Instructional Design & Learning Architecture Portfolio
Translating complex systems, managing cognitive load, and building evidence-based learning experiences.
My work as an instructional designer is grounded in a simple core philosophy: understand where people actually are, and build the path forward from there together. Whether translating dense federal policy for international scholars, guiding learners through deeply intimidating scientific concepts, or architecting scalable STEM curricula, I design high-impact learning experiences that manage cognitive load, foster psychological safety, and deliver measurable outcomes.
Case Study 1: Policy & Technical Translation
A Crash Course in Congress
- Role: Lead Instructional Designer & Content Developer
- Target Audience: Graduate Student Advocates (including International & Multi-Disciplinary Scholars)
- Format: Interactive Presentation Deck & Visual Scaffolding Framework
- Artifact Link: View Interactive Presentation Deck (Full Screen)
The Challenge
Graduate students entering legislative advocacy come from vastly different academic and cultural backgrounds. Many are international students with zero prior exposure to U.S. governance structures, while others have specialized technical/STEM backgrounds with little time to decipher complex policy jargon. The objective was to build a low-friction training module that brings every learner from square one to actionable advocacy without overwhelming them.
Instructional & Design Strategy
- Intentional Scaffolding: Designed a progressive learning arc starting with fundamental civic structures (“How Government Works”) before escalating to intricate federal funding mechanisms and state vs. federal advocacy distinctions.
- Pacing & Cognitive Load Control: Utilized sequential visual animations across each slide to chunk information into digestible pieces, ensuring complex policy pathways are revealed step-by-step rather than dumped all at once.
- Universal Design for Learning (UDL): Accounted for international learners and diverse background knowledge by stripping away insular political acronyms, defining terminology in context, and establishing intuitive visual metaphors.
The Impact
Deployed across national graduate student advocacy networks, allowing participants of all background knowledge levels to confidently navigate congressional visits, understand appropriations pipelines, and engage directly in federal and state advocacy efforts.
Case Study 2: Empathy, Change Management & Facilitation
Evolution: What It Is and Why You Shouldn’t Be Afraid of It
- Role: Instructional Designer, Curriculum Developer & Presenter
- Target Audience: General Public, Higher Education Learners, and Skeptical / Multi-Belief Audiences
- Format: Interactive Seminar, Co-Taught University Course, & Community Workshop Series
- Artifact Links:
The Challenge & Context
Learners entering evolutionary biology often bring deep-seated cognitive dissonance, personal identity stakes, and fear of ideological conflict. Traditional instructional models treat resistance as a knowledge deficit—dumping more facts onto the learner. This approach heightens anxiety and triggers defensive rejection. Having personally navigated this transition, I designed this seminar to address the emotional and cognitive entry point of the learner first.
Instructional & Design Strategy
- Empathetic Needs Analysis & Diagnostic Design: Grounded the curriculum in cognitive dissonance research and real learner fears. Instead of treating audience skepticism as an obstacle to correct, mapped out the specific personal, cultural, and conceptual hurdles learners face before introducing technical biology.
- Scaffolding for Psychological Safety & Resistance: Designed a non-antagonistic learning arc that systematically dismantled common misconceptions (such as a perceived conflict between science and faith) upfront. Created a low-stakes environment where learners could engage without feeling their identity, values, or personal background were under attack.
- Cross-Disciplinary Translation: Co-designed and co-taught an interdepartmental university course bridging Biology and Philosophy. Developed a shared lexicon and structured dialogue models across disciplines that rarely use the same language.
- Community-Scale Adaptation: Adapted the core instructional framework across radically different delivery channels—translating the experience seamlessly from academic classrooms to local ministry alliances, radio programming, and public workshops.
The Impact
The seminar proved so effective at bridging divides that it was co-hosted as a weekly radio program, delivered to regional ministry alliances, and incorporated into a co-designed undergraduate course at the University of Kentucky.
Case Study 3: EdTech Architecture & Evidence-Based Learning
Multi-Modal Course Architecture & STEM Transition System
- Role: Academic Coordinator, Lead Curriculum Developer & Instructor (Arkansas State University)
- Target Audience: 1,000+ Incoming STEM & Pre-Professional Undergraduate Majors
- Format: Blended Team-Based Learning Course & Digital Curriculum Blueprint
- Artifact Link: View Full Course Syllabus & Curriculum Blueprint (PDF)
The Challenge
First-year STEM majors face high attrition rates due to uncoordinated study habits, low engagement, and anxiety around complex scientific inquiry. The goal was to build a blended, highly interactive curriculum that bridges high school transition gaps, builds scientific reasoning, and fosters long-term retention.
Instructional & Design Strategy
- Team-Based Learning (TBL): Structured daily instruction around Individual and Group Readiness Assurance Tests (IRAT/GRAT) to ensure pre-class reading compliance and foster peer-to-peer collaborative problem solving.
- Blended Multi-Platform Ecosystem: Designed seamless integration across digital platforms—combining synchronous real-time polling (Socrative), async LMS coursework (Blackboard), and interactive mobile eBooks (iTunes U).
- Authentic Assessment & Portfolio Projects: Designed diverse evaluation methods—including peer-reviewed research papers, collaborative lab reports, multi-media social justice projects, and continuous formative writing prompts.
Highlighted Instructional Sequence: The Live Memory Experiment
To shift student behavior away from late-stage “cramming” and toward regular retrieval practice, I designed a live, 5-stage empirical experiment embedded in the course.
- Baseline Assessment: Administered an open-note test following a standard lecture.
- Instructional Intervention: Delivered a module on active note-condensation strategies.
- Metric Check 1: Administered a surprise closed-note test to capture immediate retention decay.
- Affective Intervention: Taught a micro-lecture on test anxiety and cognitive load.
- Metric Check 2: Administered a final surprise closed-note test following structured review.
- The Metacognitive Reveal: Instead of grading traditionally, I guided students through calculating the mathematical trajectories of their own scores. Analyzing their own data provided undeniable, empirical proof that regular, condensed review significantly outperforms traditional cramming—permanently altering their study habits for upper-level STEM coursework. To complete the learning loop (and relieve the initial anxiety of the unannounced pop quizzes), I awarded bonus points for participating in the sequence, transforming initial surprise into earned, high-value reinforcement.
The Impact
Institutionalized as a standardized, quality-controlled course template used across incoming science sections, successfully improving student retention metrics and academic self-efficacy.