DAY 1 | Foundations of Effective Learning

Session 1: Science of Learning: How Students Learn

• Exploration of cognitive science principles underpinning the learning process
• Critical differentiation between effective and ineffective teaching practices, grounded in empirical research
• Understanding the roles of memory architecture, knowledge retention, and cognitive load in instructional design
• Implications of the Forgetting Curve and spacing effect for classroom pedagogy

Session 2: Applying Learning Science in Classrooms

• Translating cognitive science theory into practical, implementable classroom strategies
• Systematic identification of inefficiencies and misalignments in current teaching approaches
• Collaborative redesign of classroom methodologies using evidence-based frameworks
• Techniques such as interleaving, retrieval practice, and elaborative interrogation

Session 3: Making Thinking Visible

• Introduction to Visible Thinking Routines (Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education)
• Real-time monitoring and assessment of student understanding through structured protocols
• Strategies for surfacing students’ prior knowledge, misconceptions, and reasoning processes
• Practical workshop: implementing visible thinking strategies in subject-specific contexts

Session 4: Recap, Group Reflection & Q&A

DAY 2  |  Assessment & Instructional Design

Session 1: Designing Effective Assessments

• Comprehensive overview of assessment typologies: formative, diagnostic, summative, and ipsative
• Principles of constructive alignment — ensuring coherence between learning outcomes, instruction, and assessment
• Designing assessments that promote deep learning rather than surface-level recall
• Addressing issues of validity, reliability, and fairness in assessment design

Session 2: Rubric Design & Evaluation

• Conceptual foundations of analytical and single-point rubrics
• Defining, operationalising, and communicating quality expectations to students
• Using rubrics as formative feedback instruments and self-assessment tools for learners
• Calibration exercises to ensure inter-rater reliability among faculty assessors

Session 3: Applied Workshop — Assessment Design

• Structured, hands-on creation of contextually relevant assessments and evaluative rubrics
• Collaborative peer review sessions with structured feedback protocols
• Iterative refinement of assessment instruments based on peer critique and faculty input
• Gallery walk presentation of participant-designed assessment artefacts

Session 4: Peer Review & Consolidation Workshop

DAY 3  |  Teaching Excellence & Classroom Practice

Session 1: Effective Questioning Techniques

• Theoretical grounding in Socratic dialogue and inquiry-based pedagogical models
• Taxonomy of questioning (Bloom’s, Webb’s Depth of Knowledge) and their classroom applications
• Strategies to drive deeper, sustained student thinking and productive cognitive struggle
• Live practice: facilitated questioning sessions with reflective debriefs

Session 2: Expertise Modelling & Feedback

• Understanding the cognitive underpinnings of expert-novice differences in disciplinary thinking
• Techniques for demonstrating expert reasoning processes: think-alouds, worked examples, modelling cycles
• Frameworks for providing actionable, specific, and growth-oriented feedback to students
• Distinguishing feedback from evaluation; building a culture of iterative improvement

Session 3: Lesson Planning for Impact

• Principles of backward design in structuring high-impact teaching sessions
• Aligning learning objectives, instructional strategies, and assessment mechanisms
• Micro-teaching exercise: faculty design and present lesson segments for peer critique
• Peer review using structured observation protocols; collaborative lesson refinement

Session 4: Lesson Design Showcase & Peer Feedback

DAY 4  | AI & Workflow Management
in Higher Education

Session 1: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence in Academia

• Conceptual foundations of Artificial Intelligence: what AI is, and what it is not
• Overview of Claude by Anthropic: capabilities, responsible use, and academic applications
• Practical use-cases for AI in higher education: lesson preparation, feedback generation, research assistance
• Ethical considerations: academic integrity, bias, attribution, and responsible AI citizenship

Session 2: Prompt Engineering & Workflow Automation

• Foundations of effective prompt engineering: specificity, context-setting, and iterative refinement
• Hands-on Claude workshop: crafting prompts for lesson planning, rubric generation, and feedback drafting
• Task automation strategies to reclaim time and enhance instructional preparation quality
• Integrating AI tools sustainably and ethically into daily academic workflows

Session 3: Q&A, Peer Discussion & AI Tool Reflection

• Facilitated peer dialogue on AI tools explored and lessons learned
• Discussion of institutional policies, copyright considerations, and responsible AI adoption
• Participatory assessment and evaluation exercises using AI-enhanced approaches
• Closing reflection: opportunities and responsibilities of AI in the contemporary classroom

DAY 5  | Classroom Management,
Inclusion & Valedictory

Session 1: Inclusive Classroom & Differentiated Instruction

• Principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and its classroom implications
• Identifying diverse learner profiles and designing differentiated instructional experiences
• Strategies for addressing learning disabilities, language barriers, and socio-economic diversity
• Building equitable assessment practices that uphold academic rigour while ensuring fairness

Session 2: Student Well-being & Positive Classroom Climate

• Understanding the neuroscience of stress, safety, and its profound impact on learning readiness
• Evidence-based strategies for establishing psychologically safe and inclusive classroom environments
• Proactive approaches to student engagement, motivation, and emotional regulation
• Faculty role in supporting student mental health and academic resilience

Session 3: Participant Presentation of Assessments

Each participant presents a learning artefact — a redesigned lesson plan, assessment, or teaching strategy developed during the FDP — to the cohort for peer review and celebration of learning.

Session 4: Feedback, Recognition & Valedictory Ceremony

Programme-wide feedback collection | Certificate distribution | Closing address by senior KRMU leadership | Vote of thanks