The meeting ground of instructional designers and subject matter experts more often resembles a skirmish than a dance. Supporting these interdependent roles requires out-of-the-box thinking and creative leadership. This session will challenge participants to reimagine their institution’s approach to course design while metaphorically choreographing the ID and SME dance.
Fostering healthy collaboration and positive partnerships may be the key to course design and re-design success. A well-choreographed dance between instructional designers and faculty is as important as instructional content and tool proficiency. Instead of observing the directive of “Let the designers be the designers and the subject matter experts be the subject matter experts” and dividing duties, what might we accomplish if we pair professionals who complement one another to co-create?
Such an effort is lead by academic and instructional support leadership. It will likely not occur organically with designers and faculty without being modeled by the next tier. A dynamic duo framework is only as strong as its promotion by leadership and the initiatives leadership champions.
This session will guide participants through evaluating their organizational structures and course design constructs. The exercise seeks to highlight areas requiring a mindset change for the sake of institutional change, as well as, revealing under-supported interdependent roles tasked with creation and revision. It will also include consideration of an institution’s review and improvement process and expose the likelihood those tools are underutilized and even misunderstood.
Participants will leave the session with a better understanding of the course design process at their institution, its strengths and weaknesses, and ideas for positive institutional change.