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How do course designs work with CETL?
The CETL works directly with a faculty subject matter expert (SME) to guide them through the content building process. The CETL lends expertise in objective and content alignment, compliance with SACSCOC/federal requirements and course rigor. Depending on the needs of the SME, we operate as thinking partners to explore creative new engagement strategies, AI or technology implementation and the creation of more interactive and effective assignments. Most course designs take 2 semesters to complete and are requested by the SME/Dean/Provost. Once the content is created in our planning documents, the Instructional Designer will build all content with attractive HTML and streamlined organization within a sandbox course in Canvas. The CETL performs 3 rounds of internal reviews prior to releasing the new course. The sandbox will then be available for the SME to course copy from in future semesters.
What types of course designs are there?
Online/Hybrid Designs: Usually at the request of the SME, Dean and Provost, the CETL will collaborate to take existing face-to-face courses and turn them into a new modality. These modality changes are based on the needs of the university, not the faculty member. Modality changes must be requested with the DE Course Request Form and approved by the Dean, Provost and CETL Director. Expect the design timeline to take 2 semesters, in accordance with our Distance Education Policy.
New Course Designs: New courses that have never been in the course catalog before must have the syllabus approved by the Academic Affairs Committee. Once approved, the DE Course Request Form must be routed and approved by the Dean, Provost and CETL Director. Expect the design timeline to take 2 semesters, in accordance with our Distance Education Policy.
Sometimes course designs are a single course. Other times, CETL will coordinate with a Dean to plan a timeline for an entire program to change modality. In the case of program-wide designs with multiple SMEs, the CETL will strive to create a clean and consistent feel across designs to benefit the students.
What if I'm interested in changing my course modality or creating a new course?
The first step will be to speak with your Department Chair and Dean. Modality changes and new courses must be a result of a university need and fit appropriately into the program outcomes and overall program modality. CETL comes into play once course requests have been approved by the Dean and Provost.
What about a curriculum consultation on my existing course(s)?
What about a curriculum consultation on my existing course(s)?
We do consultations too! Depending on our current workload, the Instructional Designer may schedule a call or meeting with you to further understand the exact type of support or consult you're looking for. Afterwards, the ID will set a goal timeline with you to collaborate on course revisions and/or feedback.
Consults can be:
Simple feedback on existing curriculum (face-to-face, online or hybrid)
Brainstorming sessions on exciting new ideas (i.e. AI, technology, interactives, creative assignments)
Discussing in-class or online content presentation to engage students
Discussing barriers or pain points you've discovered in your course
Addressing student feedback from EOC surveys
As topical or deep as YOU would like! We're here to support!
What are the "authoring tool" and the "tote tool"?
What are the "authoring tool" and the "tote tool"?
These two tools are essential for CETL course designs! The Authoring Tool is a Word document that has a table format. This document is where SMEs in a design will add information, assignment instructions, syllabus information and much more. It is designed to be as SME-friendly and concise as possible. The Instructional Designer will collaborate with the SME via comments within the document or via email, depending on SME needs.
The TOTE Tool is for the Time-On-Task calculations. Based on the federal and Carnegie Credit Hour Policy, the TOTE assigns an estimated amount of student work time per reading, assignment, video and assessment. The total of these student work hours relates to the course rigor. The course rigor should always match the appropriate level of student work per credit hour, as designated in the Credit Hour Policy. This is why a 1-credit-hour course has less volume of student work than a 3- or 4-credit hour course!
What about course reviews?
What about course reviews?
Course reviews are completely separate from course designs. Once a course has been designed through the CETL, we are required to periodically review the course every few years. This is to ensure all SACSCOC/federal requirements are still in compliance, update any outdated content or resources and refresh the course. Over time, courses tend to change due to course copies and content sharing between faculty members. The CETL review is not to force faculty members to revert back to the originally-designed course template, but to update both the template and the current course content to reflect best practices, regulation compliance and updated resources.
Course reviews are typically coordinated between the CETL Director and the Dean of the applicable school. The faculty member(s) will be contacted about the review. An Instructional Designer will conduct a spot-check review of the course using our Course Feedback Card. Areas of improvement will have comments for the faculty member to review. The faculty may choose the level of update they are comfortable with, with the exception of some areas that are required due to regulation. Both the Dean and the CETL Director will sign the feedback card as acknowledgement that the review has been completed by the CETL. There are no strict timelines or deadlines for these reviews, so the Instructional Designer and the faculty member may coordinate together on a timeline or a delayed start to the updates/revisions.
What about oer grant reviews?
What about oer grant reviews?
The CETL is part of the OER mini-grant checklist. Our function is to do a spot check of course content based on the scope of change from the implementation of the OER materials. For example, if the faculty member has adopted a new OER textbook for a course, CETL will ensure the topics, assignments and objectives all line up with the new textbook. These reviews are initiated by the faculty member emailing cetl@txwes.edu as part of the library's OER checklist.
OER reviews are very low-stakes. Once the Instructional Designer has completed the OER Review Card and sent it to the faculty member, it is up to the faculty member on whether they'd like to coordinate with the ID for the suggested revisions, schedule a meeting or not.
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