence in learning experience design and an ability to present work clearly and professionally.