Design with Rachel

Meet Rachel, the Curriculum Companion

Your AI-Powered Curriculum Bestie

Responsive
Assistant for Curriculum,
Human-Centered Design, &
Efficiency
Logistics

Whether you're meeting Rachel for the first time, or she's already your curriculum bestie, this toolkit has everything you need to create totally paw-some, student-focused classes:

Make Outcomes Count (for Everyone) - Observable, measurable SLOs align with UDL and culturally inclusive practices to make learning meaningful. from day one.
UDL & Course Alignment - Making learning meaningful for every student
Chat-ready prompts — copy and paste chat openers that get the curriculum pawty started
Objective Tune-Up Tips — quick checkpoints to be sure every learning objective and SLO is right on point
Quick Alignment Checks — ensure that every activity and assessment maps back to its learning objective and SLO so students see why they're doing the work and keep them engaged
Course Revision Cues —prompt ideas to make a few tweaks based on real student performance data

Let's get this curriculum pawty started! Fur real!!!
xo,
Rachel, CourseAlign Curriculum Companion

UDL & Course Alignment

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) helps you build aligned, inclusive classes that support students from the first lesson to the last assessment.

These FAQs unpack how UDL and course alignment go hand in paw.

UDL & Course Alignment

UDL and Course Algnment

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) provides you and students with a framework for inclusive, flexible learning experiences.

It's proactive instead of reactive like accommodations! It encourages multiple ways to engage students, represent learning content, and let students show you what they really know.

Rachel uses UDL to help you design courses with clear, aligned, accessible outcomes - so every learner, no matter what format, discipline, or background - has a fair shot at reaching the goal.

Check out the CAST UDL Guidelines 3.0 to learn more about the framework.

We have to move from good intentions to intentional design to truly support all learners. Universal Design for learning and culturally sustaining pedagogy take those first steps and huge leaps (CAST, 2024; Meyer & Rose, 2024; Montenegro & Jankowski, 2027) toward scaling equitable practices. We're making sure our aligned outcomes aren't just clear - they're inclusive, flexible, and responsive to student needs across all modalities.

Combining alignment and inclusive design allows us to scale "equity-minded assessment" (Montenegro & Jankowski, 2017) so every student sees themselves in the learning process (CAST, 2024; Meyer & Rose, 2024).

Rachel the Curriculum Companion helps you build with courses alignment and inclusion at the forefront from the get-go!

UDL moves way beyond legal compliance to designing meaningful, inclusive, transparent outcomes (Lowenthal et. al., 2020, 2021).

Clear, aligned, inclusive outcomes mean students don't just pass an assignment or assessent, they understand why it matters, how it connects to what they're learning now and long-term goals, and how to succeed.

Ready to get started? These sections show how Rachel can help you design with clear goals, purposeful choices, paws-itively inclusive intent!

(Adelman, 2015; Biggs, 1996; CAST, 2024; Fovet, 2020; Hanesworth et al., 2019; Li & Rohayati, 2024; Lowenthal et. al., 2021; Meyer & Rose, 2024; Meyer & Rose, 2024; Navarro et al., 2016; Palahicky, 2020)

Student Learning Outcome (SLO) Tips

No more cat herding! Rachel shows you how Adelman's SLO steps can snap your assessments into perfect alignment.

SLO Tips

Only include a modifier if it marks a scored performance level and the performance expectations are specified in the outcome, otherwise rely on the core verb–noun structure. Example - Thoroughly critiques peer prototypes, identifying strengths, weaknesses, and evidence-based improvements. Here thorough(ly) becomes observable and measurable because the outcome specifies exactly what students have to do: identify strengths, weaknesses, and evidence-based improvements.

Rachel's Rule of Paw. Keep qualifiers on a very short leash. If they clearly communicate the performance target to students, they can stay. If they purr vague reassurance without proof (assessment) they need to go.

SLO Tips

Prompt Library

Unleash Rachel's cat-alytic power! Get started with the power prompt library to draft outcomes, map objectives, create student-centered syllabi, equitable assessments, and rubrics in seconds!

Check out the sections for creating a new course or revising an existing one to improve student learning.

New Course Starter Prompts

Get your new course off the ground in minutes with Rachel as your purr-tner! Plug in these prompts to generate and align all your Course Outline of Record (COR) components.

New Course Prompts

New Course Starter Prompts

Course Revision Prompts

These prompts will help you revise your course to make it a fur-midable force of clarity and creativity.

Course Revision Cues

Review the following assessments and for each:

Determine how accurately it measures the intended SLO and suggest alternatives that will provide accurate student learning data
Identify any gaps or potential inequitable practices and suggest specific adjustments, such as alternative formats, removing overlapping tasks, reweighting components.
Provide additional suggestions to ensure equitable, accurate evaluation of student learning.
Provide an evidence-based rationale for each suggestion
[copy and paste assessments]

Suggest at least 3 new activities that will reinforce this SLO and engage students. Include at least one AI-enhanced option:

An AI-driven case vignette with branched feedback
A generative-AI scenario-writing workshop
An adaptive quiz powered by machine learning
For each AI-based enhancement, outline steps to create, implement, and integrate each AI option into my course workflow

[User - copy and paste SLO]

Review my current assessments and grading policy through a Universal Design for Learning lens and identify:

Barriers to access
Barriers to engagement
Suggest at least 3 ways to incorporate multiple means of Engagement, Representation, and Action & Expression to make each assessment more accessible, differentiated, and equitable
Provide an evidence-based rationale for each suggestion

[User - copy and paste assessment(s)]

More Prompts Coming Soon!

Rachel and the CourseAlign team are purr-suing new prompts - think templates, even more detailed course starters, equity scans, even more AI-driven activities.

Check back for more from your AI-powered bestie, Rachel the Curriclum Companion!

(Crompton & Burke, 2023; Dogan, et al., 2023; Lin & Krishna, 2024)

SLO Makeover Prompts

These makeovers turn fuzzy outcomes into focused, measurable goals with one powerful verb.

SLO Makeover Prompts

SLO Makeovers

Before

Students deliver oral responses that are clear and comprehensible to peers and instructors.

After

Students respond to spoken questions in class discussions.

Students deliver oral responses that convey their intended message in class discussions.

🗝️ Verb: deliver (O)

🧠 Why Rachel Revised This Outcome

The original SLO included vague words (improve) and bundled concepts (speaking and listening skills), which made it difficult to assess consistently. It also relied on phrases like "appropriate vocabulary and syntax," which shifts the focus from the student's performance to linguistic correctness without clear criteria. Even terms like "clear" and "comprehensible" can be subjective unless anchored in observable behavior.

Rachel revised the outcome to

Use one, observable, assessable verb.
Focus on a single, real-world performance.
Avoid vague or interpretive descriptors.
Reduce the chance of grading bias based on accent, dialect, or perceived correctness.
Promote equity by aligning assessments with the intended meaning, rather than native-like fluency.
Ensure that the outcome is teachable, assessable, and inclusive.

Before

Students will demonstrate critical thinking and collaboration skills in written and oral formats.

After (Unbundled into two outcomes)

Students evaluate arguments in written essays.

Students collaborate in group discussions to plan oral presentations.

🗝️ Verbs: evaluate (J), collaborate (O)

💬 Why: Each verb targets a distinct skill and performance mode. This enables focused assessment and instructional alignment.

🐾Rachel's Rule of Thumb:

If you see "and" in an SLO, it's probably two verbs disguised in a trench coat.

Break it down. Clarify. Choose the verb that best represents the performance that the course is actually assessing and just use one per outcome.

Before

Students will be taught the steps of the writing process.

After

Students revise their writing based on feedback from instructors or peers.

🗝️ Verb: revise (Group K)

🎯 Focus: Responsiveness to external input

🔵 If the goal is to build self-monitoring and metacognition:

Students revise their writing based on self-assessment using provided criteria.

🗝️ Verb: revise (Group K)

🎯Focus: Metacognitive awareness (self-direction)

💬 Why: “Be taught” centers the instructor. “Revise” centers the learner and links directly to observable written output.

Before

Students will learn about major social justice movements.

After

🧠 Options to Revise It

🟢 Option 1: Choose the focus (if only one matters)

Students analyze the impacts of key social justice movements.

—Or—

Students analyze the causes of key social justice movements.

🔵 Option 2: Unbundle into two outcomes (if both are core)

Students analyze the causes of key social justice movements.

—And—

Students analyze the impacts of key social justice movements on marginalized communities.

✅ Now you can assess reasoning, evidence, and complexity in each dimension without conflation.

🗝️ Verb: analyze (Group J) 💬 Why: “Learn about” is not assessable. “Analyze” shows structure and higher-order reasoning.

🐾 Rachel’s Tip:

Compounded objects (“causes and impacts,” “strengths and weaknesses,” “speaking and listening”) are red flags. Choose the one that maps best to instruction or unbundle them if both are essential to the course.

AI 101

If you're new to AI and GPTs, or just curious how they fit into curriculum development, you're not alone!

This section includes an overview of Artificial Intelligence, Rachel the Curriculum Companion (CourseAlign's AI assistant), and how it supports student learning but could never replace you.

AI 101

The Bottom Line

Rachel supports your thinking and makes your job more efficient.

She's here to help you focus on what matters most — students.

Course Alignment

Why Course Alignment Matters

Strong course alignment supports student learning and makes that learning visible throughout the course.
When learning objectives clearly connect to outcomes and assessments, instructors gain insights to support students before they fall behind, students stay more focused, and everyone understands why the work matters.

Course Alignment 101

Early Intervention - Transparent links between objectives and assessments mean skill gaps surfce quickly, allowing you to support students before they fall behind.
Learner Focus - Persistence and retention increase when students can see how each activity and assignment moves them toward a meaningful, measurable goal.
Program Insight - Alignment results in clear evidence that students have achieved an outcome and provides actionable data for course revisions, accreditation, and continuous improvement efforts (Li & Rohayati, 2024).

List your SLOs. Write the big-picture knowledge or skills students must demonstrate by the end of the course.
Map each outcome to at least one assessment with input from your department or program. Every outcome needs evidence. Every major assessment should have a mapped outcome.
Confirm the assessment fit. Make sure each assessment directly measures the outcome it's linked to - this means no busy work and no outcomes without assessments.
Collaboration counts. Invite a cross-functional team to review the map draft. Fresh eyes might catch misalignments. This also builds shared ownership across the institution. Fresh eyes can also catch ways that programs can support each other!

Hot Tip

Our resident AI-powered, curriculum bestie thinks maybe there's something paw-some on coming that will help you spot map gaps faster than she pounces on a laser dot!

Design with Rachel

Meet Rachel, the Curriculum Companion

Your AI-Powered Curriculum Bestie

UDL & Course Alignment

What's UDL & Why Does Rachel Keep Talking About It?

If You Can't See It, You Can't Support It -

Aligned Doesn't Always Mean Equitable.

More Than Accessibility Checklists

Does UDL Mean I Have to Make My Course Easier?

Student Learning Outcome (SLO) Tips

Write a complete sentence

Put the verb center stage.

Specify the evaluation point.

Describe new learning.

Use present tense.

Anchor the action with a clear object.

Choose discipline-specific verbs.

Limit qualifiers.

Avoid proxy measures.

Avoid mushy language.

Draw from robust verb banks.

Apply the six-word rule.

Prompt Library

New Course Starter Prompts

Student Learning Outcomes

Learning Objectives

Assessments (Methods of Evaluation)

Instructional Strategies (Methods of Instruction)

Course Description

Course Title

Prerequisites & Corequisites

Course Revision Prompts

Gap Analysis & Alignment

Outcome Tune-Up

Objective Tune-Up

Assessments Alignment​

Assessment Rebalance

Activity Refresh​

Rubric Revision

Resource Expansion

Syllabus Refresh​​

UDL Refresh - Assessments

UDL Refresh - Instructional Strategies

Course Pacing Optimization​

More Prompts Coming Soon!

SLO Makeover Prompts

From Passive to Performance

From Awareness to Application

From Conceptual Cluster to Clear Action

From Broad Goal to Functional Outcome

From Overloaded to Unbundled

From Instructor Action to Learner Outcome

From General to Task-Based

From Topic to Action

From Broad Use to Specific Product

From Emotion to Analysis

AI 101

How Rachel Works

What Rachel Doesn't Do

Tips to Help Rachel Help You

The Bottom Line

Why Course Alignment Matters

What is Course Alignment?

Why Alignment Matters

Alignment Quick Start Checklist

Hot Tip

Assessments Alignment

Activity Refresh

Syllabus Refresh

Course Pacing Optimization