Forward-oriented designing for learning as a means to achieve educational quality

In this paper, we reflect on how Design for Learning can create the basis for a culture of educational quality. We explore the process of Design for Learning within a blended, undergraduate university course through a teacher-led inquiry approach, aiming at showing the connections between the process of Design for Learning and academic staff/student reflections on educational quality. As emerges from the evidence collected, forward-oriented design - which is Design for Learning as iterative and participatory practice - supports meta-learning on the practices and values of educational quality. We introduce in depth the two main constructs adopted in our work - Design for Learning and educational quality - in order to understand the ongoing debate in these two separate (but convergent) areas of research. The four phases (design for configuration, design for orchestration, design for reflection and design for redesign) show the impact of design on educational quality reflections and practices. Alongside the process of Design for Learning, the data are collected and analysed adopting different methods that enable the researchers to better understand the diverse perspectives of staff and students. We conclude that Design for Learning can be deemed a mediational instrument to explore methods of transforming existing educational situations into desired situations, linking the vision of educational quality with concrete practices of the teacher and students' daily activities.