Official University Master shells

These master shells are referred to as "IU-Owned" and are courses developed under contract for the university with the appropriate academic department approvals. All course materials for IU-Owned master shells are developed using the university's standardized format and have been carefully vetted to meet institutional compliance standards.  Such courses are managed centrally in the Office of Curriculum & Instruction (C&I).

Qualities of a University-Managed Master Shell

University managed master shells are normally for courses that support fully online programs (in CAPS, mostly accelerated degree completion programs, as well as specific programs in CGS).  In all cases, a faculty member whom the department identifies as Subject Matter Expert (SME) is contracted to develop the syllabus, presentations, lectures, lessons, and curricular materials that will be used as the master for all sections of the course moving forward. 

Because such courses are part of a larger (often accelerated) program of study, they must adhere to certain standards established or employed by several external stakeholders (Department of Education, Middle States, Interregional Guidelines for Distance Education).   Using the master shells allows better oversight of course content and helps ensure that, no matter who teaches the course, the required course outcomes are embedded in the class via the master course content.

Along with meeting these standards, IU managed (or "IU-Owned") masters are complete courses designed according to established best practices, thoroughly tested to ensure they meet program and/or department standards, formatted in accordance with the IU Style Guide, and evaluated to meet AIE requirements. 

How these Shells are Managed

With content developed by SMEs, master shell management requires both the expert oversight of the Office of Curriculum & Instruction (C&I) and the professional instructional design and standards guidance provided by the Online Learning team. Upon completion, these masters are locked to retain the content integrity.  Then, that master's content is automatically imported each semester to the live Moodle course shells via IU's 'Course Automation' system. 

Managed masters need to be reviewed regularly (generally an annual cycle).  Edits needed may range in scope:

1.  Major Revisions

Sometimes, a change of textbook, adjustment of course outcomes, or other factors may require a significant update to the course content.  Considered a 'Major' revision, the work involved is generally substantial and make take between 12 and 20 weeks to complete. The SME completing such a revision should expect to engage with C&I, the department representative and, as needed, technology services personnel throughout the process.  In short, there is a good deal of coordination, communication, planning, scheduling, and project management required to maintain quality, comply with institutional deadlines, and produce a rigorous, effective revised course. 

2.  Minor Revisions

In addition to 'major' revisions, courses may require some tweaks or updates.  Such needs are generally identified by the facilitators while teaching the course: they might notice a broken link, a spelling error, a lesson or discussion that could use refreshing, slightly outdated contents or resources. These 'minor' revisions do not substantially alter the overall curriculum or create the need for the course to be checked out or reevaluated.  Normally, such editing suggestions can be submitted directly to the C&I team. This process is an important component of our continuous quality management and progressive enhancement practices.

Master shell Management

• Master shell creation: Once initial course development is complete (including the contracted edits after the first run of the newly-developed course), the master shell becomes Immaculata owned.  To maintain shell integrity, then, course developers are removed from the master shell. From that point forward, the locked-down master shell content is the source for all related CRN content.

• Master shell revision: any revisions to existing master shells are scheduled based on a pre-determined cycle, unless there is a major revision required in the interim (such as textbook edition changes). These revisions are scheduled by department as part of the semi-annual Curriculum Review Meetings.

• Timeline issues impacting revisions:  Now that our Moodle host (ethink) has the bandwidth for it (and based on their protocols), courses become visible to faculty once a given term goes “live” for registration.  So that content can be migrated into CRNs in advance of that live date, master shell content is imported electronically approximately one week in advance of registration opening for a given term. 

Office of Curriculum & Instruction FAQs 

Instructors new to Immaculata may be unfamiliar with what modules are or how modules work. To that end, here is a quick list of FAQs to help: 

What is a module? 

For Immaculata's purposes, a module (sometimes referred to as a guide) is a detailed curriculum document that acts as a roadmap for a course. Each module provides a clear set of course objectives, sets the text and reading requirements, establishes assignments and assessment measures, and provides a general plan for each week. 

Why does Immaculata use modules? 

Immaculata serves students both on and off campus with the promise of a high quality education. Part of that promise is fulfilled in the hiring of exceptional faculty, of course, but Immaculata ensures consistency of course content and excellence by formalizing its curriculum in a module format. 

Each program's series of courses is integrated, sometimes either using elements of the same text or carrying a project across multiple courses. The modules ensure that such cross-curricular goals are maintained and met. Additionally, modules allow students to begin assignments for the class in preparation for the first class meeting, thus providing expectation of the students’ active engagement even in the first class. 

Can an instructor choose not to use the module? 

Following the module in a College of Adult Professional Studies (CAPS) course, either in an ACCEL® or IU Online course is required of all faculty teaching in the program – be they full time or part time. While instructors are expected to bring their own expertise and awareness of recent developments in their fields to the class, the module is the primary guide for the course. If an instructor sees room for improvement in a module, he or she should address those concerns to the appropriate academic department representative or to the Director of Curriculum & Instruction. 

Who creates or edits the modules? 

Each academic department oversees the development of its ACCEL® and IU Online curriculum, and the Office of Curriculum & Instruction assists each department in the development of the course materials. Once the department has approved curriculum materials, the office oversees future updates and edits in conjunction with the departments. Modules are normally edited for one (or more) of the following reasons: 

1. Textbook updates (new editions/changes in texts) 

2. Departmental decision 

3. Suggestions from instructors and student evaluations 

Aside from the standard elements, are there other components to a module? 

While many modules contain essentially the standard elements noted in the first answer above, others include additional teaching and learning tools. Such decisions are made based on the course in question (and the needs of that particular course) as well as the preferences of the module developer. The types of resources included in some modules could include:  Homework assignment worksheets, Class activity guides/sheets, Case studies, Lecture notes, Articles used with copyright, Bibliographies or web resources