Designing learning is always done with a purpose, an intent, in mind. Designers, be they a workplace supervisor, training manager, lecturer, or facilitator need to understand the purpose, the issue, problem or developmental needs of workers and the organisations they work in or across. Public run courses also need to be underpinned with an understanding of the purpose of the course/programme. Understanding this requires a deeper examination of the problem beyond that which may be given. Additionally, learning designers also need to understand what learners will bring to the course or learning programme of learning. 

To this end, learners will identify an issue / problem and undertake a learning needs analysis. Learners will be introduced to the role of stakeholders, to different forms of data collection and analysis to understand the learning need(s), and to ways in which they frame the learning needs analysed, in order to influence decision makers who have the power to provide resources and funding for a learning programme or course.

In this course, the focus is on design of learning for programmes, or for those supporting learning in the workplace, to develop an intentional overall approach over time for their team, or department or the whole of the organisation. Learners will learn about recent developments in design of learning / curriculum pertinent to adults, such as, the Six Principles of Learning Design, future oriented assessment, dialogic inquiry; sense-making, through lines in curriculum, and designing seamless movement across different modes of delivery. These will be compared to more traditional approaches as a means of engaging in critical evaluative dialogue about different frameworks/models/approaches, thus enabling learners to deepen understanding and develop their theoretical stance. 

They will interact with practitioners and researchers from workplaces and from educational institutions, to hear about their challenges and how they overcame them. With the group of learners and their institutional setting (educational institution/provider or workplace) that learners undertook a learning needs analysis for in Understanding and analysing learning needs, they will design a short programme, and gain feedback from peers and mentors to critically reflect on their design.

Understandings of quality can be more implicit than explicit in, for example, assessment design, reporting and evaluation processes, or physical layout or navigation of learning and working spaces. The preferred methods of assessment, and the use or not, of a bell curve, for example, sends messages to teachers and students alike. In workplaces similar implicit understandings of quality and standards of performance are promulgated through who and what is rewarded and recognised, who has access to valued knowledge, tools and so on. Measurement of quality is undertaken through data and evaluation processes, often perceived as being beyond the influence of many in an organisation or system. 

In this course, we deconstruct quality and evaluation processes, clarify their intended and unintended purposes and effects, and examine our roles and possibilities in these processes. As such, learners will move iteratively between theory and practice as they identify, label, categorise and critique quality and evaluation processes in their own or a selected organisation. They will be introduced to international experts who use innovative approaches to evaluation, and discuss the day to day challenges, surprises and gains with practitioners in the field. Quality and evaluation work involve leadership as influence; when change is required it involves developing a convincing case for change or improving that which is working well. It is this case in relation to an organisation they are familiar with, that they will present to their peers who will provide formative feedback as part of their assessment.