1. Steering the Course
Creating Excellence and
Consistency in eLearning
WCET 2010 Annual Conference
San Diego, California

2. Presenters
• Paula Bigatel, Ph.D. , Instructional Designer,
Penn State World Campus
• Michelle Kline, Academic Coordinator,
Bachelor of Business Inter-College, Penn State
Greater Allegheny and Penn State World Campus
• Stephanie Tyworth, Senior Program
Manager, and Director of Health Programming,
Penn State World Campus

3. Overview
• Session Objectives
• Setting the Stage
• The BSBIC and its Environs
• Communication, Collaboration, and
Consistency: A Successful Strategy
• Lessons Learned
• Applications
• Discussion, Q&A

4. Session Objectives
• Identify strategies for fostering inter-institutional
communication, collaboration, and cooperation
in the development and delivery of an online
degree program.
• Describe an effective approach for ensuring
curricular consistency in courses and programs
offered by multiple academic units in multiple
formats.

5. Penn State World Campus
• A brief history
• Programs
• Enrollments
• Financial model
• Instructional model
Timothy Few – BR

6. The Bachelor of Science
in Business
• Offered f2f at 17 residential campuses and
fully online through World Campus
• Student profile
• Faculty profile
• Curricular variation—to negotiate or not!

7. The Penn State System

8. Goals
• Gain agreement among 17 diverse institutions
on program and course outcomes
• Ensure alignment and consistency between the
residential programs and the online degree
• Develop institutional support for the online
program
• Involve multiple faculty across the system in
both course development and delivery

9. The Strategy
• Syllabus Team
– Faculty who teach the course in residence
– Designer, program manager, coordinator
– Primary author and course reviewers
– Collaborate to draft syllabus, select texts,
consider activities and assessments
– Team involvement throughout development
cycle

10. Phase I – Syllabus Team Retreat
Meet and
greet
Overview
of WC
develop
ment
process
Overview of
timelines
and
deliverables
Syllabus
discussion
and
planning

11. Examples of Instructional Technologies
and Design Approaches
• Example 1 – BA 321 - interactive activity
• Example 2 – BA 322 – use of web 2.0
technologies i.e., YouTube, Elluminate
Live
• Focus on use of multimedia and web 2.0
technologies that engage students in
student-centered active learning

12. Phase 2: Course Development
Lead author writes
content/activities/
assignments
Author
communicates with
Syllabus Team
through ANGEL
Reviewers suggest
improvements and
provide input on
content
Coordinator
monitors progress
and intervenes as
needed

14. Development timeline (over 2 semesters)

15. Phase 3: Delivery
Lead author teaches first offering
Reviewers positioned to instruct future
sections
Lead author, reviewers gain experience
applicable to both f2f and online teaching
and course development

16. Advantages
• Variety of perspectives and expertise
brought to course.
• Courses not tied to specific author
• Expanded instructor base
• Buy-in from faculty and administrators
• Emergency back-up

17. Disadvantages
• Extended course development timeline
• Added expense (faculty compensation,
travel costs, staff time)
• Increased potential for conflict
– Curricular disputes
– Personality clashes
– Work-style differences

18. Keys to Success
• Patience and humor
• Strong, respected lead author
• Blend of experienced and new(er) faculty
on teams
• Communication
• Flexibility and contingency planning
• Swift resolution of “issues”

19. Beyond the BSBIC
• Cross-listed courses
• Programs/courses that cut across multiple
academic units
• General education courses (high enrolling,
numerous sections and faculty)
• Courses and programs that involve more
than one academic institution
• Contract or customized programs

20. Questions/Comments

21. Thank You
• Contact information:
–Paula M. Bigatel – pmb6@psu.edu
–Michelle Kline – mmk20@psu.edu
–Stephanie Tyworth – sst3@psu.edu