Working in education requires constant evolution, but our educational landscape is stretching beyond what our original frameworks were built to handle. Today's university students rarely fit the traditional mould of financially supported, full-time learners living on campus with unlimited study time. As Hills et al. notes, "Globally, higher education is not an inclusive environment," and moving away from a "one-size-fits-most" approach has become essential for supporting our increasingly diverse classrooms¹.

The solution appears straightforward—invest in proactive rather than reactive approaches to create truly inclusive spaces. However, the biggest barrier our educators face, cited consistently across institutions, is time itself ². They are time-poor and lack the bandwidth to redesign their learning environments while managing their existing responsibilities.

Analysing Our Professional Development Landscape

At the University of Sydney, we conducted a comprehensive review of our existing offerings. We had workshops supporting educational technology, a graduate certificate in higher education for professional development, consultations for small challenges, and ongoing support for larger semester-long projects. However, a significant gap remained.

What we lacked was a dedicated space for in-person, intensive collaboration focused on design challenges ahead of the semester. We recognised the need for an opportunity where academics could work closely with educational design specialists, share ideas with colleagues, and engage deeply with inclusive design while foregrounding Universal Design for Learning (UDL) pedagogies that focus on removing barriers for learners.

Developing the Intensive Model

The Proactive Design Intensive emerged as our response — a hands-on, immersive two-to-three-day workshop built around proactive, intentional, and inclusive design principles. Participants bring a clear, actionable project and work within a focused, supportive, and collaborative environment to either recreate existing course materials or generate new ones.

The format integrates expert-led sessions on critical aspects of proactive design with dedicated time for individual project development, all supported by our educational design teams. Participants address real challenges with concrete outcomes in mind, from refining assessments and developing inclusive learning activities to aligning outcomes with rubrics.

Demonstrable Impact and Participant Outcomes

We have now run the PDI three times, and the feedback demonstrates significant impact beyond traditional professional development. According to our anonymous participant surveys, 100% of participants rated the PDI as “useful” or “extremely useful”, and feedback suggests the experience creates lasting change in teaching practices:

"The workshop was an absolutely wonderful experience that developed not only the specific task/unit I was working on during the two days but will have significant longer-term impacts on my teaching practices."

Another participant described the transformative nature of the process:

"I walked in feeling overwhelmed and unsure. I walked out with clarity, a solid plan, and real progress I could be proud of."

The projects emerging from these intensives demonstrate meaningful innovation. Participants have developed solutions ranging from responsible AI integration in assessments to interactive video quizzes, creating substantial improvements that extend well beyond compliance requirements.

Beyond Individual Transformation

One of our most unexpected discoveries has been the community that emerges from these intensives. Participants consistently mention how valuable it is to "hear what other people's challenges were and their solutions." These connections extend far beyond the workshop itself, creating networks of support across faculties where educators continue sharing ideas and troubleshooting challenges together.

Even our Educational Designers have found the PDI format allows for deeper, more meaningful collaboration than traditional consultations. As one designer put it, the PDI creates "a space to ask powerful questions, and to really think through the answers in a structured, supportive environment."

This community has grown beyond our university walls. The PDI approach has gained national and international recognition at UDL:Con 2024, the UDL Symposium in 2024 and 2025, and HERDSA 2025, with other institutions now adopting similar models.

The Proactive Path Forward

The PDI represents something fundamental about how we approach educational design — shifting from reactive fixes to proactive planning. It's about creating space for the thoughtful, collaborative work that transforms both teaching practices and student experiences.

The model is inherently scalable. Whether you're at a large research university or a smaller institution, the core principles remain the same: dedicated time, expert support, peer collaboration, and focus on inclusive design can transform how educators approach their craft.

Interested in learning more about implementing proactive design approaches at your institution? Connect with us to explore how the PDI model might work in your context.

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Banner image source: Chat GTP

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