Course Design · AI in Higher Education

Playbooks

Practitioner essays on course design, Backward Design, AI in higher education, and the discipline of getting Stage 1 right. Written for faculty, instructional designers, and program directors who want to do the work properly.

Backward Design

Stage 1 of Backward Design Is Where Most Courses Quietly Break

Most faculty say they use Backward Design. Most syllabi reveal Stage 1 was skipped. AI didn't break our assessments — it revealed that Stage 1 was already broken.

Thomas R. Christian June 3, 2026 ~12 min read

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