I thought this was a funny and insightful explanation into why smart academics find it impossible to write directly or clearly. It's kinda long (ironically?) but eventually starts listing a few good (specific) insights. Thought yall might enjoy from a "how can we improve communication and content" perspective.
Great article -- and a real issue in some online courses, where we often need more of a technical writing style, such as numbered lists for directions instead of super-long paragraphs. Thanks for sharing!
An overview of good instructional development: In a nutshell, the backwards process In writing curriculum or developing instructional tasks the following need to be considered. If you use the metaphor of those mylar pictures in textbooks that showed the varied layers of topography, or parts of the human anatomy, then writing curriculum is a similar process it is like developing a series of layers until it becomes a whole picture.
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.