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Ian Frank, Future University Hakodate, JapanAbstract
In multi-week university courses, especially those taught annually or intermittently, instructors can face the challenge of erosion of pedagogical memory. After a year, it may be surprisingly difficult to recall the original intent behind activities, examples, and conceptual transitions. We discuss how the simple, low-cost intervention of assigning each week a concise title or one-sentence summary can have an outsized impact, functioning as instructor-facing micro-advance organisers. This observation arose through reflective analysis and iterative engagement with a low-code class materials system, where the need to manage and update course artefacts made these micro-design elements especially visible. Whereas ideas such as Lang’s Small Teaching focus on micro-activities inside the classroom, the emphasis here is on micro-design decisions that shape both the structure of a course and the cognitive experience of the educator. Drawing on Ausubel’s theory of advance organisers, narrative cognition, and the broader metaphor of wayfinding, the paper argues that weekly titles serve as conceptual landmarks that orient instructors within a course’s evolving narrative. This kind of signposting holds broad relevance across learning contexts, as it requires no technology, budget, or institutional infrastructure, making it readily transferable across resource-diverse settings. The paper develops a pedagogical wayfinding perspective and discusses practical implications for reflective teaching practice, faculty development, and the design of teaching environments, suggesting that although sustainable improvement is often pursued through large-scale reform, small and reusable design practices may offer an under-appreciated pathway.
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Conference: ACEID2026Stream: Teaching Experiences
This paper is part of the ACEID2026 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Frank I. (2026) Weekly Titles as Micro-Advance Organisers: Small Design Choices for Pedagogical Memory ISSN: 2189-101X – The Asian Conference on Education & International Development 2026 Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 579-589) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2189-101X.2026.47
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2189-101X.2026.47
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