A Theory-Based Course Development Framework: A Case Study

In this paper, the authors first introduce a theory-based course development framework that organically combines learner-centered design, backward design, project-based learning, and universal design for learning. The authors then describe their design considerations in the developing of an Introduction to FinTech course following the proposed framework. Qualitative data gathered from interviews with students who took the course and the course developer was analyzed to verify the effectiveness of the developed course. The results suggest that the proposed framework is well suited for the Introduction to FinTech course. A list of best practices, along with potential improvements drawn from the data analysis, are presented. The primary contribution of the paper is the proposed theory-based course development framework, which is flexible and can be easily adapted to guide the design and development of computing courses in various subjects.