ABSTRACT
Higher education is populated by dedicated professional educators who deliver a high-quality academic experience to their students. However, professional development activities related to teaching are usually limited to occasional workshops featuring a single skill, such as creating a syllabus, techniques for assessment, or new instructional technologies. Traditional approaches to teaching and learning focus on the subject-matter knowledge and expertise that an instructor conveys to his or her students. When teachers shift the emphasis to their students' learning, they must also enter into a mindset of innovation since they are diverging from long-established procedures and habits of mind in higher education. Higher education itself has also changed, especially in terms of public perception, which directly impacts how students view their educational experience. Curriculum designed with the student in mind more fully aligns with a learning-centered model of education. In the field of design, this is known as user experience—a process built on empathy.
