Higher education
Professor Theriault
Course sites, philosophy games, and a thinking tool for college courses in philosophy, ethics, and the humanities.
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Learning happens at a threshold. I design the way across.
Liminal Design is the instructional design practice of Normand Theriault, PhD. I plan, write, and build online courses, branching scenarios, and learning tools for universities and workplace training teams.
Selected work
Each one is a working sample you can open.
Storyline 360
Diplomacy and Tact
Seven workplace scenarios that put a learner's communication skills to the test.
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Rise 360
Instructional Design: Learning Theories and Models
A module on the learning theories and design models behind good courses, from adult learning to ADDIE and SAM.
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Rise 360, Storyline 360, Vyond
Financial Literacy
A lesson on core concepts, then a branching scenario in which a young investor has to decide what to do.
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HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
Monday
An adaptive day in the life of a new team lead, with a running impact meter, a crisis that strikes at a random time, and a debrief that names your habits.
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What I build
One person handles the design, the writing, and the build, so nothing gets lost between them.
Courses in Rise and Storyline
From a subject-matter expert's raw material to a finished, published course: outlining, scripting, building, and testing.
Scenarios and practice
Branching scenarios and decision practice that ask learners to do the thing, not only read about it.
Canvas builds and accessibility
Course shells, pages, and quizzes for Canvas, built to WCAG 2.1 AA so every learner can use them.
Custom interactives
When an authoring tool can't do it, I build it directly in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript: games, simulations, and small tools.
Both sides of the line
I work in higher education and in workplace training, and each makes me better at the other.
Higher education
Online programs and faculty who need courses designed and built for the LMS. I teach online myself, so I build with the instructor's side of the course in mind.
Workplace training
Training teams and learning agencies that need a designer who can also write and build, from a single module to a full course series.
Clients have included
- YU Global
- Amwell
- Mosaic Learning
- TISTA
- Sunset Learning
About Normand
I'm Normand Theriault, an instructional designer and college instructor based near Houston, Texas. I hold a PhD in E-Learning, master's degrees in philosophy and English literature, and a bachelor's in creative writing.
I have taught college courses since 2008, and today I teach philosophy, ethics, and humanities fully online. That mix shapes the work: I write like a teacher, structure like a designer, and build the result myself.
The name comes from limen, the Latin word for threshold. It is the point where a learner has left what they knew and hasn't yet arrived at what they can do. Good design is what makes that crossing short.
Start a project
Tell me what you're building and when you need it. I'll reply by email.