Developing familiarity with learning design tools through subject analysis

The application of quality processes to tertiary teaching can result in a more team-based approach to course curriculum planning, the instructional design of individual subjects or units, the learning support associated with subject implementation and subsequent evaluation. The "art" of teaching requires more explicit communication within and across different teams that may be involved in each stage. Learning designs provide tools for design teams to map out learning environment attributes such as resources, tasks, people and interactions. Experienced teaching academics, unfamiliar with such tools, require orientation to them to achieve their communication potential. One way to introduce learning design models is to apply them to past subjects as tools for analysis. Do they help identify design imbalance? Do they provide a scaffold for thinking about future subject design? Four simple local design models are explored as potential analysis tools and applied to a subject case study taught prior to the lecturer's awareness of these design models.