College Course

Higher Education Course Design | Persona-Driven, Application-First Learning

Business Context

The course required a design approach that moved beyond traditional content delivery toward learner-centered application. Rather than leading with theory or static outcomes, the course needed to help learners recognize themselves in the material and immediately apply concepts to their own experiences and decisions.

Audience

College-level learners seeking practical understanding and personal relevance, requiring clear examples, relatable archetypes, and opportunities to apply concepts directly to their own academic and professional contexts.

My Role

Instructional designer and instructor responsible for reframing the course architecture using learner personas, guiding the backward design of activities, examples, and in-class experiences aligned to real learner needs.

Learning Strategy

A backward, persona-driven design approach that used relatable learner archetypes to anchor instruction, examples, and activities. Concepts were introduced through in-class scenarios and reinforced through Canvas-based examples, enabling learners to immediately connect theory to their own experiences and apply learning in real time.

Solution & Artifacts

A persona-guided course framework that embedded learning within relatable archetypes, in-class scenarios, and Canvas-based examples to support immediate application. Content was designed to model thinking, decision-making, and reflection so learners could adapt concepts directly to their own academic and personal contexts.

Outcomes & Indicators

- Increased learner engagement by anchoring instruction in relatable personas and real-world scenarios.

- Supported immediate learner application by modeling examples within both in-class instruction and Canvas.

- Enabled learners to transfer concepts to their own decision-making rather than treating content as abstract theory.

Reflection & Next Iteration

Future iterations would incorporate structured learner reflection and light self-assessment to better understand how effectively persona-based design supports sustained application beyond the course environment.