Designing for Intrinsically Motivated Students Using Fink's Taxonomy
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Presenter Bio
Kerry Foley, an experienced learning experience designer and instructor at the Harvard Division of Continuing Education, combines her love of media and education to craft engaging, accessible learning experiences. After 15+ years at Harvard leading teams with expertise in asynchronous course development, learning experience design, and multimedia production, she is now working with experts at Perkins School for the Blind to launch an online initiative to extend the knowledge and expertise of Perkins teachers to special educators and related service providers around the world.
Presentation Description
When courses emphasize meaning over coverage, students’ intrinsic motivation and capacity for lasting learning deepen. This session presents Fink’s Taxonomy of Significant Learning as a practical framework for aligning goals, experiences, and assessment—expanding beyond traditional cognitive domains to include caring, the human dimension, and learning how to learn. Through a constructivist lens, we’ll explore approaches to designing assignments that spark engagement and foster enduring learning, alongside strategies for clarifying grading criteria and streamlining feedback. The focus is on giving faculty tools to cultivate richer learning without added workload or loss of autonomy, connection, or impact.
Pre-Session Materials
READ
What is the Taxonomy of Significant Learning and how does it differ from Bloom’s Taxonomy? (Intentional Teaching College):
https://intentionalcollegeteaching.org/finks-taxonomy-of-significant-learning/
Excerpt: A Self-Directed Guide to Designing Courses for Significant Learning (6 pages, L.D. Fink): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iisMQftBz-nRN9Qt4X9dV3W07IaHNTS5/view
Optional longer version for those who want to go further after the session...
A Self-Directed Guide to Designing Courses for Significant Learning: https://www.bu.edu/sph/files/2014/03/www.deefinkandassociates.com_GuidetoCourseDesignAug05.pdf
Post-Session Exercise
Redesign 1 assignment with Fink's in mind:
- Start by articulating your big course goal: "2-3 years after the course is over, I want my students to _________."
- In what ways does your course offer students the opportunity to engage with the following Fink's dimensions? Think of 1-2 outcomes for each. If you don't currently leverage a dimension, write an idea for what you could add/change about your course to incorporate more of that dimension.
Foundational Knowledge → Application → Integration → Human Dimension → Caring → Learning How to Learn →
- Choose 1 major assignment for your course.
How does it align with the big course goal you articulated in step 1?
Brainstorm ways to leverage the Fink's framework to better align it with the big course goal. What evidence do you need to see from students to feel confident that they'll achieve your course goal? In what ways does your current assignment allow students to show you that evidence? How might you adjust the assignment to give students more opportunities to demonstrate their abilities?
Publication Date
11-10-2025
Campus
Berklee Online
Recommended Citation
Foley, Kerry and Pedagogy Arts Collective, "Designing for Intrinsically Motivated Students Using Fink's Taxonomy" (2025). Pedagogy Arts Collective. 25.
https://remix.berklee.edu/pac/25