Sociology Professor Scott Feld moved his SOC 38300, Introduction to Research Methods in Sociology, course online during the pandemic and something interesting happened.
While the on-campus course on Purdue’s West Lafayette campus rarely had the maximum number of students allowed, the online version attracted a crowd, filling the course’s virtual seats.
“It turns out the students like it a lot better,” said Feld. He added that his online students tend to achieve higher grades and seem to have an improved understanding of the material.
So, when the opportunity came to improve the original online course – through the Purdue University Online Undergraduate Course Development and Instructional Support Program – Feld took it. He’s using the new version for the first time during the spring semester 2023.
Purdue University Online is seeking additional faculty participants from the West Lafayette campus for the program, which is designed to develop, redevelop, or refresh online undergraduate courses aimed at residential students enrolled at West Lafayette.
For more information see this website, or contact Ryne Kerchner, senior program manager, undergraduate programs and compliance, rkerchne@purdue.edu.
So far, 120 courses have gone through the program. The initial focus has been on bottleneck and high-enrollment courses offered on the West Lafayette campus, electives serving a variety of majors, and undergraduate core curriculum courses. SOC 38300 is required for sociology and law and society majors, for example, although Feld said the online version attracts additional students from other majors, another interesting twist.
Under the program, new online undergraduate courses also can be developed to increase student access, reduce time-to-degree, and ease demand on physical spaces with limited capacity. Courses to facilitate “Degree in 3” plans of study or that lead to options for students to pursue an entire minor online are eligible as well.
The West Lafayette faculty members participating in the program are partnered and meet weekly with a Purdue University Online instructional designer in a 16-week development process that includes video production support. The process covers elements ranging from syllabi and assessments to interactivity and accessibility.
The instructional designers bring pedagogy and technology expertise to the table and assist in logistics and project management – with an end goal of clear learning objectives packaged in a
logical, accessible, aesthetically pleasing structure, and featuring interactive, hands-on and collaborative touches.
AD 25500, Art Appreciation, instructor Sue Uhlig refreshed a course that is taken by a couple hundred students annually from majors all over the West Lafayette campus. AD 25500 had been ported from Blackboard to Brightspace when Purdue changed learning management systems, but Uhlig felt the Brightspace version still had room for improvement.
“I think, honestly, everybody who teaches an online course should go through this process,” Uhlig said. “It was a very positive experience from start to finish.”
Feld said the process prompted him to hone in on what he thinks is most important for his students to know and why they need to know it. Since the course is online and asynchronous, the students can complete their work (as long as they meet deadlines) when and where they choose, another selling point.
Purdue University Online offers development funding to sponsoring departments on the West Lafayette campus along with funding for three semesters of instructional support for courses that meet certain criteria, including:
Online courses previously developed through Purdue University Online or through other means also are eligible for development and potential instructional support funding through a course refresh or course redesign process.
Writer: Greg Kline, Purdue Online, 765-426-8545, gkline@purdue.edu