Center for Scholarly TechnologyFaculty Forum

November 14, 2014

Streamlining Online Course Design for a Better Student Experience

Spatial Sciences Institute

Graduate Programs in Geographic Information Science & Technology

Katsuhiko “Kirk” Oda, Lecturer

Susan H. Kamei, Associate Director

SECTION TITLE | 2

Background

Online Graduate Programs in GIST:

spatial thinking, data acquisition,

integration, analysis, visualization,

application, and development

Goals of working group (Kirk Oda, Karen Kemp, Jordan Hastings,

and Susan Kamei):

• Determine best applicable practices;

• Develop faculty consensus for consistent use of Blackboard

throughout the GIST Programs; and

• Train and support fellow faculty.

SECTION TITLE | 2

Working Group Results

1. Constructed a master Blackboard course “shell” or template.

2. Proposed a common terminology to faculty for adoption.

3. Built consensus on best practices among faculty.

4. Developed concept of

“creative collaborative” which

allows for some course

customization.

SECTION TITLE | 2

Constructing the master course shell (template)

• Re-organized course contents and materials:

• Simplified navigation menu links

• Created “Announcements” as an entrance page

• Introduced “Synopsis” (overview, introduction, objectives)

• Created “Materials” and “Assignments” folders

• Identified common terms

• “Materials” terminology: notes, article, weblinks, handout

• “Assignments” terminology: discussion, tutorial, paper, self-check

• Introduced media

• Self-introduction videos

• Images, hyperlinks, audio, videos

SECTION TITLE | 2

Simplified navigation menu links (Before VS. After)

Before After

SECTION TITLE | 2

Course Home as an Entrance Page (Before)

SECTION TITLE | 2

Announcements as an Entrance Page (After)

SECTION TITLE | 2

Weekly Materials on Blackboard (Before)

SECTION TITLE | 2

Weekly Handout on Blackboard (Before)

SECTION TITLE | 2

Weekly Overview and Objectives ~ Synopsis (After)

SECTION TITLE | 2

Introduction of Concepts ~ Synopsis (After)

SECTION TITLE | 2

Weekly Materials (After)

SECTION TITLE | 2

Weekly Assignments (After)

SECTION TITLE | 2

Weekly Assignments cont. (After)

SECTION TITLE | 2

Building consensus among the SSI faculty members

• Shared updates at monthly faculty meetings.

• May 2014 Spring Faculty Retreat:

• Presentation/Demonstration

• Discussion

• Commitment to convert to new format starting with Summer 2014

courses

SECTION TITLE | 2

Preliminary Student Feedback from SSCI 581

Question 1 (n = 25):The illustrations, videos and

interactions were used in the

right level.

Strongly Agree

Agree

Neither Agree nor Disagree

SECTION TITLE | 2

Question 2 (n = 25)

• I liked the look and feel of the folders and items on the Blackboard course

site.

Strongly Agree

Agree

Neither Agree nor Disagree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

SECTION TITLE | 2

Question 3 (n = 25)

• I could navigate the folders and items on the Blackboard course site very

easily.

Strongly Agree

Agree

Neither Agree nor Disagree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

SECTION TITLE | 2

Question 4 (n = 25)

• The course content was appropriate and was presented in a structured

manner.

Strongly Agree

Agree

Neither Agree nor Disagree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

SECTION TITLE | 2

Question 5 (n = 25)

• The course has improved my knowledge on the subject.

Strongly Agree

Agree

Neither Agree nor Disagree

SECTION TITLE | 2

Students’ voices

Example of Pros

• “I feel that the course is laid out very well on Blackboard.”

• “I appreciate that all the notes in the Announcement section is

also at the top of the Assignments section for each week. It

makes it very easy to reference what assignments need to be

completed.”

Examples of Cons

• “It took me a few tries to get comfortable with the Blackboard

maze. I think it could be simplified.”

• “Perhaps my ignorance, but getting to the week’s assignments

or to the week’s discussion involves navigating several menus

down in the site - explanation how to shortcut or bookmark

would be great.”

SECTION TITLE | 2

Students’ voices: comparison between “old’ and

“new”

• Student experience in “old” course design vs. “new” course design

• Dr. Kemp’s class

• Students who experienced both “old” and “new” versions

SECTION TITLE | 2

Wrap-up

Positive impacts:

• More dynamic and

interactive course sites

• Improved students’

experience across courses

• Increased instructors’ online pedagogical skills

• Enhanced sense of faculty collaborative culture

Fall 2014 – Spring 2015 work:• Continue “cloning” of master course shell for all GIST courses

• Continue course-by-course conversion

• Continue assessment of student and faculty experiences

SECTION TITLE | 2

Thank you!

Kirk Oda (katsuhio@usc.edu)Susan Kamei (kamei@dornsife.usc.edu)