Faculty members often begin course design by focusing on the course content - what to teach. It is equally important to consider what the students need to learn; and for this it may be helpful to understand how people learn. The following resources suggest how to incorporate research-based principles and theories of learning into course design.

General theories/models of learning

• How People Learn (National Resource Council)
  - A comprehensive review of research on learning
  - Executive summary
• Theories into Practice (TIP) database
• Learner-centered psychological principles (APA)
• Learning theory mindmaps
• Perry's scheme of intellectual and ethical development

Theories of adult learning

• Andragogy (Knowles)
• Characteristics of adults as learners (Cross)

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

Instructional Design and Development

• Writing course goals and learning objectives for online, hybrid, or web-enhanced courses.
• Identify and design learning activities and assessment tools to help online students achieve learning objectives.

Office for Teaching, Learning and Assessment

• Resources on writing learning objectives
• List of learning goals for schools, departments and liberal studies domains and for the university