Case study: Course Guides for Pakistani Educators

Solution

We identified an overall color palette and applied color combinations to each guide to help them feel distinct. We edited the language for consistency, ensuring it was still authentic to the universities and schools distributing it. We used and repeated visual cues throughout the guides to ensure that all of them felt like they belonged the same family. 

The design structure made it easy for instructors to find and emphasize content in the classroom. Visual cues like highlighting and tabs across the top of pages to identify units within each course guide help instructors quickly find what they’re looking for. All guides are also 508 compliant, so they are accessible to instructors with disabilities.

We also established a style guide for the text itself, including a standard voice and consistent ways of referencing technical terms. Because the guides use British English, we referenced the Oxford Manual of Style for our style guide.

Impact

These course guides are now used with confidence by educators teaching a wide range of disciplines across Pakistan. The USAID-supported Teacher Education Project assisted 22 Pakistani Universities and 75 Teacher Colleges to add to and revise their curricula for educators in training. The client came to us to edit, design, and lay out the course guides for their higher ed curricula meant for professional development of teacher trainers and to improve classroom instruction.