Course Development Process
Welcome to our streamlined course development process. This approach ensures that each developing faculty member will receive the necessary support and resources while maintaining the autonomy to develop your course effectively. With regular support and structure, CTLE aims to help you create high-quality, engaging, and accessible learning experiences for your students.
Throughout this process, you will collaborate with learning designers, department chairs/directors, and other stakeholders to evaluate, design, develop, and refine your course. Regular consultations, quality assurance checks, and continuous support ensure that your course aligns with institutional standards and meets the evolving needs of your students. As the developing faculty member (DF), you will be responsible for creating content and course elements (including discussion boards, content pages, assignments, assessments, gradebook, etc.) within the LMS course shell, with support from a learning designer. This holistic approach not only enhances your course development experience but also contributes to the overall success and satisfaction of your learners.
Timelines and deadlines are based on your needs and CTLE support availability. Chairs and Directors will be kept updated on progress and deadlines and will work with you to ensure that courses are delivered as needed by the department. Contracts must be completed within a year of the initiating date, or at an earlier date determined by the chair/director.
Features
- Dedicated Support Team: A team of CTLE team members will work closely with you throughout the entire development process.
- Tailored Course Design: Receive customized assistance in designing course structure, content, assessments, and learning activities to meet your specific needs and goals.
- Regular Consultations: Engage in regular meetings and consultations to ensure that your vision and objectives are fully realized.
- eLearning Development Integration: Benefit from professional support in integrating multimedia elements, such as videos, interactive activities, and graphics, to enhance student engagement.
This process ensures that you, the developing faculty member, receive guided support, to create a seamless, engaging and effective learning experience for our students.
Phase 1: Evaluate Course for Potential Development or Revision
Goals/Tasks
- A course is identified for potential development or revision.
- Review current master syllabus and learning outcomes, and adjust as needed.
- If necessary, any new/revised course outcomes have been approved by the curriculum committee.
- Master Syllabus approved
- Review existing course materials (if applicable).
- Analyze course alignment with program objectives and institutional standards.
- Identify areas for improvement or innovation (Review D2L Course analytics and End of Course Surveys).
- Assess potential resource needs and constraints.
- Developing faculty members will meet with the chair to discuss review items and determine whether to submit a request to develop or revise a course.
- Parties involved
- Developing Faculty Member
- Department Chair
Phase 2: Course Approval
- Goals/Tasks
- Obtain formal approval to proceed with course development from chair or director.
- Chair or director will submit a request form for new course development, substantial course revision, or textbook updates. The request form can also be found on CTLE homepage or Request Help page.
- Secure necessary resources and budget allocation.
- Meet with CTLE to review contract and expectations for course development.
- Developing Faculty Member sign’s contract.
- Learning Designer is assigned to support course design and development.
- Parties involved
- Developing Faculty Member
- Department Chair or Director
- CTLE
Phase 3: Initial Consultation and Planning
- Goals/Tasks
- Developing faculty member completes the Course Overview Form before initial meeting with learning designer.
- Schedule meeting with the developing faculty member and learning designer to create course development vision, goals, plan, and timeline. Learning designer will go over the Module Design Template.
- Learning designer and developing faculty member schedule regular meetings (every 1-3 weeks) for the duration of the course development process. These required meetings will be more frequent during the development of the first two modules.
- Developing faculty will review key assignments.
- Development course shell is created and shared to developing faculty member.
- Identify potential technology integrations and accessibility needs.
- Course development SharePoint folder will be set up by CTLE. Folder will include course development documents, and this is where all developing course documents must be housed.
- Parties Involved
- Developing Faculty Member
- Learning Designer
Phase 4: Course Design
- Goals/Tasks
- Learning designer and developing faculty member hold collaborative sessions to design the course structure, content, and assessment strategies. See Course planning and design resources.
- At the completion of Module 1 design, developing faculty member and learning designer review module 1 design document.
- Complete the Module Design Templates for each module (8 or 16).
- Learning designer and developing faculty member update timeline as needed.
- Parties Involved
- Developing Faculty Member
- Learning Designer
Phase 5: Content Development
- Goals/Tasks
- Learning designer will meet with developing faculty member to support the creation of modules 1 and 2 by demonstrating how to create D2L course items (including module pages, assignments, quizzes, gradebook, rubrics, etc.)
- Developing faculty member will create content in D2L course shell using content from Module Design Templates.
- Developing faculty member will assure that all content complies with ADA and copyright regulations using a provided quality assurance checklist
- Once module 1 and 2 are completed with to the satisfaction of the developing faculty member and the learning designer, the developing faculty member will continue to develop the remainder of modules in the course shell.
- Developing faculty member and learning designer will continue to meet on a regular basis.
- The developing faculty member and learning designer request that the e-learning developer create appropriate multimedia content such as videos and interactive activities.
- Parties Involved
- Developing Faculty Member
- Learning Designer
- eLearning Developer
Phase 6: Quality Assurance and Revision
- Goals/Tasks
- The course undergoes a series of quality assurance checks.
- Developing faculty member will complete quality assurance checklist, including ADA and copyright compliance.
- Quality assurance reviewer assigned uses quality assurance checklist
- Chair reviews course using quality assurance checklist
- Learning designer review using quality assurance checklist
- The developing faculty member makes revisions based on review feedback.
- Final check by learning designer
- Final check by chair/director
- Parties involved
- Developing Faculty Member
- Learning Designer
- Assigned Reviewers
- Chair or Director
- E-Learning Developer
Phase 7: Approval and Payment
- Goals/Tasks
- Final approval – Once everything is complete, the developing faculty member and the chair or director will complete the approval form and submit it to the learning designer for payment.
- Faculty gets payment.
- LMS Administrator will notify developing faculty member and chair when delivery course shell is created.
- Parties Involved
- Developing Faculty Member
- Learning Designer
- Assigned Reviewers
- Chair
- LMS Administrator
Phase 8: Launch and Evaluation
- Goals/Tasks
- The course is launched and taught by the developing faculty member.
- Developing faculty member makes notes during the first delivery of the course.
- Developing faculty member will review D2L course analytics. (Suspended until we have a data analyst to support the process)
- Learning Designer will send first course run survey to DF with option to schedule meeting.
- Developing faculty member may make further adjustments on course content per analytics and survey results.
- Parties involved
- Developing Faculty Member
- Instructor(s) of the course
- Learning Designer
- Chair or Director
Phase 9: Ongoing Support and Revision
- Goals/Tasks
- Continuous support is provided for any needed course updates or technical issues.
- Periodic reviews to update the course based on new educational technologies or pedagogical advancements.
- Parties involved
- Developing Faculty Member
- Instructors of the course
- Learning Designer
- Institutional Research (Optional)
- Chair (Optional)
Textbook Update Process
Visit the Textbook Update Process page to access detailed guidelines and step-by-step instructions for reviewing, revising, and approving course material changes in an online course. This resource is an essential tool for ensuring that your course content remains current and effective.
