< Back to Our work

Redesigning Canvas LMS for the University of Sydney

Posted by

Executive summary 

Curio engaged in a two-part project with the University of Sydney to revamp the learning experiences students had in their core science units. The first part involved redesigning the Canvas LMS to support multi-model course delivery, while the second part aimed to reinvent first-year physics courses using a new pedagogical model aligned with grand challenges within physics.

 

 

Client background 

The University of Sydney sought to enhance its physics courses by modernising the learning environment and aligning the curriculum with contemporary challenges, around which intricate and hands-on learning could occur. One of the main aims of this redesign was to support student learning and raise retention and knowledge acquisition rates. This was an exemplary course development that laid the foundation for Curio’s redevelopment of all core science courses at the University of Sydney.

 

 

Challenges and objectives 

First-year university students traditionally experienced a good deal of hardship adapting to the pace and scope of learning at university. The University of Sydney noticed that the increased workload and difficult navigation through the material impacted student learning and, ultimately, student success rates. The aim of the redesign was to better support the student journey, to stage learning in engaging ways which enlivened ideas, and to ensure students had sufficient scaffolded support in the course to succeed. Curio worked to create the physics curriculum anew, with profoundly impactful results. To undertake this redesign, Curio undertook the following:
 

  • Redesigned the course structure based on physics concepts instead of a weekly calendar.
  • Created an adaptable model for multiple delivery modes (online, blended, and in-person).
  • Scalability to accommodate more students annually without overwhelming lecturers. 
  • Customisable designs for alternative delivery timeframes. 
  • Constructive alignment of materials with specific learning outcomes. 
  • Reinforcing and interleaving learning to prevent loss of knowledge and increase.

 

Solution provided 

Curio restructured the course layout around fundamental physics concepts, fostering a scaffolded learning journey for students. A navigation system facilitated ease of discoverability and control for students. Curio introduced an innovative pedagogical model aligning the physics curriculum with grand challenges like the Starshot project.

In the physics course, the grand challenge involved using nanocrafts– miniature space probes attached to light sails, which are propelled by a ground-based laser array—with the ultimate aim of sending small probes to Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to Earth.
 

The student journey was structured around phases of imagining, discovering theoretical foundations, guided practice, deep exploration, and evaluation. This model facilitated engagement, mastery, and understanding through progressive learning pathways. 

Curio and the University of Sydney team reimagined the Physics course to follow a structured pathway: Imagine, Discover, Practice, Explore, and Evaluate, aligning each phase with specific learning goals. Structuring the course in this way had the following effects:

  • Engaging students in aspirational modes oriented them to the grand challenges of the field and showcased the problems their professors were working on.
  • Provided guided mastery and formative feedback to enhance learning acumen. 

The team also co-designed the lab experience for online delivery, engaging students in their environment to undertake physics experiments in real-time, often using their mobile phones. It was a challenging, thought-provoking exercise which ruptured traditional physics laboratory models and had students engage in learning within their set environment.

 

                          

                                       

                                            

                                 

 

Results and Impact 

The redesigned Canvas LMS and the pedagogical model transformed the physics learning experience at the University of Sydney. Students engaged with aspirational challenges deepened their theoretical understanding, applied knowledge practically, explored in-depth problems, and evaluated their learning trajectories. The incorporation of progress bars and reinforced learning across the course improved student engagement and prevented knowledge loss. Curio was subsequently invited to rethink and redesign all the core science units at the University of Sydney.
 

Curio’s partnership with the University of Sydney showcases how innovative approaches in LMS redesign and pedagogical models can revolutionise learning experiences. Contact us to explore how our solutions can elevate your institution’s learning environment.

 

 

 

 

about the writer

Matthew Hall

Lead Consultant

Matthew helps teams grow and enables talented Learning Designers to excel. Matthew is most fully engaged on dynamic, pedagogically challenging and creative projects and he loves working with clients to solve difficult problems, especially to do with the scale and speed of their online growth. Learn more about Matthew

More of our work

Re-designing law courses for online learning in collaboration with subject matter experts

As a partner with one of Australasia’s leading universities, we are consistently providing our expert services to create excellent learning experiences for students to gain industry-specific knowledge and practical skills. We collaborated with this institution to combat their problem of insufficient availability of academic and learning design resource to support and translate the common discursive experience of a law course into an asynchronous online course.

Uplifting the Canvas environment for the Howard Hughes Institute

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute is a not-for-profit philanthropic research and teaching organisation which aims to develop individuals in the sciences sector to achieve advances in the sciences. Howard Hughes was looking for support to develop their Canvas LMS, to improve the presentation of their brand in the market and ensure that they had the Uplifting the Canvas environment for the Howard Hughes Institute

A high quality learning in experience in Moodle for London School of Economics

The London School of Economics came to us with the problem that the students on their international programmes were not using the virtual learning environment (VLE) as much as they would have liked. Much of the time the learners would be on the portals provided by local teaching institutions who taught the courses. Feedback was A high quality learning in experience in Moodle for London School of Economics

Creation and delivery of nanoMOOCs hosted in Canvas

The Assessment Research Centre (ARC) is a leading research unit, with a focus on improving assessments, reporting, and credentialing in universities and industry. Through a program of research, commercialisation, teaching and engagement, the Centre aims to solve challenges that face education and training providers. Part of this work involves the creation and delivery of nanoMOOCs, Creation and delivery of nanoMOOCs hosted in Canvas

A fully customised and robust Canvas template for Auckland University of Technology

Curio worked closely with the AUT Learning Transformation LAB (altLab) to design a robust, user-friendly Canvas template to roll out during the LMS migration to improve the user experience. 
Together, we developed a detailed brief of requirements for the template and identified common elements that would be used across faculties and departments. The aim of the template was to provide a consistent look and feel across all courses with sufficient flexibility to cater for the wide range of courses offered by AUT. 

A user-friendly CMS for The Institute of Positive Education

The Institute of Positive Education is an initiative by Geelong Grammar School aimed at improving student wellbeing. Curio Digital worked with the Institute to co-design the Positive Education Enhanced Curriculum (PEEC) portal. PEEC is a research-based explicit Positive Education curriculum that has been developmentally sequenced from Early Learning (age four) through to Year 12.

Boosting Student Employability

Career development learning (CDL) encourages students to develop their career ambitions through reflection and through participation in career-related activities such as work-integrated learning. The literature recognises the benefits of incorporating CDL into university curricula, but institutions often struggle to create materials that academics can adapt and incorporate into existing programmes Edith Cowan University (ECU) partnered Boosting Student Employability

Kids First Stand Up! program

Kids First is an independent child and family services provider and early education specialist. Their vision is for all children and young people to thrive in resilient, strong and safe families and communities. Stand Up! is a face-to-face, facilitated experience for students over four sessions. The program is so popular it was difficult to further Kids First Stand Up! program

Employability micro-credentials for Australian Technology Network

In 2021, Curio successfully designed and delivered a collaboratively career-focused course comprising three micro-credentials to each of the six institutions. “Designing your Future” commenced as a collaboration with Stanford University and Curio successfully designed and developed an online opportunity available to thousands of students.

Expert online tutors for the delivery of Data Science postgraduate programmes

One of the UK’s well-known universities for being a key player in world-leading research activity approached Curio to help them overcome the staff shortages they faced when delivering their master’s programmes in Data Science and AI. Delivering the resource to scale The university saw a rapid increase in student enrolments in both their Data Science Expert online tutors for the delivery of Data Science postgraduate programmes

Custom Canvas template for University of Sydney’s Arrivals Program

The University of Sydney has seen incredible results from the International Arrivals Program since its launch. A dedicated Arrivals Program team, supported by a multitude of stakeholders across the University, Study NSW, NSW Government, and FCM Travel, have worked tirelessly in a continuously changing environment to ensure that students receive the support they require as Custom Canvas template for University of Sydney’s Arrivals Program

High-quality micro-credentials for a leading technology university

In 2020, we partnered with a leading technology university on a pilot project to develop a series of micro-credentials and provide expertise on the design and development of their micro-credential ecosystem. The credentials enable the delivery of high quality, stackable postgraduate micro-credentialled content online, each representing 30 hours of learning. They focus on various themes High-quality micro-credentials for a leading technology university

A high quality learning experience for education students at Santa Clara University

Santa Clara University’s School of Education was working on a new online version of its Masters Programme in Teaching to be launched in the fall of 2023. This programme is being produced in response to the growing demand for a flexible option for students wishing to study and to receive a teaching credential at the A high quality learning experience for education students at Santa Clara University

A new digital ecosystem for a leading accountancy professional body

We worked collaboratively with a leading accountancy membership body to develop the future state vision of their digital learning ecosystem. Their new vision placed members and their personal learning journeys at its centre. The organisation was in the process of shifting to a new direction in professional development and embracing digital technologies to create unique learner experiences. ​

Canvas Template Design and Development

Executive summary Unity Environmental University has partnered with Curio Group to enhance its online learning platform. The collaboration aimed to elevate their Canvas LMS by creating innovative features and a modern interface that enabled student success. Through a series of UX/UI workshops and co-design sessions, both entities pushed boundaries, resulting in an exceptionally beautiful and Canvas Template Design and Development

A flexible, market-facing storefront for Phoenix Australia

Phoenix Australia deliver world-leading mental health and trauma training, programs of research and knowledge translation. Demand for Phoenix’s training increased significantly after Australia’s devastating bush fires over the 2020-21 summer season, before increasing again as Covid-19 hit. With all training delivered face to face, Phoenix sought to rapidly move online to meet demand at this critical time across the country.

An enhanced content experience for students and staff worldwide

The University of Nottingham is a public university with campuses across the UK, China and Malaysia. The University of Nottingham’s Quality Manual contains the University’s policies and regulations across each of its campuses. With a number of content editors across different schools and departments, the structure and contents of the manual had become unwieldly and An enhanced content experience for students and staff worldwide

A strategy to grow educational offerings into international markets for APA

APA is Australia’s professional physiotherapists’ peak membership body and delivers a large portfolio of education and CPD to physiotherapists, including online products. APA sought to explore the opportunity to expand its education offerings to international physiotherapists to increase revenue to reinvest in member value in Australia. APA engaged Curio to: Assess APA’s unique strengths and A strategy to grow educational offerings into international markets for APA

An enhanced member journey for the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy

Situation The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), is a UK-based membership organisation and standard-setting body for accountants who work in the public sector, accounting firms and other professional bodies that manage public funds, with international reach. Alongside standards and policy, CIPFA offers a range of qualifications, training, events and services to its An enhanced member journey for the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy

Optimising Online Learning Designing for the University of New England

Until recently, the university experience was primarily centred around face-to-face interactions, with online learning management systems underutilised, functioning mostly as repositories for lecture slides and reading materials. The University of New England has long remained an outlier in this landscape, specialising in distance education for over 70 years. However, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic and Optimising Online Learning Designing for the University of New England

Enabling carbon literacy among students at the University of Leeds

Leeds University Business School is committed to embedding and promoting sustainable practices both within the school and in wider society. The school sought to create high-quality online carbon literacy training for its students and the wider community at the University of Leeds. Academics at the university had the expertise and partnered with Curio Group to Enabling carbon literacy among students at the University of Leeds

An online transformation for RMIT’s MBA programs

RMIT’s College of Business and Law wished to update their offerings in response to whole-of-university changes to blended learning. The College of Business and Law approached Curio with the challenge: “How should we change our MBA to embrace blended learning opportunities?”. 

Embedding the personalities of educators and an effective social learning model into an online course

Curio partnered with a Group of 8 university, who were moving their hugely successful foundations course in Cyber Security to the online environment. The academic leads had effectively embedded a social learning model where students co-created and shared a “class textbook”, security tips and case studies that built upon content covered in lectures and readings. They sought a partner who could embed the enigmatic personalities of their academic leads and effective social learning model into the new delivery mode to reach their students across the globe.