This document outlines five groups of design decision variables for developing an educational course: 1. Assumptions about student numbers, point size, presentations, level, development timescale, and trends. 2. Pedagogical approaches regarding guidance, learning, and the ratio of online to physical resources. 3. Learning activities and assessments, including the use of found versus bespoke materials and the ratio of content to activities. 4. Production staff resources including timelines, consultancy needs, and the degree of expected updates. 5. Presentation staff resources like timelines, management structures, tutor ratios, technologies, and content delivery methods.

1. Decision variable Design decision variable
group
1. Assumptions • Student numbers
• Point size
• Number of presentations/course life
• Level
• Development timescale
• Alignment with current trends
2. Pedagogy (overview) • Course guidance: Tutor-directed – student-directed
• Course guidance: Individual – social (group-based/collaborative)
• Course guidance: Study guide/course calendar – student-devised
• Learning approach: Independent learning – collaborative learning (incl.
Summer schools)
• Learning approach: Information-based – experience-based
• Learning approach: Passive-learning – active-learning
• Learning approach: Ratio of online to physical resources
• Profile across student tasks
3. Learning activities • Student found material: found and integrated - bespoke
(content and • Course team produced: LTS produced material
assessment) • Course team produced: bought in wrap around
• Remix: Little/no remake – major remake
• Reuse: free standing assets – bespoke/contextualised (within faculty & cross-
faculty)
• Course content/curriculum: content-based – activity-based
• Assessment/course ratio: 0-100%
• Assessment type ratio
4. Production staff • Staff resource (academic): 12 months – 18 months
resources • Staff resource (academic-related): 4 month – 20 mouths
• Consultancy: 0 -100%
• LTS input:
• Degree of remake/update expected/required
5. Presentation staff • Staff resource (academic): 1.5 – 6 months
resources • Staff resource (academic-related): 1 – 3 months
• Tuition management: centrally managed – hub – regionally managed
• Tuition support: study adviser – panel - AL-contract
• Tutor/student ratio: N/A , (1-30) – (1-10)
• Community: Individual-self study - community-based study
• Stock and mailing costs
• Support ratio
• Technologies: Not online – wholly online
• Technologies: No web 2.0 – wholly web 2.0
• Technology (content): Print-based – technology-based