Curriculum Design Services
Curriculum design focuses on the creation of the overall course blueprint. Our experienced learning designers provide a systematic approach to mapping content to learning objectives, including how to develop a course outline and build the course.
Each learning objective is met with assessment strategies, exercises, content, subject matter analysis, and interactive activities.
Best-practice resources
Meet our experts
Elizabeth Adkins
Director of Instructional Design for Course Design, Development, and Academic Research (CDDAR)
Elizabeth Adkins has been in the Pearson family for over eight years as a services partner to the Online Learning Services/OPM team. She has a MEd in Instructional Systems Design from the University of Central Florida and a BS in Psychology from the College of William and Mary.
Her career in learning design covers a broad spectrum of consultative experiences, most notably including game-based learning in secondary algebra, clinical development within graduate-level nursing, synchronous lab-based science instruction, environmental law policy, and undergraduate psychology. In addition, related experience in supporting partners in accreditation measures, providing guidance to academic partners going online for the first time, and facilitating workshops for faculty have helped to solidify several new and existing partnership ventures for the Online Learning Services division of Pearson.
She currently leads a very talented team of 65+ instructional designers who work in offices across North America, including Chicago, Orlando, and Toronto, and in various remote locations. She is a native of Richmond, Virginia, but she has lived in Orlando, Florida for the last nine years.
Chris Coffin
Manager of Instructional Design within Custom Curriculum Development (CCD)
Chris Coffin has a MS in Instruction and Performance Technology from Boise State University and a BS in Business and Management from Indiana University. She is a Certified Performance Technologist (CPT) with 18 years’ experience in instructional design, online and classroom‐based course development, and instructor training.
Chris joined Pearson as an instructional designer in 2008 for one partnership to launch a new paralegal program for both online and on‐ground campuses. The opportunity expanded to multiple programs across the partner’s curriculum. In 2010, Chris assumed a managerial position leading this same ID team who collaborated closely with the partner’s program directors and national chairs to consult on course design, program/course alignment, developing standards and templates, and ensuring pedagogically sound course design and appropriate integration of student learning experiences within the courses.
She manages multiple partnerships, collaborating with a team of Lead Instructional Designers and Instructional Designers to help guide and coach partner and SME consultations, build instructional design best practices into the courses and curriculum, and lead discussions on current research, problem-solving strategies, and collaboration techniques. Chris also discusses, coaches, reviews, and provides feedback on course design and media elements for individual courses and overarching programs.
Ayana Hastings
Lead Instructional Designer for Course Design, Development, and Academic Research (CDDAR)
Ayana Hastings has been a part of the Pearson family since 2012. Her experience includes 12 years as a K-12 educator, instructional coach, and curriculum designer for postsecondary educational programs. She has BS in Special Education from Bethune-Cookman University and a MEd in Curriculum & Instruction from the University of Central Florida.
She enjoys working with higher education faculty and administrators to create robust and relevant online educational courses. This rewarding challenge allows her to offer services that will positively impact the lives of many.
Michelle Rudolph
Lead Instructional Designer in Custom Curriculum Development
Michelle Rudolph has more than a decade of experience in instructional design, curriculum development, graphic/web/programming, and college teaching. She has experience in course design and development in military training and development, as well as at the K-12 and higher education levels. Michelle has a bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design, a master’s degree in Arts Technology, a master’s in Educational Technology, and is currently working on a PhD in Instructional Systems and Design and a master’s in Information Technology.
She has developed new online bachelor and master’s degrees programs, in addition to certificates, and outreach courses. She has over a decade of experience in developing pedagogical strategies, technology implementations, active learning methods, and interactive content for varied student bases and fields of study.Michelle is well-versed in all public and proprietary learning management systems, all web programming languages, the Adobe Creative Suite, and elearning applications such as Adobe Presenter, Captivate, Storyline2, and Camtasia.
Michelle’s areas of research focus on Richard’s Mayer’s Principles of Multimedia Learning, competency-based learning, instructional design models, and educational technology strategies.