Online Course Development
51福利社 is dedicated to academic excellence and student success through a thoughtful and structured course development process. This process is a collaboration between the academic colleges and the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) to create and deliver high-quality online courses. The university's approach ensures that all courses, especially those delivered 100% online in an accelerated format, are carefully planned and organized to provide engaging, effective, and high-quality learning experiences.
The Course Development Process at Franklin 51福利社
At the heart of our approach to course development is a focus on student-centered learning and alignment. This means that every element of a course鈥攆rom learning objectives to assignments and assessments鈥攊s intentionally designed to work together to help students achieve specific, measurable learning outcomes. This systematic approach ensures that students gain the knowledge and skills necessary for their academic and professional journeys.
Our course development framework is guided by the following principles:
- Learning Outcomes: Courses are built around clear, measurable learning outcomes that define what students should be able to know or do upon completion. These outcomes are often tied to program-level goals and the university's broader General and Liberal Education (GLE) outcomes.
- Active Learning: We encourage the use of active learning strategies, which involve students in the learning process rather than having them passively receive information. These strategies, such as group work, problem-based learning, and discussions, are incorporated to promote deeper understanding and critical thinking.
- Assessment and Feedback: Courses are designed with a variety of assessments that are directly linked to the learning outcomes. This allows faculty to provide meaningful feedback, helping students gauge their progress and improve their performance.
- Flexibility and Innovation: Franklin 51福利社 recognizes the importance of adapting to the evolving landscape of education. Our process supports the creation of courses in various modalities, including face-to-face, hybrid, and online formats, and encourages the integration of new technologies and pedagogical approaches.
A Collaborative and Structured Approach to Course Development
The development of online course at 51福利社 is a collaborative partnership between a Subject Matter Expert (SME) and the CTL's Instructional Designers (ID).
- Subject Matter Expert (SME): The SME is a faculty member who provides deep disciplinary knowledge, research expertise, and pedagogical experience. They are responsible for developing all the course content, including lecture material, assignments, and assessments.
- Instructional Designer (ID): The CTL's Instructional Designer specializes in online pedagogy, learning theory, and educational technology. They work with the SME to design engaging and accessible online learning experiences, ensuring the course aligns with university standards and best practices.
This collaborative process is designed to enhance student academic performance by ensuring courses are well-planned and organized
Key Principles and Outcomes
Our course development framework is guided by the following key principles and leads to specific outcomes:
- Academic Rigor: We maintain high academic standards while leveraging the flexibility of online learning to create dynamic and interactive learning environments.
- Student-Centered Design: Courses are built around clear, measurable learning outcomes and designed to foster active learning and critical thinking. Assessments are directly linked to these objectives to help students achieve desired outcomes.
- Quality Assurance: The process includes regular review and revision cycles to ensure courses adhere to institutional guidelines and best practices for online delivery. A course review is completed and shared with the development team, and any necessary revisions are made.
- Accessibility and Inclusion: The CTL ensures that courses are accessible to all students, including those with
disabilities, by applying principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). This includes adhering to standards like Section 508 of the Federal Americans with
Disabilities Act.
The Course Development Process
The course development process follows a clear roadmap, beginning with a formal request from the academic college or department. The final date for a course to begin development is three months (90 days) before the start of the term in which it will be offered. The process includes several phases:
- Kick-Off Meeting: The SME and ID meet to establish a timeline, define roles, and discuss initial course design elements.
- Course Planning & Design: The SME and ID work together to finalize learning outcomes, chunk course content, and develop assessment plans.
- Course Development: The CTL's ID builds all course modules, including the syllabus and an introduction, within the Learning Management System (LMS).
- Course Review & Revisions: The SME, ID, and college representative review the completed course and make any necessary revisions.
- Launch: The finalized course is copied into the live term and delivered to students.
- Maintenance Mode: After the first offering, the course is reviewed for areas of improvement, with a full redesign recommended every 3-5 years
Online Course Requirements
Online courses at Franklin 51福利社 follow the design principles outlined in the SUNY OSCQR 4.0 guidelines.
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Online Course Design Best Practices
Course Materials
Course Activities
- Provide multiple, shorter activities in each unit, lesson, etc., that enable students
to demonstrate their understanding of new concepts, knowledge, and skills in multiple
ways.
- If information is important enough to be required reading/watching in the course, there should be an activity that enables/requires students to use that information and/or to demonstrate that they have done so.
- Provide timely and meaningful feedback to activities and assignments that informs students about areas of misunderstanding and encourages them to review and correct before moving on to the next lesson.
- When possible, provide students with opportunities to interact with their classmates in activities/assignments and to demonstrate understanding in multiple means (e.g., paper, video, poster).
Synchronous: Using video conferencing such as Zoom or Teams to answer questions.
Asynchronous: Threaded discussion to allow students to post questions.
- Provide variety. Use different formats for instructional content, such as text, videos, audio, and interactive media, to accommodate diverse learning styles.
- Break down content. Break up lectures into smaller, manageable segments. For example, recorded lecture segments should ideally be between 7-10 minutes long to allow students to digest the material.
- Use effective visuals. Incorporate visuals, images, and animations that enhance your presentation and make the material more accessible.
- Align materials with objectives. Ensure all course materials and activities directly support the course's learning outcomes.
Key Reasons for Instructional Alignment
- Clarity for Students: When a course is aligned, students can clearly see how each reading, assignment, and activity helps them achieve the course's stated learning objectives.
- Academic Rigor and Integrity: Alignment helps maintain high academic standards by ensuring that assessments directly measure whether students have met the learning outcomes.
- Effective Assessment: Assessments that are aligned with learning objectives allow instructors to accurately determine whether students have achieved the desired learning outcomes.
- Enhanced Student Engagement: A well-aligned course fosters student engagement by providing a clear and logical path to success. When students understand the "why" behind their tasks, they are more motivated to participate and perform well.
Course Design - best practices
- Consistent Structure: Each module should follow a predictable format so students know what to expect and where to find materials. This reduces confusion and allows students to focus on the content rather than on navigating the course. A consistent structure includes a clear title, a list of learning objectives, and a logical progression of readings, activities, and assignments.
- Clear Learning Objectives: Every module should begin with specific, measurable learning objectives. These objectives act as a roadmap for the students, helping them understand what they should be able to know or do upon completion of the module.
- Managable Course Content: Break down large topics and course content into smaller, manageable "chunks". This makes the material less overwhelming and easier for students to process and retain.
- Aligned Activities and Assessments: All module activities and assessments should be directly aligned with the stated learning objectives. This ensures that every task serves a clear purpose and helps measure student achievement of the desired outcomes.
- Integrated Engaging and Varied Materials: Use a variety of content formats to keep students engaged and to accommodate different learning styles. This can include required readings, video lectures, interactive exercises, and supplemental resources. Keep video lectures to a reasonable length to prevent cognitive overload.
- Fosters Interaction: Design opportunities for students to interact with you (the instructor), the course content, and each other. This could involve discussion forums, collaborative projects, or peer-review activities.
- Is Accessibile: All module content, including videos and documents, must meet accessibility requirements. This involves providing captions for videos, ensuring reading order is correct, and using appropriate alt tags for images. 51福利社's Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) assists with this by ensuring courses adhere to Section 508 of the Federal Americans with Disabilities Act.
If you have questions about online course design, please contact the Center for Teaching and Learning!