Bay Path University has designed this Course Development Handbook to assist you with your curriculum development project.  Whether you are revising one assignment, or creating an entirely new course, the frameworks and resources presented in this book can help ensure that you are creating an accessible, engaging, and student-centered learning experience.

Our goal in creating this resource is to place pedagogy and evidence-based teaching practices at the forefront of our courses. We think that by providing faculty with research and supports related to teaching and learning, we can provide our students with a first-rate education that prepares them for their future.

The development process presented in this handbook follows what is commonly described as a backward design process. Backward design was originally mapped out by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe in their book Understanding by Design (1998). This process means that instead of starting with the content you want to cover, you start with your learners and set your goals for the course. Only after you have determined the end point of where you want your students to end up, do you begin to fill in the supports and milestones you need to meet to help them get there.

The content in this resource is meant to be used at the planning stage of the process, before you formally start your design. After working through the resource, you should have the foundational outline and plan you need to start working on your project. ^[1]