This session will share a case study of a small, Midwestern university’s efforts to expand online programs. The majority of these online courses are taught by adjunct instructors. Master content was created and implemented to maintain program quality and provide instructional support. Instructor satisfaction data will be presented.
Background/Rationale
Viterbo University began offering its first fully online degree completion program, a BBA in Organizational Management, in 1998. The curriculum was purchased from a third party provider, and the majority of the courses were taught by adjunct instructors. Over the next twelve years, progress in online course and program development occurred, but it was slow and there were several concerns about program quality:
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The courses didn't have a common look and feel.
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The student experience didn't make them feel a part of the university community.
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Services used by online students (registration, billing, tutoring, etc.) weren't available online.
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There weren't enough programs offered to address the demand for high quality, accessible degree completion programs for working adults.
By the 2009-2010 academic year, Viterbo had three fully online programs and one blended program. The faculty began to design the online course content, and the university discontinued utilizing the purchased curriculum. Although these faculty were content experts, they lacked training in online pedagogy and the technology needed to carry out a high-quality online course. At that time, Viterbo didn't have instructional designers on staff to support faculty in the design of online courses. Instead, they were trained through various external professional development opportunities, and faculty with online teaching experience informally shared their knowledge with those who were new to online teaching.
Viterbo spent the next few years developing the infrastructure to support online students in all of the service areas, creating the formalized internal training needed to support online instructors, and creating the infrastructure to support a larger number of fully online programs.
Challenges and Solutions
During the 2013-2014 academic year, the university prepared to move from the existing four fully online degree completion programs, to a total of ten programs, with all courses ready to roll out in the Fall of 2014. This move forced the university to design a large number of new online courses at a very rapid pace. Due to this need to accelerate the development of these online courses, as well as provide efficiency and consistency in course development and delivery, the university decided to utilize a master content format, and hired an instructional designer to facilitate online course design work. According to Lee, Dickerson, and Winslow (2012), master content provides a "...standardized layout, design, arrangement of materials, location of information, and use of communication tools to enhance and facilitate learning and course navigation and ambiance." Viterbo's goal was to provide a more consistent experience for students, while also providing support for faculty developing the courses, and support for the instructors who would be teaching the courses (Borgemenke, Holt, and Fish, 2013).
According to Franetovic and Bush (n.d.), students and faculty are often challenged by the inconsistencies of course design and delivery. Some faculty members may have extensive experience and knowledge of online tools and strategies, while others may have very little understanding of the learning management system or available methods and tools. Having consistency in the practice of master course design and development allows for a focus on quality improvement for online courses (Borgemenke, Holt, and Fish, 2013).
An effective practice in the development of master content is the use of instructional design strategies to guide faculty through the course development process (Parscal and Riemer, 2010; Borgemenke, Holt, and Fish, 2013; Puzziferro and Shelton, 2008). According to Parscal and Riemer (2010), pairing course developers with instructional designers “provides project management, process infrastructure, and tools and support systems.” Working together provides a team approach to determine the best instructional strategy, sequencing, and integration of media. Instructional design also ensures that the most current tools and technologies are used in the courses (Snyder, 2009 in Borgemenke, Holt, and Fish, 2013). However, as Puzziferro and Shelton (2008) point out, universities should take caution regarding courses becoming "canned" by utilizing faculty course developers to keep master content "relevent, 'fresh,' and reflective of new information and research." Ultimately, for the production of online master content, a team approach is necessary, since the faculty member (course developer) often does not have the expertise in online pedagogy and development, nor does the instructional designer have the subject matter expertise (Holsombach-Ebner, 2013; Puzziferro and Shelton, 2008).
A key challenge with moving to a master content approach was the reaction of the faculty who would then need to teach the content that had been pre-designed, most likely by someone else. Some instructors had concerns stemming from limitations on academic freedom or the ability to incorporate content relevant to the instructor's own experiences and expertise.
Results from a survey that focused on the instructor perception and satisfaction from using master content will be presented. Instructors (both adjunct and full-time faculty) who designed and/or utilized master content were asked a series of questions to determine their feelings surrounding this practice in their online class, including the following:
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Perception of rigor and workload of online versus face-to-face classes
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Instructor perception and reported satisfaction from using master content
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Comparison of adjunct versus full-time faculty satisfaction of using master content
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Comparison of those who developed and taught versus those who only taught from master content
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Adjunct feeling of institutional support when provided with master content
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Perception of academic freedom when utilizing master content
Short and long term solutions to improve the development of new master content based on the survey results will also be presented. These solutions will include a variety of strategies that could be applied to a variety of institutions and online programs. Additionally, results from this survey will suggest ways to direct future efforts to support and mentor adjunct faculty teaching online courses.
Session Outcomes:
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Examine a case study of the implementation of master content intended to support faculty and control program quality at a small Midwestern liberal arts university.
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Review survey data to understand the potential benefits and efficacy of this practice based on instructor satisfaction.
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Session participants will share their perceptions regarding current barriers and potential applications for using master content in online course design.
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Session polling and discussion will further explore how master content may be applied at a variety of institutions at different stages of online program implementation.