Client

The USAID Teacher Education Project implemented by Education Development Center (EDC) supported nearly a hundred universities and teacher colleges across Pakistan to revise their curricula for educators in training. The client came to us to edit and design course guides for their higher ed curricula. The guides support the professional development of teacher trainers and ultimately, the improved quality of classroom instruction.

Challenge

The client gave us an ambitious timeline of six months to create and finalize the writing and design of guides for thirty-three different subjects ranging from arts and calligraphy to science and mathematics. With such a diverse collection of topics, we wanted to conceive a design scheme that felt cohesive and could be used as an organizational tool. The scope of content and writing styles, as well as Urdu-language content within the guides was also as diverse as the subjects covered. This variety made establishing a unifying voice across the guides critically important.

Aha! Moment

We created a design and color coding system that made it easy for people to distinguish one course guide from the next and quickly recognize each one as part of a series.

  • 508 and ADA Accessibility
  • Concept Development
  • Infographics
  • Teaching and Learning Materials
  • Writing and Editing
  • Education
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Solution

We identified an overall color palette and applied color combinations to each guide to help them feel distinct. We edited the language for consistency, ensuring it was still authentic to the universities and schools distributing it. We used and repeated visual cues throughout the guides to ensure that all of them felt like they belonged the same family. 

The design structure made it easy for instructors to find and emphasize content in the classroom. Visual cues like highlighting and tabs across the top of pages to identify units within each course guide help instructors quickly find what they’re looking for. All guides are also 508 compliant, so they are accessible to instructors with disabilities.

We also established a style guide for the text itself, including a standard voice and consistent ways of referencing technical terms. Because the guides use British English, we referenced the Oxford Manual of Style for our style guide.

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Impact

These course guides are now used with confidence by educators teaching a wide range of disciplines across Pakistan. The USAID-supported Teacher Education Project assisted 22 Pakistani Universities and 75 Teacher Colleges to add to and revise their curricula for educators in training. The client came to us to edit, design, and lay out the course guides for their higher ed curricula meant for professional development of teacher trainers and to improve classroom instruction.

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