We have explored designers having empathy for the audience of focus, designers using empathy as a means to an end, and designers using empathy to deliver a meaningful design deliverable. Our research has evolved from studying how designers reflect on their own design context and the audience's given circumstance to designers acting on moments of…

This multicase study describes the unique experiences of online instructors within a novel context of grant-funded online course design assistance in a large Midwestern university. Five instructors reflected on their experience, from conception to implementation of their asynchronous online courses, in individual debrief sessions conducted by the…

The rapid growth of online education has brought to the forefront the critical need for designing highquality online courses that effectively engage learners and facilitate their success in the digital realm. This study explored the key components and practical guidelines for designing high-quality online courses. Qualitative research was…

Instructional Designers (IDs) are talented assets to higher education institutions (HEIs) that have positioned online course development as part of long-term strategic plans. This study investigated the experiences of IDs involved in online course development while working dyadically with faculty members in U.S. HEIs. The study focused on the…

This phenomenological study explored how faculty who create online courses perceive quality assurance standards and available resources in line with the Quality Matters rubric at a mid-sized university in Southeast Texas. The participants in this study consisted of 12 university faculty members who have created online courses and passed the…

At present, the construction of online courses is an important content in the process of educational informatization. At present, there are two problems in the construction of online courses: from the teaching point of view, the design of teaching activities and teaching processes in online courses is not enough, and the teaching effect is not…

Cultural perceptions are widely accepted to play vital roles in meaning-making among learners themselves and between instructors and learners as they interact in educational settings (An, 2018; Egalite & Kisida, 2018). However, the role cultural perceptions play for members of course development teams during the creation of online courses,…

This qualitative case study conducted under the informed exploration phase of design-based research explored the design process of an online teacher professional development (OTPD) prototype course for Korean language teachers to adopt a multiliteracies-based pedagogy in the K-12 context. This study is a response to the lack of research on…

The LODEStone model is an emerging design model for consulting on organizational, department or team level challenges for specialized learners. LODEStone evolved from the iterative design of OCTBR, a course development tool created at an academic health science center (AHSC). OCTBR's purpose is to help create better blended and online learning…

To overcome the inherent complexities of planning and implementing effective online learning experiences at scale, it has been suggested that design-thinking tools and practices can be leveraged by faculty and collaborative support staff (e.g., instructional designers). However, little is known about what design-thinking approaches are perceived…

Enrollment pressures and other considerations spur Master of Public Administration online offerings, and specific skillsets are needed for implementation. Online program management providers (OPMs) are for-profit companies that bundle services to establish academic programs in exchange for tuition revenue sharing agreements, upfront fees, or a…

The success of quality assurance initiatives in online education is dependent on the successful implementation of the processes, resources, and tools created to ensure quality. There is scant research, however, on the factors that most enable quality assurance implementation at higher education institutions. This research examined a specific…

Many Higher Education institutions outsource online course development to an online program management (OPM) provider because of a lack of budget, staff, and technology. Current research indicates that OPM providers often do not have instructional design (ID) services tailored to a specific university. This research uses a case study to analyze a…

As diversity of student enrollment increases, postsecondary institutions must address the inclusiveness of physical and virtual learning environments. Doing so requires engaging faculty in a conversation about their online pedagogy and course design. This study employs Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as a means for faculty to reflect on and…

COVID-19 has forced many universities to adopt online teaching. However, the design discipline attaches great importance to on-site operation and face-to-face design discussions, causing teachers to face major challenges in the implementation of distance teaching. The purpose of this study is to investigate the suitability and teaching strategies…