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"Instructional designers, like web developers in the '90s, historically had expertise in conveying content through a limited set of tools and platforms, such as a learning management system (LMS). LX designers, in contrast, merge design-thinking principles with curriculum development and the application of emerging technologies to help faculty tailor content to student behaviors and preferences. It cuts across disciplines and moves beyond the LMS: LX designers embrace graphic design, multimedia production, research-based standards and social media. They are partners to faculty throughout the program and course development process."

Research: When Instructure began analyzing the course designs for its higher ed customers, the LMS company discovered something about getting students to interact with the online elements of their courses.

"Instructional designers are consumers (and sometimes producers) of the learning science literature - and they bring this knowledge base into their work with faculty. Once faculty have the opportunity to learn and apply learning science research for their online courses, they will want to do the same for their residential courses."

What is it? This summary of research on Project Based Learning also appears in the BIE book PBL for 21st Century Success. It provides a quick look at key studies showing PBL's positive effects on student academic achievement, mastery of 21st century competences such as problem-solving and critical thinking, addressing the needs of diverse learners and closing achievement gaps, and increasing students' motivation to learn.

The mission of the Center for Online Learning is to promote quality online courses. There is substantial research to indicate what constitutes best practice in online course design and delivery to achieve good student learning outcomes and satisfaction. It is the purpose of this site to set forth guidlines to achieve that end.

Folks who study student retention and success in community colleges are well-acquainted with the concept of "high-impact practices." They're a set of measures that have been shown through empirical research to make positive differences in student outcomes. The list of high-impact practices usually includes learning communities, service learning, writing-intensive courses, undergraduate research, internships, and capstone courses, among others.

+ useful bibliography in one of the comments