Three things to expect before you begin: the stages we move through, the learners whose experience we surface, and the resources you walk away with.
We gather multiple perspectives — yours, your students', and your consulting team's — to build a full picture of your course.
We identify your course's strongest pedagogical foundations and the instructional challenges most worth addressing.
We surface possibilities — from minor instructional adjustments to technology-supported interventions — grounded in learning science.
We generate a visual diagnostic map and a set of instructional scenario cards tailored to your course context.
You review the findings, share with your team, and decide what to carry forward.
We gather multiple perspectives — yours, your students', and your consulting team's — to build a full picture of your course.
We identify your course's strongest pedagogical foundations and the instructional challenges most worth addressing.
We surface possibilities — from minor instructional adjustments to technology-supported interventions — grounded in learning science.
We generate a visual diagnostic map and a set of instructional scenario cards tailored to your course context.
You review the findings, share with your team, and decide what to carry forward.
Six learner personas — composites drawn from years of consulting work — that the diagnostic helps you design for. Each one is rendered in the IDEO empathy frame: Say · Think · Feel · Do · See.
First-generation undergraduate · 2nd year
“I don't want to be the one who asks the obvious question.”
International graduate student · MS Computer Science
“The technical content is fine. The discussions are where I get lost.”
Working professional · executive education hybrid
“I need this to be worth the Tuesday night I'm not with my kids.”
Transfer student · first semester at a 4-year
“The professor assumes I already know how this place works.”
High-achieving STEM undergraduate · pre-med
“Just tell me what's on the exam.”
Humanities doctoral student · also a TA
“I'm here for the argument, not the deliverable.”
A worked example: Introduction to Education Technology — a 15-week graduate seminar. The diagnostic surfaces strengths, names what to explore, and links you to vetted resources for each move.
Use to anchor a faculty conversation about why low-stakes recall outperforms re-reading.
Increases participation breadth without exposing under-prepared students.
Grounds the case for re-sequencing topics in your course.
Turns a summative exam into a peer-learning event with strong evidence base.
Each entry pairs a concrete instructional activity with the evidence base behind it — sourced from learning scientists and centers for teaching at peer institutions.
30-second silent thinking, 2-minute paired exchange, then plenary harvest.
Why it works · Increases participation depth and surfaces misconceptions before instructor input.
End-of-session 1-minute write on the most confusing idea.
Why it works · Cheap formative signal; guides the next session's opening 5 minutes.
Expert subgroups master a slice, then teach mixed home groups.
Why it works · Builds interdependence; works well when content has parallel structure.
Students take an exam individually, then re-take it in small groups.
Why it works · Converts assessment into a learning event; documented retention gains.
Alternate fully worked examples with structurally identical practice problems.
Why it works · Reduces cognitive load for novices; classic Sweller-style support.
Students externalize relationships between core concepts on a single page.
Why it works · Reveals structural understanding that MCQs and short essays often hide.
Custom GPT or Claude project that questions rather than answers.
Why it works · Pair with a clear prompt scaffold and instructor-reviewed conversation logs.
Use the previous session's exit responses as the opening prompt today.
Why it works · Closes the feedback loop visibly; signals that student input shapes design.
This diagnostic does not evaluate your teaching. It is a structured reflection tool designed to make the complexity of your instructional decisions visible — to you, your students, and your collaborators — so that the next iteration of your course is more intentional than the last.