The Learning Design Compass
The Learning Design Compass is a framework for designing courses that create genuine transformation in students. It guides you through eight interconnected design elements, a teaching cycle, and assessment design — moving from purpose through to evaluation.
The guide is structured in three phases:
- Design (Steps 1-8): Before you can build anything meaningful, you need to know why this course exists, who you're teaching, and how to create an immersive learning environment.
- Teach: When we strip it back to its basic form, education is simply Story (Theory) and Play (Applied Theory).
- Assess: You've designed the course and built the learning cycle. Now you need to evaluate whether students have actually learned what you're teaching.
Step 1: Purpose
You're laying the foundation. Before you can build anything meaningful, you need to know why this course exists — not the official learning outcomes from your handbook, but the actual transformation you're creating.
What should students be able to DO by the end of this course that they couldn't do before?
Be specific and concrete. "Understand X" is not good enough — understanding is invisible. What can they create, analyse, evaluate, or apply? What actions can they take?
If students forgot 90% of this course within a year, what's the ONE thing you'd want them to retain?
This is your core. Everything else orbits around this.
Why does this course exist?
Ask yourself "why" at least three times to get past the surface answer.
Why? → Why does that matter? → Why does THAT matter? → Why is that important? → The core purpose (bedrock)
What transformation are you creating in your students?
They start as someone who [blank]. They end as someone who [blank].
Step 2: Learner
Now you need to understand who you're actually teaching — not to stereotype them, but to recognise that learning happens in diverse ways for diverse people in diverse contexts.
Who are your students really?
Think about your actual cohort. Consider: What year/level are they? What else are they studying? What brought them to this subject?
When in a student's daily life might natural learning opportunities occur that relate to the topic you're teaching?
For example: If you're teaching statistics, they might encounter data in news articles, social media, sports results. If you're teaching history, they might see echoes in current events or family stories.
How do you think your students will receive and understand this topic?
What might they find difficult? What might they find exciting? What misconceptions might they bring? What prior knowledge can you build on?
What does success in this module look like for your students?
Not just "they pass" — what does it mean for them to genuinely succeed? What will they be able to do, think, or create?
Step 3: Setting
Learning doesn't happen in a vacuum. The best courses create worlds — immersive environments where theory and practice naturally connect, where students can explore, experiment, and encounter ideas in contexts that feel real.
If you could design the perfect learning environment for this course, what would it look like?
Don't limit yourself to what's currently available. What would genuinely serve the learning? Think big.
Where will students actually USE what you're teaching them?
Not "in the exam" — in the real world. In their future work. In their lives.
How can you create an immersive world for your students?
A space (physical, virtual, or conceptual) where they can practice what you're teaching.
Examples: A simulated workplace environment, a case study they inhabit across the semester, a real-world problem they're solving, a creative project that unfolds over time, a community they engage with, an online simulation or game world.
Where does learning happen in your course?
Think about all the different contexts, not just the formal teaching spaces. On campus, at home, out in the world.
How can you bridge the gap between classroom theory and real-world practice?
What would help students see the connection between what they learn in your course and where they'll actually use it?
Step 4: Narrative
Every course tells a story across the semester. When you design with narrative structure, students don't just accumulate information — they experience a journey with moments of tension, discovery, and transformation.
The following five-act structure works at two scales: it can shape your entire course from semester start to end, and it can structure individual lectures or workshops. It's scalable — use it for the big picture and the small moments.
Where do your students begin?
What's the starting situation? What do they know? What don't they know? What questions or problems frame the start of this journey?
How do you build interest and suspense?
What hooks their attention? What creates momentum? What makes them want to keep going?
Think about: Provocative questions, intriguing case studies, puzzles to solve, challenges to overcome.
What's the unexpected moment — the thing that illuminates, contradicts, or shifts their understanding?
Every good story has a turning point. What's yours? This might be: A case study that challenges assumptions, a concept that reframes everything, a practical experience that reveals complexity, an "aha moment" where things click.
What are the repercussions? How do students work through this new understanding?
After the turning point, what do they do with it? How do they apply it, test it, practice with it?
Where's the point of reflection?
How do students look back on the journey and make sense of what they've learned? This might be: A final project that synthesises learning, a reflective assignment, a presentation where they teach others, a portfolio showing growth.
Step 5: Context
Bridges Purpose ↔ Narrative
Context is about how you articulate your ideas — what frameworks, analogies, or mental models help students grasp complex concepts? How do you make the abstract concrete?
What frameworks or mental models help students understand your core concepts?
Think about: Diagrams, models, systems, processes. What gives students a way to organise and make sense of information?
What analogies or metaphors make your subject matter accessible?
For example: The heart is like a pump. Code is like a recipe. History repeats like patterns. What comparisons help bridge the gap between unfamiliar concepts and familiar experience?
How do you scaffold understanding across the semester?
How do concepts build on each other? What needs to be understood first before moving to more complex ideas?
What examples from everyday life, popular culture, current events, or other disciplines help illuminate your topic?
The best learning happens when students see connections everywhere. What helps them recognise your subject in the world around them?
Step 6: Engage
Bridges Narrative ↔ Learner
Engagement isn't about entertainment — it's about creating genuine investment. How do you hook attention, maintain momentum, and make students care about what they're learning?
What makes your subject matter compelling?
Why should students care? What's at stake? What problems does this solve? What questions does it answer?
How do you hook students' attention at the start?
First impressions matter. What grabs them on Day 1? What makes them think "this might actually be interesting"?
How do you maintain momentum when energy naturally dips (usually around Week 6-8)?
What keeps them going when the initial novelty wears off and assessment pressure hasn't kicked in yet?
How do different types of learners engage with your material?
Students absorb information differently. How can you build in multiple entry points so everyone can engage?
Think about: Learners who need to see concepts (diagrams, images, demonstrations), learners who need to discuss and explain (dialogue, debate, teaching others), learners who need to do and practice (hands-on, physical, applied).
What makes this learning relevant to your students' lives, careers, or concerns?
Students engage when they see the connection between what you're teaching and what matters to them. How do you make that visible?
Step 7: Behaviour
Bridges Learner ↔ Setting
This is about understanding how students actually act in learning contexts and designing with that reality rather than fighting against it. How do you create conditions where productive learning behaviour naturally emerges?
What behaviours do you want to encourage in students?
For example: Curiosity, experimentation, questioning, collaboration, independent thinking, persistence, reflection.
What currently supports those behaviours? What currently hinders them?
It's worth drawing out two columns and titling one 'Supports' and the other 'Hinders' and then drawing relationships between the two to identify opportunities where one element may help enhance or overcome the other.
How can you make desired behaviours easy, attractive, social, and timely?
The EAST Framework (developed by the Behavioural Insights Team) suggests four principles:
Easy: Remove friction. Make it simple to do the right thing.
Attractive: Make it appealing. Show the benefit.
Social: Create opportunities for students to discuss, collaborate, or work together.
Timely: Deliver it when and where students are most receptive.
Where might students naturally practice the skills or knowledge you're teaching outside of formal class time?
Can you design opportunities for them to encounter your subject in their daily lives? To notice it, practice it, apply it informally?
How can you design for actual student behaviour rather than ideal student behaviour?
Students are busy, distracted, anxious, juggling multiple demands. They don't always do the reading. They leave things to the last minute. They look for shortcuts. How do you work with that reality?
Some approaches that work with reality:
- Bite-sized videos (5-10 minutes) instead of hour-long lectures
- Asynchronous activities they can do on the bus or in spare moments
- Low-stakes 5-minute practical tasks that punctuate lectures
- Mapping and signposting: clear, immediate relevance to things they care about
- Building reading/prep into class time rather than assuming it happens beforehand
Step 8: Mapping
Bridges Setting ↔ Purpose
Mapping is about how students create meaning from their experiences — how they connect what they're learning to their own lives, goals, and understanding of the world. This is where learning becomes personal and memorable.
How do students map their experience of your course to the core purpose?
What helps them see the connection between the activities they're doing and the transformation you're creating?
What creates memorable, transformative experiences for students?
What moments stick? What do they remember years later? These are usually experiences that engage emotion, challenge assumptions, or create genuine discovery.
How much structure vs. agency do students have in shaping their own learning journey?
Too much structure and they're just following instructions. Too much freedom and they're lost. Where's the balance? Where can they make meaningful choices about what to explore, how to demonstrate learning, or which direction to take?
What sensory or emotional experiences reinforce your teaching?
Learning isn't purely cognitive. What do students see, hear, touch, feel, create that makes concepts tangible? What moments surprise them, challenge them, delight them?
How do students connect what they're learning to their own sense of purpose or identity?
The most powerful learning happens when students can answer "What does this mean for me? How does this fit into who I am or who I'm becoming?"
The Learning Cycle
There's a world of pedagogical frameworks and overcomplicated discussions on effective modes of delivery that get people bogged down. When we strip it back to its basic form, education is simply Story (Theory) and Play (Applied Theory).
You hear a Story, you Discuss the story to understand it, you Play to evaluate those concepts, you Reflect on that experience, then you summarise with a Story — round and round it goes. You can enter this cycle at any point.
Story (Theory)
What stories do you tell? What concepts, ideas, or information do you introduce?
Think about: Lectures, readings, videos, case studies, demonstrations, examples — what's the content they're absorbing?
Discussion (Understanding)
Where do students talk through ideas to make sense of them?
Think about: Seminars, tutorials, Q&A, peer discussions, online forums. Where do students explain concepts to each other, ask questions, make connections, work through confusion?
Play (Applied Theory)
Where do students practice and apply what they're learning?
Think about: Labs, workshops, problem sets, projects, simulations, case studies, creative work, experiments. Where do they actually DO something with what they've learned?
Reflection
Where do students step back and analyse what they've experienced?
Think about: Reflective writing, debriefs, learning journals, peer review, feedback sessions. Where do students analyse what happened, what they learned, what worked, what didn't, and why?
Balance Check
Looking across your whole course, roughly what percentage of time do students spend in each stage?
Story (Theory): __% | Discussion (Understanding): __% | Play (Applied Theory): __% | Reflection: __%
There's no perfect formula, but if one area dominates, ask yourself why. Generally, any element between 15-24% should be reflected upon and any element below 15% should be redesigned. Many courses are too heavy on Story and too light on Play.
How does this cycle repeat and deepen across your course?
Each time through the cycle, students should be working at higher complexity. How does the challenge/difficulty increase from Week 1 to Week 12?
Assessment Design
You've designed the course and built the learning cycle. Now you need to evaluate whether students have actually learned what you're teaching.
Most assessments only test the bottom of Bloom's Taxonomy — can students remember information? But if that's all you're testing, AI can do it. If you want to know whether students have genuinely transformed, you need to assess the full journey.
Bloom's Taxonomy describes six levels of cognitive complexity. Your assessments should test whether students can move through all six:
Remember
Can students recall and recognise basic facts, terms, and concepts?
Common methods: Quizzes, MCQs, flashcards, recall tests, definitions.
Warning: This level is now easily automated by AI. If this is all you're testing, students can pass without learning.
Understand
Can students explain concepts in their own words, summarise, or paraphrase?
Common methods: Short answer questions, explanations, summaries, concept maps, teaching back to you.
Note: This can also be AI-assisted but requires students to process and reformulate ideas rather than just recall them.
Apply
Can students use their knowledge in new situations or contexts?
Common methods: Problem-solving tasks, case studies, practical exercises, simulations, applying theory to novel scenarios.
This is where you start to see genuine learning — can they use the knowledge beyond the context you taught it in?
Analyse
Can students break down information, identify patterns, make connections, and see relationships?
Common methods: Compare and contrast assignments, pattern identification, examining relationships, breaking down complex problems.
This requires deeper thinking — students need to see structure, not just content.
Evaluate
Can students make judgements, critique ideas, justify decisions, and articulate concepts clearly enough to teach others?
Common methods: Critical reviews, justified arguments, peer assessment, critiquing others' work, defending a position, teaching concepts to others.
This is mastery through articulation — if they can teach it or critique it effectively, they understand it deeply.
Create
Can students produce something new or original using what they've learned?
Common methods: Original projects, designs, research proposals, creative work, new solutions to problems, synthesising ideas into something novel.
This is mastery through generation — they're not just reproducing what you taught them, they're making something new with it.
The Key Question
Are you only testing the bottom two levels (Remember and Understand) — the levels AI can easily automate? Or are you pushing students to Apply, Analyse, Evaluate, and Create — the levels that demonstrate genuine learning and transformation?
The first four levels of Bloom's map onto the learning cycle. The final two — Evaluate and Create — demonstrate mastery: can students both articulate the concepts (teach/critique) and develop something new with them? These two mastery levels are what AI cannot currently achieve and where human ability and input is invaluable.
This guide was co-developed with Morna, a custom AI agent built on Claude and designed using the Creative Compass by David Calum Millar.