Online Course Redesign

Course redesign is an activity that instructors participate in each time they modify their course. The concept of aligning assignments and assessments to the course syllabi is a common understood practice among faculty who teach at a community college. The Title V online course redesign activity is a process that instructors engage in to align their course to CCC's Quality Matters standards and enhance their courses with interactive and active learning pedagogy. Through Title V funding, faculty have the support and resources available to engage in this task.

Quality Matters Training

One of the first steps of the redesign process is to ensure that all faculty undergo training through Quality Matters, a nationally recognized organization known for its "peer-based approach to quality assurance and continuous improvement in online education" (Quality Matters, 2016). Title V funds are used to enroll faculty who have not received previous QM training into the online, two-week workshop, "Applying the Quality Matters Rubric" (APPQMR).  After receiving training, instructors begin planning how to redesign their courses using the QM rubric as a baseline and consider other technology components they might want to use to make the course more engaging for their students.  As a QM Subscriber we use a modified version of the Official QM Rubric to conduct internal Peer Reviews.  A nine-person team worked for several weeks to created a revised version of the CCC Peer Review Rubric, based on the QM Rubric.  So far, 12 courses have gone through the process.

Implementing the Redesign Plan

Instructors from across campus have worked to enhance their online courses through the Title V redesign process.  Our instructors have worked with the Faculty Development Center to learn best practices while aligning their Canvas courses to Clovis Community College's Course Review Standards.  We have a variety of ways to incorporate videos into our courses using Yuja, Learning Glass and Camtasia to enhance lectures for online learners.  Dr. Aaron Anderson (History), Ms. Melissa Reed (Business), and Ms. Monica Turner (Accounting) have all added weekly instructional videos to their courses with these products.   Our classes have been revamped for easier navigation and some Science instructors have added a series of lecture videos and lab demonstrations for both their online and face-to-face students.  We have an instructor piloting using Yuja to hold virtual office hours for her students this semester.

What do our instructors have to say about it?

"I was initially hesitant to put my Introduction to Business course through a Quality Matters Peer Review Evaluation.  I felt nervous and intimidated at the thought of my course being closely evaluated by a panel of my peers.  However, I put those feelings aside because my ultimate goal is to create a course environment where all students have the ability to learn, grow and reach his or her fullest potential.  I also quickly learned that my initial feelings were completely unwarranted.  The process was well managed and smooth.   After the initial call, my role was to take a backseat and let the experts do their work.  The feedback I received was invaluable.  It reinforced everything I was doing right and paved a way for what could be improved upon.  the feedback never felt punitive but helpful and honest.  Furthermore, it is not mandatory that I implement all the suggestions provided.  I really like that I have the freedom and autonomy to decide how to use the results of the Quality Review.  This ensures that I never lose my sense of self in the process and that my classes are able to stay authentically mine.  The QM process allowed me to be the best version of myself so that I can be a pathway to student success, not an obstacle." - Melissa Reed, MBA

"Don't get intimidated with the application of the QM rubric, and don't try to 'fix' everything at once.  Take what functions and features you already have in the course, and then work methodically through the rubric and first make improvements where you can without ripping the structure of your course apart.  It will give you new ideas on how to apply more improvements, and even if you don't achieve alignment at first, you have begun a process that will really improve your course over time." - Dr. Aaron Anderson, History