Session 2 - Design and Plan: Session, Course, and Materials

Presentation

Here you can find the presentation for this session:

The full presentation can be downloaded [here].

Session 2 - Part I - Introduction and Learning Outcomes

Welcome and roadmap

Session 2 moves from theory into practice: designing and delivering an actual mini-training. By the end of this session, participants will have planned, designed, developed, delivered, and evaluated a short training module of their own.

The session follows five phases, in order:

1. Plan a mini-training - define the target audience, define Learning Outcomes.
2. Design a mini-training - differentiate a Syllabus from a lesson plan, write the basics of a Syllabus, draw a concept map to define content.
3. Develop a mini-training - write a lesson plan.
4. Deliver a mini-training - prepare and present a small lecture.
5. Evaluate the mini-training - continuous improvement.

Learning Outcomes for Session 2

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• Plan a mini-training: define the target audience; define Learning Outcomes.
• Design a mini-training: differentiate a Syllabus and a lesson plan; write the basics of a Syllabus; draw a concept map to define content.
• Develop a mini-training: write a lesson plan.
• Deliver a mini-training: prepare and present a small lecture.
• Evaluate your mini-training: continuous improvement.

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Challenge - How do you currently plan and design a training session?

The list of potential actions to reflect on:

• Plan learning activities - lecture, work in groups, flipped class.
• Define prerequisites - reflect on needed prior knowledge and skills; define session prerequisites.
• Develop content and materials - identify session topics; create slides; prepare tutorials/exercises.
• Identify target audience - who is my target audience? What are its training needs?
• Define Learning Outcomes - reflect on what learners will be able to do by the end of the session; write the LOs.
• Create formative assessment - reflect on how to assess learners’ progress and how to collect and give feedback; create materials accordingly.
• Plan final evaluation - reflect on how you will evaluate learner achievement; prepare a final test.
• Define Teaching Goals - reflect on your own goals and intentions as an instructor.

The training life cycle

This session is built around a simplified version of the training life cycle developed by the ELIXIR training platform.¹

flowchart LR
    P[Plan] --> D[Design] --> DV[Develop] --> DL[Deliver] --> E[Evaluate] -.continuous improvement.-> P

• Plan - assess training needs; define Learning Outcomes as a form of retro-planning (starting from the destination and working backward).
• Design - put together the Syllabus, lesson plan, and Learning Experiences.
• Develop - create the tangible materials needed to achieve the Learning Outcomes.
• Deliver - ensure an effective and inclusive course.
• Evaluate - continuously improve the training experience.

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Session 2 - Part II - Learning Outcomes: Three Frameworks

Challenge - What are Learning Outcomes?

Three frameworks toward good Learning Outcomes

There’s more than one way to think about what makes a Learning Outcome effective, but three frameworks - used together - make your LOs sharper and more useful, both as a planning tool for you and as a guide for learners’ expectations and progress.

flowchart LR
    B["Bloom's Taxonomy<br/>cognitive complexity"] --> LO[Learning Outcomes]
    K["KSAs<br/>what kind of competence"] --> LO
    S["SMART<br/>quality of the statement"] --> LO

Bloom’s Taxonomy - already introduced in Session 1: the six levels of cognitive complexity (Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, Create), each paired with observable action verbs.

The KSA framework - specifies which kind of competence learners will demonstrate:

• Knowledge - theoretical and practical understanding.
• Skills - practical application of that knowledge.
• Abilities - the capacity to actually perform a task.

For example: does a learner need to understand programming logic (Knowledge)? Use Python (Skill)? Solve a novel problem with it (Ability)? Each is a different competence, and naming which one you’re targeting changes what a good Learning Outcome looks like.²

The SMART framework - defines what’s expected of learners in a way that’s genuinely usable:

• Specific - unambiguous.
• Measurable - progress can be tracked.
• Achievable - a real challenge, but within reach (an unreachable goal demotivates rather than stretches).
• Relevant - aligned with the learner’s educational or professional goals.
• Time-bound - a clear timeline.

Putting it together: what is a Learning Outcome?

A Learning Outcome is a statement expressing what learners will be able to demonstrate after a lesson. That statement matters for three different audiences at once: it helps you design the learning experience, it tells learners what they’re working toward, and it lets other trainers reuse your material with a clear sense of what it achieves.

• Should be SMART.
• Should express which KSAs are being targeted.
• Can benefit from Bloom’s action verbs to make it specific and assessable.

Why the verb matters: the DNA sequencing example

Consider this Learning Outcome: “By the end of the course, learners will know the DNA sequencing process.”

At first glance this seems fine - but the verb “know” is vague and hard to assess. What does “knowing” actually look like? Can the learner describe the process? Apply it? Analyze or evaluate it? If you don’t specify what learners should be able to do with the knowledge, you risk designing assessments that are either too broad or not meaningful.

Bloom’s action verbs solve this: instead of “know,” you might ask whether learners can describe, explain, demonstrate, illustrate, or apply the process. A revised version: “By the end of the course, learners will be able to describe the steps of the DNA sequencing process.” Now you can genuinely assess understanding - through written explanations, diagrams, or presentations.

Teaching Goal vs. Learning Outcome, revisited

Recall the distinction from Session 1: Teaching Goals describe what you intend to teach; Learning Outcomes describe what learners will be able to do. Having a clear Teaching Goal upfront makes it much easier to write clear LOs.

A worked example:

• Teaching Goal: How the PCR cycles enable DNA replication.
• Learning Outcomes:
  • Describe each step of the PCR.
  • Explain the function of each step in the cycle.

A few more side-by-side examples of “what you plan to teach” (Teaching Goal framing) versus “what learners will be able to do” (LO framing):

• How the PCR cycles enable DNA replication, or how to perform the key steps to run a PCR?
• Tying a bow tie in 3 minutes, or finding the best guiding video in 3 minutes so you can tie one yourself?
• Methods to improve their training session, or how to create engaging presentations?

Writing Learning Outcomes using action verbs

• Use a verb that describes an observable action.
• You can take a general approach (“learners will be able to…”) or a personal approach (“you will be able to…”) - both work, depending on your audience and tone.
• Avoid verbs open to multiple interpretations (know, understand, appreciate) - these are difficult to measure and lead to vague assessments. Prefer verbs like define, analyze, compare, or construct, which are grounded in Bloom’s taxonomy.

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Reflecting on this: completing a Learning Outcome

This is a good moment for trainers to ask learners to reflect informally - not yet a formal Challenge (that comes next, in the Syllabus Challenge) - on completing this sentence, choosing a Bloom’s-level verb deliberately:

By the end of this course, learners will be able to ______.

(Or, in the personal framing: You will be able to ______.)

Use the Bloom’s verb table below as a reference:

Level	Example verbs
Remember	Define, describe, list, recognize, connect, affirm, write, measure, identify
Understand	Compare, classify, discuss, distinguish, explain, exemplify, interpret, express, predict
Apply	Apply, change, choose, demonstrate, calculate, verify, explain how, predict, solve, construct, experiment, write
Analyze	Analyze, order, compare, conclude, criticize, diagnose, connect, distinguish, examine, justify, deduce
Evaluate	Evaluate, decide, determine, correct, advise, choose, compare, conclude, criticize, defend, judge, justify, quantify, synthesize
Create	Discuss, conclude, create, develop, formulate, generalize, generate, integrate, modify, plan, propose, design, invent

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Session 2 - Part III - Syllabus and Learning Experiences

Where does the Syllabus actually belong?

The Syllabus sits at the boundary between Plan and Design - it isn’t purely one or the other. Some of what goes into a Syllabus (the target audience, the Learning Outcomes) comes directly out of the Plan phase; the rest of it - actually structuring that into a syllabus document - is Design work. So it’s fair to think of the Syllabus as belonging to both phases at once, or as sitting right in the transition between them.

A Syllabus vs. a lesson plan

A Syllabus and a lesson plan differ fundamentally in scope, purpose, flexibility, and who they’re for:

	Syllabus	Lesson plan
Scope	The entire course or subject across a term, outlining all topics and objectives	One single lesson or class session within the broader syllabus
Audience	Student-facing - course expectations, assessment methods, policies	Instructor-facing - a tactical guide for daily activities and pedagogy
Flexibility	Relatively fixed - macro-level structure and stability	Dynamic and adaptable to real-time classroom needs
Content detail	Summarizes LOs, topics, grading, and required materials for the whole course	Details specific objectives, procedures, materials, timing, and assessment for one lesson
Ownership	Typically created by departments or boards, aligned with curriculum standards	Developed by individual trainers based on classroom context

Together, a Syllabus scaffolds long-term learning while a lesson plan delivers effective daily instruction - they’re complementary, not competing, documents.

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Challenge - Draft a Syllabus

Learning Experiences

A Learning Experience (LE) is what a student actually does that supports learning and achieving a Learning Outcome. Some examples of genuinely varied LEs:

• Pipette coloured water into a small tube to simulate an experimental procedure.
• Work in groups to write an essay comparing two teaching methodologies.
• Taste three different types of cheese to describe and compare their flavour profiles.
• Read a classroom scenario and propose three practical strategies to increase learner engagement.
• Watch a five-minute video to gain contextual background on the topic.
• Taste four coffee brewing methods to distinguish and compare their flavour profiles.

The critical question at this stage of design is always: are the Learning Experiences aligned with the Learning Outcomes? If your LO requires learners to create something (a high Bloom’s level), a lecture alone won’t get them there - you need an LE that actually lets them create, like a hands-on exercise or a project.

If a Learning Experience doesn’t align with its Learning Outcome, you have two options: revise the Learning Experience, or revise the Learning Outcome itself. Neither is a failure - it’s exactly how this kind of design is supposed to work.

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Challenge - Add Learning Experiences to your Syllabus

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Session 2 - Part IV - Backward Instructional Design

Why design backward?

Traditional course design often starts with “what content should I cover?” - and plans lectures to deliver that content. Backward Instructional Design flips this entirely: it starts with the destination (what learners will be able to do) and works backward to figure out how to get there. It applies at any scale, from a 3-minute mini-training to an entire curriculum.

The backward design process, in order:

1. Start with the end in mind - define clear Learning Outcomes, including their cognitive level.
2. Plan Learning Experiences - design activities that will actually get learners to those outcomes.
3. Determine necessary content - identify what content is needed to support those activities.
4. Plan formative assessment - design ways to monitor learning progress during instruction, not just at the end.
5. Evaluate achievement - determine how you’ll assess whether learners actually reached the outcomes.

Traditional, content-first design tends to fail in predictable ways: it focuses on what the instructor will do rather than what the learner will achieve; it assumes covering content is the same as learning it; it produces passive, lecture-centred experiences; and it often leaves learners asking “why do I need to know this?”

Backward design succeeds because every activity, piece of content, and assessment directly supports a defined Learning Outcome - a property sometimes called constructive alignment. It promotes active learning (since you’re designing from “what must learners do”), makes learning purposeful, enables genuinely meaningful assessment, increases efficiency (no content that doesn’t serve an LO), and better supports transfer to real-world use.

Nicholls’ Five Phases of Curriculum Design

Backward design has a well-established structure: Nicholls’ five-phase model.³

flowchart LR
    LO["Phase 1<br/>Learning Outcomes"] --> LE["Phase 2<br/>Learning Experiences"]
    LE --> C["Phase 3<br/>Content"]
    C --> FA["Phase 4<br/>Formative Assessment"]
    FA --> EV["Phase 5<br/>Evaluation"]
    LE -.not aligned, revise.-> LO
    C -.doesn't support LEs, revise.-> LE
    FA -.doesn't monitor progress, revise.-> C
    EV -.LOs not achieved, revise.-> LO

Phase 1 - Learning Outcomes. Everything starts here - LOs are the destination. If you don’t know where you’re going, you can’t choose the right vehicle, plan the route, or know when you’ve arrived. LOs must be SMART. Ask: are my Learning Outcomes clear and measurable? Can learners actually achieve them in the time available?

Phase 2 - Learning Experiences. Select or develop the experiences that will get learners to those outcomes. Ask: are the Learning Experiences aligned with the Learning Outcomes? If not aligned, revise the LEs (try again) or revise the LOs (go back to Phase 1).

Phase 3 - Content. Only now do we ask “what content do I need?” - content serves the Learning Experiences and Outcomes, not the other way around. Ask: does the content support the Learning Experiences and promote achievement of the Learning Outcomes? Content should be focused and relevant, appropriate for learners’ cognitive level, and just sufficient to support the planned activities - not exhaustive.

Phase 4 - Formative Assessment. Ongoing feedback and evaluation during the learning process, not just at the end - ideally every 15-20 minutes in a training session. Ask: do assessments support learners’ progress toward the Learning Outcomes? Examples: quick exercises, reflection activities, diagnostic questions, or the “3-2-1” technique (3 things learned, 2 things to explore further, 1 remaining question).

Phase 5 - Evaluation. The overall effectiveness of the course. Ask: can learners achieve the Learning Outcomes? Is the course successful? A useful comprehensive framework here is Kirkpatrick-Katzell’s four levels: Reaction (how did learners feel?), Learning (what did they actually learn?), Behavior (are they applying it?), Results (what impact does this have?).

A practical summary to leave participants with: start by writing SMART Learning Outcomes; don’t think about content yet - think about what activities will get learners there; only then select the minimum content needed; design frequent formative assessment; plan how you’ll evaluate overall success; and be ready to iterate based on what you discover at each phase. Learning Outcomes are the north star - every decision should be justified by asking “does this help learners achieve the intended outcomes?”

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Session 2 - Part V - Concept Maps and Content Reduction

What is a concept map?

A concept map is a graphical strategy for organizing and representing knowledge. It combines concepts (usually shown as boxes or circles) with relationships (shown as connecting lines and linking phrases) between them. Invented by Joseph D. Novak in 1972, the method is grounded in meaningful-learning theory - it encourages learners (and trainers) to connect new information to what they already know.⁴

Concept maps are useful for structuring content logically, identifying gaps in your own understanding of a topic, and facilitating discussion and collaboration.

Creating a concept map

Concept maps are built from nodes (key terms or concepts) and edges (the relationships between them, often carrying a linking phrase like “leads to,” “requires,” or “is part of”). Start with a focus question or context to give the map direction - for example, “what are the key steps and concepts involved in DNA sequencing?” A first draft doesn’t need to be perfect; concept maps are generated through iteration and feedback.

Using concept maps for content reduction

One of the hardest challenges in course design is content reduction - the natural, well-intentioned urge to share everything you know. With limited contact time, the temptation is to pack in as much as possible. Effective design requires the opposite, counterintuitive principle: less is more.

Why content overload actually backfires:

• Working memory becomes overwhelmed. Learners can only hold about 4-7 chunks of information at once (recall cognitive load from Session 1) - excessive content simply exceeds this capacity.
• Mental models fragment. Instead of an integrated understanding, learners end up with incomplete or incorrect mental models, remembering isolated facts without seeing how they connect.
• Transfer to long-term memory fails. Moving information into long-term memory needs time to process, practice, and connect - content overload doesn’t leave room for that consolidation.
• The expert blind spot makes it worse. As experts, we’ve automated foundational skills, see connections instantly that novices can’t, and underestimate how long “obvious” things take to learn. Failing to reduce content means teaching at expert pace to novices.
• It demotivates learners. Overload creates a sense of inadequacy (“everyone else gets this, but I don’t”), which can lead to disengagement or drop-out.

Concept maps are a genuinely practical tool for reducing content, not just organizing it:

• They force you to explicitly identify core concepts (the well-connected nodes) versus peripheral concepts (the ones with few connections) - the latter are candidates for removal.
• They reveal the learning path: which concepts are prerequisite to others, and what’s the minimum viable path through the material.
• A simplified concept map can even be shared with learners, to help them see the big picture and where to focus attention.

A practical technique: the “parking lot.” Map out everything you initially think should be included. Identify the key points that directly support your Learning Outcomes. Everything else goes into a “parking lot” - interesting, related, but not essential material, kept as optional extension content for learners who move faster or want to go deeper. This satisfies the expert’s urge to share comprehensive knowledge without overloading everyone else.

Content reduction isn’t about covering less ground for its own sake - it’s about learning more deeply. Every minute spent on unnecessary content is a minute not spent processing, practicing, and consolidating what actually matters. As always, the content you keep should be calibrated to where your actual learners are starting from, not where you are as an expert.

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Challenge - Draw a concept map for your mini-lesson

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Session 2 - Part VI - Giving and Receiving Feedback

A short but important detour before the next Challenge, since it involves pairing up to give each other feedback on your concept maps.

Feedback is information meant for improvement

Effective feedback focuses on specific behaviors or outcomes, is timely and relevant, encourages reflection and self-correction, and supports continuous improvement. As trainers, the goal is to create a safe space where feedback is welcomed as a tool for growth, not experienced as criticism.

Feedback should be constructive - specific, respectful, and focused on improvement, not just on pointing out what went wrong. It should guide the learner toward what they can do better next time, sparking genuine reflection rather than defensiveness. Before giving feedback, it’s worth asking yourself: is it clear and actionable? Does it encourage growth? Is it delivered in a way that motivates rather than discourages?

When receiving feedback, the goal is to stay open and curious - ask questions, reflect on what you’ve heard, and treat it as a stepping stone rather than a verdict. Feedback works best as a dialogue, not a judgment.

How to give feedback well

• Listen actively and attentively before responding.
• Do not interrupt one another.
• Challenge one another, but do so respectfully.
• Critique ideas, not people.
• Speak from your own experience, without generalizing (use “I noticed…” or “I felt…” rather than assumptions about others).
• Take responsibility for the quality of the discussion.

How to receive feedback well

• Ask for clarification if you’re confused.
• Build on one another’s comments; work toward shared understanding.
• Do not monopolize the discussion.
• Do not offer opinions without supporting evidence.
• If you’re offended by anything said, acknowledge it immediately rather than letting it sit.

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Challenge - Share your concept map

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Session 2 - Part VII - Developing Content and the Lesson Plan

How do you start developing content?

There’s no single right starting point - these approaches combine well:

• Start from your own knowledge. Your expertise is a valuable foundation - outline what you already know first.
• Look for reference material. Books, articles, trusted websites, and existing training resources (e.g. TeSS, the ELIXIR Training e-Support System) enrich and validate your content.
• Make a slide presentation. Visualizing ideas early helps structure the flow and surface gaps.
• Discuss with other specialists. Collaboration brings new perspectives and improves accuracy.
• Write the content for reference (e.g. a Markdown file or Word document) - a durable resource you can refine and reuse.

Recall from Nicholls’ Phase 3: content should be focused and relevant (not trying to cover everything), appropriate for the learners’ cognitive level, and just sufficient to support the planned Learning Experiences - not exhaustive.

Once you have a concept map, developing content becomes more concrete:

• Look back at your concept map and brainstorm an ordered list of topics - this becomes the backbone of your training.
• Each node needs content development: slides, text, activities, or a combination.
• Keep your target audience in mind throughout - their expected needs, prior knowledge, and capabilities.
• Connect everything back to your lesson plan, so content, activities, and outcomes stay coherent.

Basics of a lesson plan

A lesson plan is your roadmap for delivering a structured, effective learning experience - it keeps you organized, focused, and aligned with your Learning Outcomes. Shared with learners, it also gives them transparency: a guide for self-study, tracking progress, and self-assessment.

A lesson plan is a time distribution of a lesson, supporting the content dimension and organized for reproducibility. A worked example schedule for a longer session:

Time	Segment
10 min	Introduction
30 min	Lecture
15 min	Activity
15 min	Coffee break
45 min	Lecture
10 min	Activity
10 min	Discussion
1 hour	Lunch

For each segment of your lesson plan, define:

• Time - how long the activity takes.
• Teaching Goal / purpose - the instructional objective for that segment.
• Learning Outcome - what learners will be able to do by the end of the activity.
• Activity (Learning Experience) - what learners will actually do.
• Description - a detailed description of the activity.
• Materials - links to slides, PDFs, shared docs, videos, etc.

Time	Activity (LEs)	Description	Materials	LOs	Teaching goal
…	Introduction	Tour of the table, everyone introduces themselves	Game (e.g. Kahoot)
…	Ice breaker	Each person shares what tea they’d be, and why
…	Lecture	Explaining the core concept	Slides
…	Group work	Groups of 3 work through a task together	Shared docs
…	Group discussion	Each group shares their thoughts

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Challenge - Produce the content for your mini-training

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Session 2 - Part VIII - Delivering and Evaluating the Mini-Training

Challenge - Deliver your mini-training

Reflecting to improve: the first step of evaluation

Learning Outcomes should map cleanly to Learning Experiences, and both should map back to the course or session’s aim and title: title -> aim -> Learning Outcomes -> Learning Experiences, each one flowing logically from the one before it.

Two recap diagrams from earlier in the session are worth revisiting at this point, now that you’ve actually been through the full cycle once:

• Backward instructional design, in five steps: select Learning Outcomes; select Learning Experiences to achieve them; select content based on the LOs; identify or develop assessments to track progress toward the LOs; self-evaluate the effectiveness of your Learning Experiences in actually leading learners to the LOs.
• Nicholls’ cycle, revisited: the same five phases, with the same core question at each step - does this element support the previous one, and promote the Learning Outcomes? If a proposition to move forward is denied at any phase, that’s the model doing its job: it’s telling you where to go back and revise.

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Challenge - Self-reflect on your initial Learning Outcomes

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Session 2 - Summary and Key Takeaways

Session 2 turned the theory from Session 1 into a repeatable design process, walked end-to-end through one full mini-training: planning it, designing it, developing its content, delivering it, and evaluating it.

The thread running through all five phases is backward design: start from Learning Outcomes, not content. Select Learning Experiences aligned with those outcomes. Only then figure out what content is actually needed - and keep it lean, since content reduction protects learners from the same cognitive overload covered in Session 1. Build in formative assessment throughout, not just a final test. And treat evaluation as the start of the next iteration, not an ending.

Three frameworks - Bloom’s Taxonomy, KSAs, and SMART - work together to make a Learning Outcome genuinely usable, both for you as a design tool and for learners as a guide to what’s expected of them. And two practical tools carry the design process forward: the concept map, for organizing and reducing content, and the lesson plan, for turning a designed course into something deliverable, minute by minute.

Feedback - both giving and receiving it well - turned out to be a practical skill in its own right, not just a nice-to-have, since so much of this session’s own learning happened through peers reviewing each other’s concept maps and mini-training deliveries.