Blended Teaching and Course Design

October 20, 2025

Blended Learning courses include a combination of face-to-face and online instruction or learning. The key element to focus on when developing a blended course is the complementary and integrated combination of these two learning environments. 

On this page we will provide some basic information on best practices for blended course design and resources to assist you with a deeper look into some specific aspects of blended teaching and learning.

Best Practices

Set Clear Expectations

It is crucial that you define blended learning as it will take place in your course right away, and that you reinforce the concept regularly.

Integrate Learning Modalities

Blended courses provide an opportunity to integrate the learning that is done online and in the classroom so that students can see clear connections between what they are doing in both environments.

Incorporate Active Learning

Active learning leverages the physical classroom environment to foster collaboration, critical thinking, and deeper understanding—things that are often harder to achieve in asynchronous or online settings.

Focus on Student Engagement

Keeping students engaged in blended courses requires thoughtful strategies to ensure both environments are interactive, meaningful, and connected.

Choose Technology Tools Carefully

Choose tools that are really helpful to you rather than letting them distract from your course's goals.

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Articles

Planning for a Blended Future: A Research-Driven Guide for Educators

By Joosten, T., Weber, N., Baker, M., Schletzbaum, A., & McGuire, A. (2021) This report includes foundational information about blended learning, insights about design strategies and alignment, and additional resources for any topics you may want to explore in more depth.

Inclusive Design for Online and Blended Courses: Connecting Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and Universal Design for Learning

By Susie Gronseth, PhD This article contains guidelines for accessible and inclusive course design.

How to Write Well-Defined Learning Objectives

By Debnath Chatterjee, Janet Corral Provides a detailed explanation and examples of how to write measurable learning objectives, which will be your first step in course development.

Best Practices for Use of Blended Learning

By Amanda R. Margolis, Andrea L. Porter, and Michael E. Pitterle Describes 10 instructional best practices for blended learning that you will incorporate into your course design.

Assessment Digital Learning Toolkit

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2017) Compares different types of assessment that you can consider including in your course design.

An examination of teachers’ strategies to foster student engagement in blended learning in higher education

By Géraldine Heilporn, Sawsen Lakhal & Marilou Bélisle Describes strategies for fostering student engagement in blended learning that you can consider including in your course design.

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Books

The Blended Course Design Workbook

2nd Edition by Kathryn E. Linder and Kevin Kelly

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Audio/Visual Resources

Strategies for Engaging Students in Blended and Online Learning

This video describes strategies for fostering student engagement in blended learning that you can consider including in your course design.

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Consultations

Individual Consultations or Department Workshops with Allison Harper

Are you teaching a blended course now and considering making some changes? Do you want to
prepare to teach a blended course for the first time? Is your department considering expanding
its blended offerings?

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URI Resources

Coming Soon

Blended Course Template for Brightspace

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