Self-Guided Course Design and Development

UConn eCampus

Phase 1: Design

Phase 1: Design

Five steps to guide you through creating foundational documents and a new online, hybrid/blended, or flipped course.

Phase 2: Build

Phase 2: Build

Three steps that provide you with direct links to online training, resources, templates, and guidelines.

Phase 3: Teach

Phase 3: Teach

Three steps that provide you with best practices, timelines, and recommended strategies to prepare for teaching online.

This website contains frameworks, tools, examples, and resources to support UConn faculty in designing, building, and teaching online, hybrid and blended, and flipped courses. Please see Course Modalities for more information about the online and hybrid and blended course delivery modes and flipped course instructional approach.

The phases outlined in this site are intended for faculty with a strong background in teaching and pedagogy who are already comfortable using HuskyCT.

We encourage faculty members preferring a more guided support model to review the phases outlined in this site and contact eCampus if they would like to work more closely with one of our staff members.

Design PhasePhase 1: Design

  • "Is there a systematic and efficient way to plan my new course?"
  • "How can I make a meaningful connection with my students?"
  • "What do I want my students to learn?"
  • "Which activities will help me create a robust and interactive online learning environment?"

eCampus follows Quality Matters (QM) standards and guidelines in designing and delivering online courses. To plan your instructional materials, activities, and assessments, familiarize yourself with the QM Rubric.

View the QM Rubric with Annotations for more detail on each standard:

  • Contact eCampus for a Quality Matters Workbook, or
  • Access the QM Rubric with Annotations online:
    1. Create a Quality Matters Account. Enter email then click “No, I am new here.”
    2. Log into QM
    3. Choose CRMS on top Menu
    4. Choose (For Reference Only) View Sample Reviewer Worksheet
    5. Select “The Quality Matters Higher Education Rubric, Seventh Edition”
    6. View all standards by clicking through the interface

At the end of the course design and development process (Step 3.3) you will perform a Quality Matters Self-Review of your new course.

View Introduction to Quality Matters (QM) 7th Edition Rubric

The following five steps of the Design Phase will help you answer these and other common questions as you create the foundational documents and plan for your new course.

[click on the steps below to expand detail]

Step 1.1: Organize Course Information

During Phase 1, you will complete the Course Design Plan, which you will use throughout the course design and development process. The Course Design Plan makes it easy to map out your entire course week-by-week and define what you want your students to learn. It will also help you plan the best online or mix of in-person and online activities, choose the most relevant materials, and design the most appropriate assessments for your new course. This completed document will play a major role in guiding you as you build your course in Phase 2 and helping you finalize your syllabus in Phase 3.

Step 1.2: Develop Learning Objectives

Use your Course Design Plan to define what you want your students to learn. This information is captured as course and module learning objectives that will help you design your course (e.g., content, materials, activities, assessments). By designing your course around what you want students to learn, you will be more efficient as you build out the rest of your course, creating only the activities and content necessary for success. You will also ensure that your students know exactly what you expect of them, increasing the chances that they will be successful in meeting your expectations.

    Step 1.3: Plan an Assessment Strategy

    Use your Course Design Plan to design assessments that will directly measure whether students have learned and can meet course learning objectives. Ensure alignment of assessments with the objectives you created in Step 1.2. Keep in mind the unique nature of online learning and recognize that in-person assessment methods do not always translate well to the online environment.

    Step 1.4: Design Instructional Materials and Activities

    Use your Course Design Plan to select the best kinds of activities to meet the objectives you created in Step 1.2, design and/or choose supporting course materials, and plan opportunities for students to interact with each other, you, and the content you have selected.

    • Review the sample online course(s) from Step 1.1 and note the activities and materials used.
    • Choose instructional materials and activities. (See Step 2.2 for more information on building activities and content.)
    • For Hybrid and Online Blended and Flipped courses: Keep in mind some best practices for developing materials:
      • Keep activities during synchronous class time that work best with real-time student engagement. These might include:
        • Collaborative break-out groups
        • Case studies
        • Debates
        • Directed close reading of course materials
        • The Socratic Method
        • Hands on demonstrations
      • Create activities and content for the asynchronous online environment that are best suited for that type of delivery:
        • Asynchronous discussions
        • Short video lectures or screencasts introducing content to be discussed during the in-person class session
        • Peer review of work
        • Self-check quizzes
        • Pre- and post-quizzes to measure knowledge acquisition prior to and after in-person sessions
        • Asynchronously managed group work
        • Guest speakers on the discussion board
    • Write your instructional materials and activities in your Course Design Plan.

    Step 1.5: Review and Evaluate

    Use the Quality Matters (QM) Annotated Rubric (see Phase 1 for instructions on accessing) to evaluate how well you have met the following standards:

    • Learning Objectives (Standards 2.1-2.5)
    • Assessment and Measurement (Standards 3.1-3.6)
    • Instructional Materials (Standards 4.1-4.5)
    • Learning Activities and Learner Interaction (Standards 5.1-5.4)

    Phase 2 BuildPhase 2: Build

    • "What are some guidelines for creating the best video content?"
    • "Are there course templates available in HuskyCT to make my job easier?"
    • "Where can I get online and in-person training on HuskyCT and other software/technologies for my course?"
    • "How can I be sure what I am building meets accepted standards for online courses?"

    The following three steps of the Build Phase will help you answer these and other common questions and provide you with direct links to online training, resources, templates, and guidelines you will need to build your course.

    [click on the steps below to expand detail]

    Step 2.1: Choose a HuskyCT Course Structure

    eCampus has created online, hybrid and online blended, and flipped course HuskyCT templates that faculty are encouraged to use. You saw examples of this template in the sample courses from Step 1.1. There are other ways of setting up your HuskyCT sites as well.

    Choose the HuskyCT site creation option that best fits your needs:

    Step 2.2: Build Your Modules, Activities, Assessments, Assignments, and Content

    Now that you are ready to build, refer back to your Course Design Plan. You will have already identified and listed the content, materials, activities, assignments, and assessments you need to build. The links below will help you build these elements in your course.

    Step 2.3: Review and Evaluate

    Use the Quality Matters (QM) Annotated Rubric (see Phase 1 for instructions on accessing) to evaluate how well you have met the following standards:

    • Assessment and Measurement (Standards 3.5-3.6)
    • Instructional Materials (Standards 4.1-4.5)
    • Learning Activities and Learner Interaction (Standards 5.1-5.4)
    • Course Technology (Standards 6.1-6.4)
    • Accessibility and Usability (Standards 8.1-8.7)

    Phase 3 - TeachPhase 3: Teach

    • "How can I best prepare my students for an online course?"
    • "What should I do differently when I teach my online course?"
    • "To what extent should I be available to my students?"
    • "What should I be doing during different stages of the course (before, during, and after)?"

    The following three steps of the Teach Phase will help you answer these and other common questions and provide you with best practices, timelines, and recommended strategies to prepare you for the unique teaching needs of the online environment.

    [click on the steps below to expand detail]

    Step 3.1: Finalize Your Syllabus

    Now that you have completed the course design and build, use the information from your Course Design Plan to finalize the syllabus template you downloaded in Step 1.1. We encourage you to revise the eCampus Course Syllabus Templates as necessary to meet the unique nature of your online, hybrid/blended, or flipped course.

    Step 3.2: Review eCampus Knowledge Base Articles on Teaching Online

    Prepare for teaching online by reviewing content in the eCampus Knowledge Base:

    Step 3.3: Review and Evaluate

    Use the Quality Matters (QM) Annotated Rubric (see Phase 1 for instructions on accessing) to evaluate how well you have met the following standards:

    • Course Overview and Introduction (Standards 1.1-1.9)
    • Learner Support (Standards 7.1-7.4)

    Lastly, perform a Quality Matters Self-Review of your new course in its entirety. Make revisions to the course as necessary.