My Educational and Instructional Design Philosophy
Accessible, Applied & Memorable Learning
“One: sun, oranges. Two: eyes, grapes. Three: triangle, milk.” Decades later, this mnemonic from my ACT prep class is still working when I’m grocery shopping. So why does it still work so well? It combined structure (a systematic method), accessibility (both visual and verbal), and experience (personal connections). That memory’s persistence has helped me learn what makes learning stick. This lesson is something that shapes every training session I design today for corporate professionals.
My Core Philosophy
The purpose of education is to empower all learners with immediately applicable skills through systematic, accessible, experiential design. My philosophy integrates three educational theories: Gagné’s structured cognitive framework, Universal Design for Learning’s inclusive approach, and Kolb’s hands-on learning cycle, which creates training that is intentional, accessible to everyone, and directly transfers to workplace performance (Knowles et. al., 2012). This integrated approach emerged from my own learning experiences and is validated daily in corporate training rooms. In my work as a trainer and facilitator to adult learners, I’ve learned how to leave the students with a memorable learning experience and actionable next steps. Adult learners don’t have time to revisit something after the training is complete. They often think about their other work sitting on their desk while attending a training. It is essential to consider the whole person and what may not be immediately apparent.
Gagné's Nine Events of Instruction (systemic cognitive framework)
The most effective teaching methods incorporate structured, systematic approaches that align with the brain’s natural processing and retention of information. Gagné's nine events—gaining attention, stating objectives, stimulating recall, presenting content, providing guidance, eliciting practice, offering feedback, assessing performance, and enhancing retention—form a cognitive architecture that moves information from attention through encoding to long-term storage (Gagné et al., 2005). For corporate trainings, Gagné’s framework provides a predictable structure that busy adults appreciate. Each event serves a specific cognitive purpose: gaining attention activates working memory, stimulating recall connects to prior knowledge, guided practice enables encoding, and retention strategies support transfer. Nothing feels arbitrary or added to fill time (Gagné et al. 2005). When learners tell me, 'This training actually stuck,' I know Gagné's systematic approach worked.”
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) (inclusive, accessible design)
All learners deserve access from the start, not as an afterthought to accommodate. When most people think of accessibility and education, they think of someone who is blind or someone who is deaf needing the accommodation. It is seen as extra work that benefits only a few. The reality is that most of us will benefit from accommodations, whether it is a temporary situation that the accessibility features enhance. Building lessons that incorporate accessibility from the beginning of inception requires much less remediation work in the future. It means that if a student enrolls and they require an accommodation, there will be significantly less work in the future that you will need to adjust or modify in your curriculum. Features such as incorporating captions in videos, creating documents with a clear structure and hierarchy, and providing descriptions of images will benefit everyone (World Wide Web Consortium). UDL provides three guiding principles (Cast, 2018): multiple means of representation (the ‘what’ of learning-presenting information in varied formats), multiple means of action and expression (the ‘how’ of learning-allowing learners to demonstrate understanding in different ways), and various means of engagement (the ‘why’ of learning-connecting to learners’ interests and motivations). In my training, this involves providing live demonstrations with narration, written quick-reference guides, and video tutorials (representation); allowing questions to be asked verbally, in chat, or during one-on-one time (action/expression); and connecting to their real work challenges to sustain engagement. The principles of UDL also align with current WCAG guidance and the Department of Justice's current governance standards for all digital content. Understanding the importance of UDL and WCAG is not only beneficial for learners, but it also saves funds for any department or agency, as it reduces the risk of financial penalties by adhering to this guidance.
Student wearing a red sweatshirt is wearing headphones looking at a laptop while holding a writing instrument.
My Core Beliefs:
Why Accessibility:
I teach document accessibility because it is a personal passion of mine. Having worked with coworkers who were visually impaired and used only a keyboard to navigate the digital world, I was amazed at their ability to comprehend words spoken by their computer at a speed I couldn’t. I witnessed firsthand the barriers that design without accessibility in mind creates. One coworker described encounters with digital inaccessibility as “trying to see through a pinhole. You know there is something there, but you can’t see the whole picture.”
My Teaching Goals:
When teaching document accessibility, I pursue three levels of goals. Immediately, every learner must leave with at least one fixed, accessible document as evidence of learning. For transfer, I want them to apply these principles independently within a week, building accessible documents from the start rather than retrofitting. In the long term, I aim to cultivate accessibility champions who will continue to discuss accessibility within their teams, thereby extending the effort across departments (Knowles et. al., 2012).
Conclusion:
My educational and instructional philosophy is built on a commitment to creating learning experiences that include everyone, stick with them, and leave them empowered. Just as my experience in the grocery store, where I listed off what I needed to buy, training impacts us in ways we can’t always anticipate. That is what I love about having multiple learning methods incorporated into ways that make the training more effective and stick. If my students don’t know the names of the accessibility principles, but they demonstrate them in the documents they create. I’ll know that my philosophy has been practical. When evaluating learning, it shouldn’t be limited to reciting knowledge; it’s about putting it into practice. Seeing a learner leave the training with a fixed document and confidence to fix the next one, I’ve achieved Kolb’s experiential cycle. When they can access every part of my training, I’ve applied UDL. When retention of knowledge is high, it is due to the following cognitive principles that I’ve used effectively, as outlined by Gagné.
References:
1. Verónica Villarroel Henríquez, Isidora Castillo Rabanal, Javiera Santana Abásolo (2025). Applying Kolb’s experiential learning cycle for deep learning: A systematic literature review. Social Sciences & Humanities Open. Volume 12, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2025.102096.
2. Malcom S. Knowles, Elwood F. Holton, Richard A. Swanson. (2012). The Adult Learner: The Definitive Classic in Adult Education and Human Resource Development, Seventh Edition. Francis & Taylor. ISBN: 0-7506-7837-2
3. World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 Retrieved from http://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG22/quickref/
4. J. Zhang, H. Xie, K. Schmidt, B. Xia, H. Li, M. Skitmore. Integrated experiential learning– based framework to facilitate project planning in civil engineering and construction management courses. Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice, 145 (4) (2019), Article 05019005, 10.1061/(ASCE)EI.1943-5541.0000421
5. Gagné, R. M., Wager, W. W., Golas, K. C., & Keller, J. M. (2005). Principles of instructional design (5th ed.). Wadsworth/Thomson Learning
