6. Course Development | Faculty Handbook

Page Contents

Course Mode Considerations

The decision to create and teach a fully online or hybrid course depends on several different factors. While there is some research that suggests student retention may be higher in hybrid courses (Dzuiban & Moskal), whether or not to create an online or hybrid course should be contingent upon the availability of resources and the learning outcomes to be met for each department.

The following are some advantages and disadvantages of fully online or hybrid courses:

Fully Online Courses

Advantages	Disadvantages
Convenient for out-of-district students One type of learning modality (electronic delivery) for students to manage Reduced student commute time/resources needed to go to classes Increased course offerings without increased classroom space Less need to worry about scheduling classroom space	Student authentication more difficult to establish Problems with technology harder to handle for students not familiar with distance education More difficult for some students to feel they are learning without face-to-face instructor contact

Hybrid Courses

Advantages	Disadvantages
Easier for instructors to know their students A wider range of learning opportunities to make the best use of each modality More opportunities to document student learning Student authentication easier to establish — instructors have the chance to interact with students both face-to-face and online Technological problems handled in both the face-to-face and online environments	Less convenient for out-of-district students Decreased face-to-face class meetings easier to equate with lessened course workload On-campus physical resources (classroom space, office hours, lab time) used

Course Development Timeline

The process to develop a new online or hybrid course for instructors new to teaching online takes about a year. The actual development and design of the course is approximately 300 hours. The time frame for creating a course depends on the amount of time it takes for instructors to train and whether or not the course will need revisions during the Curriculum and Instruction (C&I) Committee approval process. A new distance education course will be taught in the first full semester after it has been approved and cleared to teach by the Distance Education Department, with the exception of courses approved in Spring 2013, which will be taught in Summer 2014.

The job of the Distance Education Department is to advise and guide faculty during the course development process to make certain that each new course meets all PCC standards for best practices.

Sample Timeline (Fall C&I Cycle)

*Note: Distance Education policy and timeline pending.

Text equivalent of image

Course Development Process

The more detailed steps for developing a new distance education course are as follows. For specific C&I information, see the FALL 2012 C&I Committee Deadlines & Meeting Dates. (SPRING 2013 dates coming soon.)

FALL	C&I Curriculum Training	Recommended training for faculty for the C&I process. Fall training dates are Wednesday, August 29 or Thursday, August30. Please refer to the FALL 2012 C&I Committee Deadlines & Meeting Dates for times and location. For Spring training dates, see the SPRING 2013 C&I Committee Deadlines & Meeting Dates.
	Faculty Assigned to Cohorts	C&I Chair will evaluate curriculum summaries & create 3 faculty cohort groups.
	C&I Proposal Feedback	Faculty authors informally present their curriculum idea and receive feedback from the Committee.
	DE FORM D Consultation	Any course that will be taught in the online environment needs to go under a separate review process for course approval. Follow the steps for completing Form D. Please use the WORKSHEETS provided to help you complete FORM D.
	DE FORM D Approval	Based on the tools gained from training, courses must meet Federal, State and WASC criteria for pedagogical best practices in online learning and to adhere to Title 5 requirements and 508 guidelines for accessibility. The online curriculum must mirror the on-campus equivalent (in terms of interaction, meeting course outcomes, etc.). Refer to the RUBRIC FOR ONLINE INSTRUCTION (PDF) to ensure the course will meet PCC’s quality standards for best practices in course development:
	C&I Committee Review	The C&I Committee will review proposals; faculty authors will not be present.
	C&I Proposal Consideration & Voting	Faculty will be contacted as to the status of their proposals and invited to join one of three scheduled meetings. Revisions will be required or suggested as necessary. If there are no revisions, the COURSE PLAN is cleared.

Course Development

SPRING/SUMMER	Create Course in LMS	If COURSE PLAN is cleared by C&I, instructors should refer back to the RUBRIC FOR ONLINE INSTRUCTION (PDF) to develop and improve their courses. It is recommended that instructors create original course content. Make certain that eBooks, publisher ePacks, online services, or software meet accessibility (Section 508), copyright, or student privacy (FERPA) guidelines for online instruction. It is recommended that full-time faculty members should be in charge of developing, maintaining and enhancing Model Courses, and that adjunct faculty members can use Model Courses as the basis for their course sections. Prior to teaching in the Fall or next full semester, the course needs to be put into the LMS to be reviewed and approved by the DE Department before being cleared. For this process, courses should include: A fully developed ONLINE/HYBRID COURSE SYLLABUS. At least 2 fully-developed units (modules, assessments, etc.) with assignments. Projects for the entire course. Evidence that course materials are accessible.
	Course Goes Live	After final approval from DE Department, the online/hybrid course is fully cleared.

Model Courses

Title 5 requirements for distance education course quality state that all online and hybrid courses must undergo a separate review process. What this means is that in any given semester, face-to-face courses cannot simply be transferred to the LMS to teach online section(s). Every distance education course must have a supplemental Form D on file describing ways in which the instructor will engage in regular effective contact and provisions for built-in accommodations for accessibility.

An additional measure to guarantee course quality is the creation of Model Courses.

Model Courses:

have undergone the C&I Course Approval Process for distance education courses.
are developed in conjunction with the Distance Education Department to make certain the course meets both established guidelines for course standards and department/ division goals.
are complete courses, meaning that they include not only a course map/proposal, but also content modules, assignments and assessments.
are to be used and copied into the LMS course shell for all the distance education sections of a course.

At present the College will focus on developing Model Courses for AA, transfer & certificate pathways.

Form D

Form D is a supplemental document detailing the distance education component of a course and undergoes a separate C&I Committee approval process (Title 5, Section 55206). Before any online or hybrid course can be taught at PCC there should be an officially approved Form D on file. It is recommended that a full-time faculty member be in charge of creating and filing Form D.

Purpose of Form D

The purpose of Form D is to confirm that the course meets Federal, State, WASC and PCC quality indicators and accessibility requirements. Each Form D should determine how the goals and objectives of the course will be met, confirm methods of instruction and assessment that illustrate best practices in online learning and academic integrity, and provide for regular means of ongoing course evaluation. Faculty must demonstrate that they understand how to incorporate best practices for regular effective contact and that they are able to create a course that meets requirements for accessibility.

Policies Related to Form D

Form D is a requirement for all Distance Education courses. There are two main regulations that govern the implementation of Form D.

Title 5	What this means @ PCC
In August 1999, the Chancellor’s Office began requiring that each DE course and its associated materials and resources be reviewed and revised, as necessary, when the course undergoes curriculum review pursuant to Title 5, sections 55002 and 55206, every six years as part of the accreditation process.(“Distance Education Guidelines” 4)	All courses that have an online or hybrid form of course delivery must undergo periodic review for accreditation. This is to ensure that courses are up-to-date, employing the most current practices in distance education instructional design. Form D for Credit/Non-Credit courses at PCC must be reviewed every 5 years and for Career and Technical Education courses every 2 years.

508 Compliance

What this means @ PCC

Distance education resources must generally be designed to provide “built-in” accommodation (i.e., closed or open captioning, descriptive narration) and/or interface design/content layout, which is accessible to “industry standard” assistive computer technology in common use by persons with disabilities.Distance education courses, resources and materials must be designed and delivered in such a way that the level of communication and course-taking experience is the same for students with or without disabilities.(“Distance Education Accessibility Guidelines for Students with Disabilities” 12-13)

All students must have the same access to course materials and be able to participate fully and equally in course activities. Designing distance education courses requires understanding how to create a course that addresses the needs of disabled students before the course has even launched. Understanding this is a complex process, and it is necessary that each faculty member filing Form D contact the Distance Education Department for consultation about how accessibility is fully integrated into their course design.

When to File Form D

If there is no Form D for the course, faculty must meet with their Division Dean to initiate the distance education course development process as listed above. It is highly recommended that creating and filing Form D be completed by a full-time faculty member. Once a faculty member has begun the development process, they need to contact the Distance Education Department for assistance in completing Form D.

For a new Course of Record, follow the steps for the Course Development Process described above.
For an existing Course of Record, the steps for filing or revising Form D are explained in the flowchart below.