Build Your Course Quality Assurance Team and Don’t Forget the ID!

Concurrent Session 2

Session Materials

Brief Abstract

Join this session to explore an example of how an active instructional team collaboration can impact the quality and consistency of course design and delivery for an entire academic program. Discover ideas and resources for building an effective project partnership across faculty, academic program leadership, instructional designers, and related stakeholders.

Presenters

Lead Presenter: Celia Coochwytewa, Arizona State University

Celia Coochwytewa has a vast background and experience in instructional design, consulting, developing, and delivering innovative and proficient technology-enhanced products and experiences in an education environment. At Arizona State University's, Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation, she is the Manager of Instructional Design and Learning Experience Innovation, where she works closely with faculty to design and develop engaging, interactive, and effective learning experiences, accessible to students. Additionally, Celia leads the development and coordination of faculty consulting needs around instructional technology and course design, in collaboration with program and team stakeholders. She contributes to multiple University-wide workgroups to discuss and provide guidance on instructional design and technology matters. She also provides insight both as a participant and facilitator on the podcast, Instruction by Design. Before joining the University, she spent several years as a K12 classroom teacher, providing general education, language arts, media literacy, and gifted outreach programming instruction. Her focus has remained in curriculum and instruction, specifically with technology integration. She believes that technology is a tool for learning, prepares students for their future, and should not be used for 'technology sake' but in a conscious manner.

Additional Authors

Extended Abstract

With the swift movement of courses and learning processes to online modalities in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, educators have developed an increased awareness of the importance of design consistency and quality assurance for all learners. As faculty and students transition back to the classroom, while still relying on digital tools for organization, communication, and collaboration, it is more important than ever to provide dependable, accessible, user-friendly experiences.  This awareness has prompted the need for strategic conversations around design and delivery practices across all courses within an academic program, and the challenges a non-standardized design can bring. Some of these challenges include increased faculty workload and inefficient learning experiences. Embracing a collaborative approach to evaluating these challenges and potential solutions can be a powerful and inspiring endeavor. 

Leveraging a task force that includes faculty, academic program leadership, and instructional designers enhances efficiency, quality, and sustainability when creating solutions for course design and effectiveness issues. Faculty provide subject matter expertise, teaching style, and feedback from their student learning experiences. Including instructional design input can be pivotal to achieving design and consistency goals, but knowing how and when to bring instructional designers into the conversation isn't always apparent. 

An instructional designer's expertise can be a key asset when reviewing multiple courses and exploring how best to curate and present digital content relative to anticipated student learning outcomes.  Instructional design skills can elevate a collaborative effort, highlight pedagogical methodologies and bring objective perspectives on how to support practical functionality and positive learner experiences. 

Cultivating relationships with colleagues who bring multiple perspectives, valuing the diversity of expertise, and incorporating stakeholder inputs are important elements of achieving a successful project outcome.  Implementing effective communication, collaboration, and creation processes for the consistent design and development of courses will ultimately lead to a more positive learning experience for all students. Join this exploration of how creative collaborations can support and enhance quality assurance outcomes across multiple courses in an academic program. 

This session will use interactive discussion, polling, and ideation opportunities to engage the audience in considering how joint course design efforts within programs can deliver successes that positively affect all stakeholders.