Patterns, Templates, and Wireframes: Building Consistent Learning Experiences

Laura Milne, Head of Digital Education, Centre for Academic Innovation and Development, University of Chester

Laura Milne, Head of Digital Education, Centre for Academic Innovation and Development, University of Chester

With rising costs and rising demand, how can universities do more, proactively manage change, and meet the needs of students, staff, and society? The higher education landscape rapidly evolves, and the post-pandemic approach to digitally-empowered education provides challenges and opportunities. At Higher Education Institutions in the United Kingdom, there has been growing awareness of the benefits of well-designed blended learning, where students experience some elements of their learning on campus and some through the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). The Office for Students (OfS) within the UK government published a report by Professor Susan Orr in October 2022 that related blended learning approaches to OfS policies and regulations, ensuring that students have a high-quality academic experience through sound pedagogy and design to balance the blend of delivery. In September 2023, the Joint Information Systems Committee (Jisc) published Beyond Blended, its report on post-pandemic curriculum and learning design. Jisc’s report maps how time, place, and platform can impact students’ experiences of a program and makes suggestions for how we can build towards pedagogically informed, high-engagement learning.

Policy, regulations, and expert guidance can play an important role in how universities approach the challenges of meeting student needs, upholding standards, and assisting colleagues in managing change. We strive to innovate to meet (and exceed) needs. Still, a landscape of constant change can be unsettling – even exhausting – to those who have had to adapt mid-delivery throughout the pandemic, the return to campus, and the advent of Generative Artificial Intelligence. Within my context at the University of Chester, the Digital Education team supports colleagues to develop engaging, student-centered learning approaches using technology. As I will explore, by leaning on patterns, templates, and wireframes, we can provide academics with space for supported innovation, and we can provide students with consistency in their learning experience.

Finding patterns

Learning design is the deliberate planning, development, and implementation of learning experiences that aim to help students achieve learning outcomes through meaningful and engaging activities. As discussed in Beyond Blended, there are several curriculum and learning design approaches, including Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Learning Activity Design (e.g. based on Laurillard’s Conversational Framework). Peeling back the layers, these all provide a structure to process developing core content into learning activities and meaningful interactions. When reviewing teaching and learning at university, these activities can coalesce into repeated and repeatable patterns, which the Co-Design team at the University of Sydney Business School has developed to enhance and enable connected learning at scale. By recognising the similarities between delivery methods, class sizes and learning activities, it is possible to derive a baseline pattern to speed teaching and learning development. Using wireframes, patterns and templates consistently between modules will build consistency for students so they can build learning habits and develop an understanding of the expectations for engagement. Using even very stripped-back templating and patterns (designed by learning designers with pedagogy as a foundational element) allows for structure around innovation (consistency and adaptability). It reduces the need for academics to reinvent their approach at every change and challenge.

“Using wireframes, patterns and templates consistently between modules will build consistency for students so they can build learning habits and develop an understanding of the expectations for engagement. “

In an article that addresses the students’ desire for consistency (“I just wish all lecturers would use the VLE in the same way”), Alison Torn flags the importance of “consistent structure”, “ease of navigation”, and “clearly set tasks with expectations and guidance”, among other factors that improve how students’ VLE use.These elements are reminiscent of Jakob Nielsen’s Usability Heuristics, principles for interaction design that support users interacting with systems. The consistent presentation will avoid overloading working memory with basic system navigation so that the student is free to maximize this towards learning what matters (Sweller, 1988). If students can rely on consistent presentation of key information and navigation, the VLE will facilitate rather than dominate the learning experience.

For staff, scaffolding through these tools reduces some repeated work for each module. These structures can also be used to reflect and iteratively improve learning delivery over time (for example, as part of an annual review of content before the start of a new academic year). Where a university has been able to roll out templating and the use of patterns in learning design, this can also empower staff to manage changes brought about by advancing technology.

Key principles and adaptability to specific contexts

As with any change, how you introduce and manage these concepts into practice is important. What support exists for colleagues, and what is the implication for non-adoption? It might be useful to consider a hybrid approach where there are tight principles that guide intentions and looser adaptations so that the supportive guidance (patterns) enables local teams to implement according to their diverse contexts and specific needs (Trask and Cowie, 2022). This approach should also not stifle innovation – by making room for local experimentation that could support the key principles, the whole university could benefit. Strategically applying learning design to create patterns, wireframes and templates can provide a consistent experience and environment that can be the basis for future innovation. For students, the consistency fosters and enables learning. For staff, the guidance around how to apply patterns, templates and wireframes to their own situations and disciplines ensures that we can put sound pedagogy first: empowering educators and engaging students.