OSCAR: A Structured Approach to Course Design [18-34] Home : ALT Annual Conference 2018

Public Group active 2 years ago

Thu, Sep 13 2018, 11:30am – 12:30pm

Authors: Sarah Grant, and Charlotte von Essen

Room: Rm 2.218

Theme: Collaboration for Learning Technology

Type: Short presentation – 20mins

Description

Session Description

In a climate of increasing educational and institutional change, constructing effective work processes and methodologies to support the development of online or blended learning provision can be a significant and challenging task. As Scoppio and Luyt (2017, p. 725) observe, many institutions ‘face the challenge of creating processes and systems to support instructors who are required to design, deliver, and frequently update online courses.’ This challenge lies, in part, in faculty’s reservations about the value of online learning, their hesitancy to embrace technology and their inexperience with online teaching and pedagogical theory. While it is clear that more research is needed on how learning designers can better support faculty during the design process (Zawacki-Richter et al., 2009), it is becoming increasingly apparent that the development of online learning requires deep and meaningful collaboration (Bedenlier & Zawacki-Richter, 2015).

In this presentation, we outline the OSCAR design model (Organise – Structure – Compose – Audit – Review and Renew), a structured and integrated approach to programme design that provides a linear framework to support faculty and learning designers transform an on-campus curriculum into an equivalent online or blended programme. This innovative learning design methodology has been developed and implemented by Imperial College Business School’s Edtech Lab to enhance collaboration with faculty, while simultaneously decreasing the time and effort needed to adapt and develop new content.

OSCAR is designed to empower faculty to engage in a rich and creative design process by easing them into the pedagogical transition through a series of practical steps. This allows faculty to establish a comfort level with the online tools and methodology and build confidence that transfers over to the delivery of the programme to students.

This presentation relates explicitly to the conference theme of ‘Collaboration for Learning Technology’. It focusses on the challenges and opportunities of working with various stakeholders (faculty; learning designers; media specialists; senior managers; web developers; graphic designers; teaching assistants etc.) on new, high-stakes projects. It also touches on the politics of this form of collaboration and the need for shared leadership and buy-in from all collaborators.

Session content: evaluation and reflection

In this presentation, we report on and evaluate the ways in which the OSCAR model has been implemented on over forty modules which now reach over twenty thousand students (Online and blended MBA programmes; MOOCs; specialised MSc programmes; optional undergraduate courses; and executive education). We demonstrate the different stages in the model and highlight the key milestones at each point. We also discuss ways of diagnosing which development situations are most appropriate for employing the OSCAR approach. Furthermore, qualitative feedback from faculty who have been supported through this design process will be presented and evaluated. Participants who are interested in the practical realities of designing online learning will take away a useful and applicable model for working on the design of online and blended content with faculty.

References

Scoppio, Grazia, & Luyt, Ilka. (2017). Mind the Gap: Enabling Online Faculty and Instructional Designers in Mapping New Models for Quality Online Courses. Education and Information Technologies, 22(3), 725-746.

Bedenlier, Svenja, & Zawacki-Richter, Olaf. (2015). Internationalization of Higher Education and the Impacts on Academic Faculty Members. Research in Comparative and International Education, 10(2), 185-201.

Zawacki-Richter, Olaf, Bäcker, Eva Maria & Vogt, Sebastian. (2009). Review of Distance Education Research (2000 to 2008): Analysis of Research Areas, Methods, and Authorship Patterns. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning,10(6), 21-50.