13 Foundations of Course Design
Foundations of Course Design (formerly known as FlexStudio) was originally a six-hour face-to-face workshop required for faculty who wanted to engage in course development with the Office of Teaching and Learning. It has gone through several iterations and now has all materials online.
The Foundations of Course Design messages are as follows:
- Intentional course design benefits faculty and supports student success.
- Concepts such as Backward Design and measurable learning objectives can apply to any course.
- A Course Design Plan document helps organize courses as they are designed.
- OTL can provide support to faculty who are designing courses.
Participating faculty will be given a link to the Foundations of Course Design Pressbook, which reviews the principles of Backward Design and guides faculty through a complete Course Design Plan (CDP). The assigned ID will facilitate the experience and help prepare the CDP for review.
Once complete, the CDP will be reviewed by other IDs through a process similar to a course review. Results will be sent to the facilitating ID, the reviewers, and the Rachel Billings (Coordinator). After any necessary adjustments, the CDP will be sent to the Seth Gurell (IDA Director) for final approval, after which the faculty OTL transcript will be updated to include completion of Foundations of Course Design.
Use this form to submit the CDP for ID review: Submit Course Design Plan for Review
Use this form to submit the revised CDP to Seth for final FCD approval: Foundations of Course Design – Approval
There are two pathways faculty can take to complete the Foundations pedagogical experience:
- A service ticket request (“no dev”)
- Integration with a course development (“with dev”)
We have two separate pathways so those faculty who are not doing a dedicated course development can still participate in the experience.
Service Ticket Request (No Dev)
The experience happens over several meetings, scheduled and led by an ID facilitator.
- Faculty submit a Foundations of Course Design Registration form indicating they want to participate in Foundations of Course Design.
- An ID takes the ticket and sends out a request for the initial meeting as part of a Welcome email, which includes a link to the Pressbook and an explanation of what to expect.
- Meetings are conducted using meeting guides so that faculty get a consistent experience regardless of the facilitating ID. The meetings are for discussing Backward Design Principles and to guide faculty through the process of completing a CDP.
- After each meeting, the ID will send an email summarizing what was covered and give the faculty a reading assignment for the next meeting. (See the boilerplate emails for each topic listed in the OTL SharePoint Foundations of Course Design files.) Faculty can download a copy of the CDP and complete it as they work through the Pressbook or wait until they finish the Pressbook and fill it out then.
- Once the CDP is complete, the ID will share a link to the CDP with the Rachel Billings (Coordinator) through the Submit Course Design Plan Review form. Make sure she has full access to the file. Rachel will make a copy of the CDP and put it in a review folder only she and Seth can access so it can be distributed anonymously to the reviewers.
- The CDP will be assigned to two (2) IDs (not including the facilitator ID) for review. Reviewers use a Qualtrics survey to complete the review. If you are a reviewer, DO NOT add comments to the CDP. Use the Qualtrics survey. Reviews are supposed to be anonymous.
- Review results will be sent to the facilitating ID, the reviewers, and the coordinator.
- If there are serious concerns about the reviewers’ comments, discuss them first with Seth Gurell (IDA Director) before meeting with the faculty to make changes to the CDP.
- After any necessary adjustments to the CDP, fill out the Foundations of Course Design – Approval form. Include a link to the CDP where you made the changes and the review report. These will go to Seth Gurell (IDA Director) for final approval.
- Once the CDP is approved, the faculty OTL transcript will be updated to include completion of Foundations of Course Design.
Course Development Integration (With Dev)
For this pathway, the Foundations of Course Design experience is integrated with course development. If appropriate, IDs might use the Dedicated Build Initial Email boilerplate when making initial contact with faculty.
In the first meeting with faculty, IDs may promote the Foundations of Course Design experience to those who have not worked with OTL previously to design a course. If faculty choose to participate, the experience proceeds as it would with a “No Dev” experience. Emails and meeting schedules will need to be adjusted to fit the situation according to ID discretion.
If a faculty elects to continue with Foundations of Course Design, the ID will update the FCD column on the Monday.com board to “In Process,” which automatically generates an FCD Subitem. Meeting notes should be included in the FCD Subitem updates so we can track the topics covered and activities completed during meetings with the faculty.
The main difference in a “With Dev” experience comes with the CDP review. Adjustments necessary to address reviewer comments will still need to be made if the faculty wish to complete the Foundations experience and have it added to their faculty OTL transcript. However, course development must not be postponed while waiting for CDP review results.
When the ID feels the CDP is ready for review, the ID will share a SharePoint link to the CDP with the Rachel Billings (Coordinator) through the Submit Course Design Plan Review form. Make sure Rachel has full access to the file. At that point, the ID will mark the “Submit CDP” column as “Submitted via form.”
Rachel Billings (Coordinator) will make a copy of the CDP and put it in a review folder only she and Seth can access so it can be distributed anonymously to the reviewers. At this point, Rachel will change the “Design Review” column to “Review at PM.”
The ID and the faculty may continue to make adjustments during course development as needed.
When the review comes back, apply any necessary adjustments to the original CDP. At this point, the ID may mark the “Design Review” column as “Revising.”
- If there are significant changes to the CDP and you need access to the original version sent for review, contact Rachel Billings (Coordinator).
If there are serious concerns about the reviewers’ comments, discuss them first with Seth Gurell (IDA Director) before meeting with the faculty to make changes to the CDP.
Once concerns are resolved, fill out the Foundations of Course Design – Approval form to send the CDP and the review report to Seth Gurell (IDA Director) for final approval. When the CDP is approved, Rachel Billings (Coordinator) or Seth Gurell (IDA Director) will mark the Design Review column as “Done.” Seth is the only one authorized to mark the FCD column for the course as “Done.”
After the CDP is approved, the faculty OTL transcript will be updated to include completion of Foundations of Course Design.
Compensation for Course Design Plans is tied to the approval by the assigned Instructional Designer (and IDA Director) and not to the completion of the Foundations of Course Design experience milestones.
Approved Course Design Plans
Once a CDP is approved, Rachel Billings (Coordinator) will save a copy in the IDA Course Development SharePoint (Documents > Course Design Plans > FCD > Approved FCD CDPs).
Changes/Issues with Foundations of Course Design
For questions about the process or workflow, please contact Julie Swindler (ID FCD). For issues with review surveys and Monday.com automations, please contact Rachel Billings (Coordinator).