How can an engineering design methodology be applied to improve a review process for online courses? Presenters will discuss outcomes of a partnership between industrial engineering students and instructional designers to design a system for a quality-course certification program using a Six-Sigma design methodology. Participants will reflect on how this design methodology could be applied in their own programs and processes.
In summer 2017, the Center for Distributed Learning (CDL) at our institution implemented processes for recognizing the development of quality online courses as a strategy to address the statewide goal of creating a culture of quality for online education in Florida’s State University System 2025 Strategic Plan for Online Education. In the first two years, more than 200 online courses at the institution earned Quality or High Quality designations. Despite the effort, the number of designations and reviews is not yet on target. In Spring 2019, a group of senior students in the same institution’s Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems (IEMS) partnered with CDL to further improve the course review processes by designing a system for our quality and high-quality review certification program using a Six-Sigma design methodology.
The purpose of the cross-disciplinary design project was to standardize and maximize the process flow of the quality and high-quality review procedures. For this project, the IEMS team used Six Sigma’s DMAIC methodology, which is recommended by the International Organization for Standardization for improving an organization’s existing processes. The DMAIC methodology has five stages: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control (DMAIC). The IEMS team used the DMAIC methodology to better define the CDL's existing procedures and increase efficiency in processing time for course reviews to yield higher course review throughput.
In the Define stage, the IEMS team identified the quality process’ suppliers, inputs, process, outputs, and customers (SIPOC) to identify all key stakeholders in the program any missing connections between requirements and stakeholders.
In the Measure stage, the team collected data to observe the system’s behavior in light of its definition.
In the Analyze stage, the team considered potential root causes of problems identified in the Measure stage and then developed hypotheses of the causes and worked test them using Time Analysis, Value-Added Analysis, and Value Stream Mapping.
In the Improve stage, the team proposed solutions in light of to our needs and context.
Finally, for the Control stage, the team provided a program guide and a control plan which includes a monitoring and response plan.
The improved system is intended to enhance the university’s culture of quality online education and support its contribution to accelerating online learning worldwide. The improved course review system is intended to yield more online courses being reviewed resulting in continual improvement in quality of online courses. The improved processes are designed to be sustainable and adaptable to the ever-evolving environment of online education.
In this interactive session, we will share the results from the interdisciplinary collaboration and how it has contributed to the improvement of our quality review process at the university. Participants will be prompted to propose and discuss how the DMAIC methodology could be applied to improve current processes in their own work. Specifically, the objectives of this session are for the participants to:
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Explain the purpose of DMAIC methodology
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Describe the steps of DMAIC methodology
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Apply the DMAIC methodology to their own program and process
As numerous institutions are being prompted to develop their own online quality review process, we hope this session provides useful information and lessons learned that will benefit the participants.