Course Development and Evaluation Process
Faculty members interested in developing online courses should contact Chris Gonnella to be added to the Online Course Development course in Blackboard.
Use the Online Course Development Checklist to help facilitate the process.
New Course Development
New course development which is approved by the Division Chair, the Center for Teaching and Learning, and the Vice President of Academic Affairs (VPAA), is eligible for a $500 per credit hour stipend.
Re-development of Online Courses
Courses must be approved for re-development by Division Chair, Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning and the VPAA. Courses must undergo significant changes, above and beyond normal updates, to be eligible for re-development stipends of $200 per credit hour. Example: integrating technology throughout the course in a way that did not previously exist.
History of MSU's Online Course Development Rubric
A rubric written for the purpose of reviewing online courses has been in existence at Mayville State since before 2009. The current Online Course Development Rubric was updated and revised by a small taskforce in 2013 as part of the Title III grant. The standards are based upon those used by Quality Matters and best practices for teaching online. Faculty Senate approved both the rubric itself as well as the process in which all standards must be met to pass the rubric.
Getting Started with Course Development
Discuss the course with your Division Chair
Review the Online Course Ownership Policy
MSU considers all coursework developed for online courses that do not generate royalties as Mediated Courseware. Thus, the ownership of the developed material falls under the constraints outline in SBHE Policy 611.2 section 5.
Step 1: Get and Submit Forms
Before developing the course:
- Complete the Planning and Agreement Forms with your Division Chair
- These forms will be routed to Director of the CTL and VPAA
While developing the course:
- Complete the Location column of the Online Course Development Rubric
- Complete the Course Alignment Matrix
Step 2: Develop the Course
Make an appointment with the instructional designer for help with online teaching strategies, creating accessible documents and use of best practices in online courses.
Use the current MaSU Syllabus Template Effective Fall 2021. This template is reviewed once an academic year and updated only when needed. This template is 100% accessible. If you need help with it, contact the instructional designer.
Step 3: Submit Rubric, etc.
The course must be complete before you submit for review.
Is the syllabus ready with current dates and a current schedule? Is the current version posted in the course being reviewed? Are all instructional materials and assessments aligned and complete? Is the course alignment matrix done? If not, please finish things up first and contact the ID for any support you may need.
In the course shell, submit your completed Rubric and Course Alignment Matrix in the drop box created for the course. If you do not see one, notify Chris Gonnella.
Step 4: Meet with the ID
Please make an appointment with the instructional designer to conduct a "tour" of the course. Please be ready to discuss the syllabus, learning activities and assessments, etc.
Step 5: Read and Respond to Feedback
The reviewer(s) will respond with feedback by grading the submission in Blackboard. The grade itself indicates how many standards were met. All standards must be met for the course to pass the rubric.
Make changes to the course as indicated, or explain why you do not agree with the change requested. All changes must be made during the evaluation process so that they can be reviewed. Please do not reply with the intention to make the changes in the future.
Respond in Developer Response section of the rubric and resubmit in the same dropbox.
Your feedback will be available under the Review Responses link in the course (this is the My Grades tool renamed to align with our purposes).
A note about the feedback you will receive:
The reviewers are evaluating the course based on the rubric and will only request changes that are requirements of the rubric.
However, often reviewers will provide feedback and suggestions that are not required. These suggestions are made by colleagues attempting to be helpful and supportive, so please give them consideration.
The instructional design (ID) review will include the following:
- Your syllabus with ID feedback
- Alignment Matrix
- Online Course Development Rubric responses
Most of the feedback on the above-mentioned items will be sent to you with Track Changes engaged. If you are not familiar with how to use Track Changes, watch this video or contact the ID.
Step 6: Get Your Stipend
Stipends are paid when the course, its instructional design review and associated changes are complete.
Submit the information below in the Change Form Dropbox using the Text Submission option. You may need to request some of this information from your Division Chair.
- EMPLID#
- Position#
- Department ID#
- Department Name
For Quality Assurance Reviews
The Quality Assurance Process
Criteria for review
Online courses (taught in the previous semester) which meet the criteria below will go through the Quality Assurance Process:
- courses that have never gone through a rubric
- courses that have not been through a rubric for two years or more
- courses that have new instructors since the course originally went through a rubric