“I’d do things a lot differently if I just had fewer students.”
Have you ever thought or said this? This sentiment has been voiced to me over and over again by attendees in faculty development workshops and by graduate student instructors I have supervised. Truth be told, it is something I found myself saying often too. “I’d change my assignments if I could spend more time giving feedback.” “I’d do more active learning if the class size was smaller.” “I’d lecture less.” “I’d talk to individual students more.” Perhaps you have had many of these “I’d do this or that” thoughts as well. These “I’d” thoughts can motivate future course design and in fact yield another configuration of I and D: ideal design.