Here’s a sampling of work.

Online Faculty Success Hub at UNCP at Pembroke
The Office of Online Learning at UNCP's Faculty Success Repository.

Context: We created a faculty repository of fourteen instructional videos to help faculty at UNCP’s Office of Online Learning (OOL) learn ways to enhance their online learning classrooms. These videos represent a brand new, groundbreaking initiative at UNCP and is one of the first data repositories for faculty and online instructors.

Overview

Audience: Online faculty

Competency: Learning Technologies

Responsibilities/Action: Create a style guide for video project. Review script, narrate, and produce 14 instructional videos. Provide closed captioning. Upload to UNCP’s OOL YouTube channel.

Tools used: Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Audition, Otter.ai, Basecamp, Otter.ai, Google Suite

The Process

We conducted a thorough needs analysis to determine what areas to include in the series. Then, we worked with a script provided by the client and narrated the voice over. From there, we produced fourteen videos, provided closed captions, and uploaded them to the client’s YouTube channel. 

The Result

Once all 14 videos were approved and uploaded, the team at the OOL created the Online Faculty Success Hub, a site within their main website dedicated to faculty. These videos represent a brand new, groundbreaking initiative at UNC Pembroke, and is one of the first data repositories for faculty and online instructors.

International Masonry Training and Education Foundation’s Instructor Certification Program (IMTEF, ICP)

Context: The Instructor Certification Program at The International Masonry Institute is a five-year program that brings master Bricklayer, Allied Workers, and Craftsman to a level of instructor mastery. In this course, I developed a lesson plan on Course Development and then I facilitated it to thirty students in their 3rd year of the program.

A classroom of learners in the Instructor Certification Program at International Masonry Institute
Overview

Audience: Students in the Instructor Certification Program

Competencies: Instructional Design/Training Delivery

Responsibilities/Actions: Develop a course on Course Development, create a lesson plan, design slides and handouts, and facilitate the instruction in a four-hour in-person course.

Tools used: Canva, Powerpoint, WORD, Google Suite

The Process

Working with Dr. Chuck Hodell, the former academic advisor for the program, we devised curriculum based on a needs analysis. We created a range of lesson plans, including materials to support them. We based the plans on Gagne’s Nine Events of Instruction to create engaging plans for learners to master the topics and advance as certified instructors.  

Results

The ICP requires that candidates pass certification process with a portfolio piece that includes a designed lesson plan. This lesson plans designed helped candidates reach mastery over this portion of their portfolio piece by providing the elements of Gagne’s Nine Events of Learning to reinforce their learning journey.

This project provided us with the opportunity to work with IMI academic staff, apply adult learning principles, present information to a classroom full of thirty learners, and engage learners in activities that brought them to mastery.

International Transportation Learning Center (ITLC)

Context: Facilitate a one-day ISD Bootcamp at the 2022 Transit Workforce Annual Conference

Dennise Cardona and Dr. Chuck Hodell leading an ISD Bootcamp at the Transit Workforce Conference
Overview

From Adult Learning Theory to measurable learning objectives to learning models that are proven to enhance understanding and retention – the highly interactive Transit Instructional Systems Design Boot Camp will help a participant gain a basic working knowledge of the full ISD process.  Based on Chuck Hodell’s best-selling book, ISD From the Ground Up, this session introduced transit trainers and managers to the widely-used and theory-supported system of instructional design practice which provide the foundation for today’s transit classroom and field instruction.

Process

We worked with our client to facilitate the workshop based on their needs. They provided the lesson plan, slides, and materials, and we facilitated the session to a group of forty transit worker conference attendees. Topics covered: adult learning, learning objectives, Gagne’s 9 Events of Instructions, and a Q&A session.

Results

Survey respondents rated the ISD Bootcamp session as their favorite of all sessions during the three day conference.

South Eastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA)
Group of learners at South Eastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority for a Train-the-trainer course

Context: The International Transportation Learning Center’s client, SEPTA, provides Train-the-Trainer programs for its transit instructors. They contracted us to provide development insight (from Dr. Chuck Hodell) and facilitation of their Level II Train-the-Trainer classes.

Overview

Train-the-Trainer Level II classes are three intensive training days at SEPTA and a followup webinar to assess where learners are in their journey. The classes cover main concepts, hands-on activities, and assessments to bring the Instructor Learners to mastery. The topics covered are defining, developing, and designing course instruction. Students learn about adult learning theories, ADDIE, learning outcomes and objectives, learning methods, lesson planning, storyboarding, materials development, and assessments.

Process

Over the course of three days, we facilitated the lessons using lectures, demonstrations, slide decks, hands-on activities, groups discussions, and assessments exercises. We had them work on real-world projects so they could implement what they learned the very next day.

Result

Group discussions were lively and filled with peer-to-peer and instructor-learner learning opportunities. Learners left feeling empowered with new knowledge that will improve their ability to deliver impactful training to transit workers. Pre-course and post-course assessments proved knowledge was gained in critical areas of training.

Northeastern University

Context:  We worked with Dr. Elizabeth Mahler, Teaching Professor CPS-Graduate Programs at Northeastern University. We project managed and produced fourteen instructional videos to help faculty learn ways to enhance their teaching. The project: Maximizing Impact: Learner-Centered Design for Active Engagement and Creating Learning Communities. 

An online faculty workshop at Northeastern University
Overview

Increased numbers of faculty members from various disciplines within higher education, including Northeastern, are registering for learning design classes. Most fascinating is that while these faculty subject matter experts are keenly aware of the systemic processes within their areas of expertise, they are often surprised (yet also relieved) to find that there is a process to support the effective design and delivery of content to their students. A common reaction occurs when an individual begins to understand that: 1) a system and process of learning design exist, and 2) learning design is grounded in learning theory and science. 

Important to note when it comes to NEU/CPS faculty, assessment, faculty development, technology, and academic leadership, is that other than an initial orientation to the LMS, NEU offers little in terms of faculty onboarding or professional development training that focuses holistically on how to create a learning experience based on sound design principles and processes. 

The need for greater student engagement has never been more apparent than during the recent COVID-19 pandemic, when all educational programming had to move quickly to an online environment. What may work in a F2F classroom rarely translates into virtual environments. Online content delivery that promotes active student engagement requires the deployment of different teaching strategies that instructors may remember from their own learning experiences or that apply primarily to their learning proclivities. Learning how to engage students online actively is a unique skill that can be taught – allowing faculty to build on their expertise while also building powerful engagement skills for the online classroom. 

Process

With input from Dr. Mahler, we drafted a design document, a project initiation charter, a project roles document, and a project plan document to keep us aligned and straightforward on our goals. We also provided a style guide to help us stay on brand with this project’s overall look and feel.

Dr. Mahler, Dr. Chuck Hodell, and three graduate students drafted the scripts for the fourteen videos in Maximizing Impact: Learner-Centered Design for Active Engagement and Creating Learning Communities. Once scripts were finalized, Dr. Chuck Hodell recorded his voice over. Then I produced the videos, inputting narrations, broll, and putting together the videos using Adobe Premiere Pro based on the style guide. Final videos included closed captioning, thumbnails, and a music bed. Her team embedded them into course modules on Canvas.

Results

Maximizing Impact: Learner-Centered Design for Active Engagement and Creating Learning Communities Course is broken down into three-course modules, consisting of 4-5 embedded videos per module. 

Durham Technical Community College

Context: The Learning and development center at Durham Tech needed help in facilitating an AI workshop for their faculty. We developed and facilitated the course via Zoom to help bring faculty up-to-speed on the latest trends.

Overview:

“Empowering Faculty with ChatGPT: Innovate Your Course Development,” was a 1.5-hour dynamic and practical online course designed specifically for educators looking to integrate cutting-edge AI technology into their course creation process. This course provided faculty members with the tools and insights needed to effectively utilize ChatGPT, a powerful AI language model, to enhance course development’s quality and efficiency as well as offer practical tips on how to incorporate AI into your students’ learning journeys.

Process

Durham Tech wanted a course that would be hands-on and demonstrate strategic ways faculty can implment AI in their classrooms and use it to help them build engaging curriculum. We designed a powerpoint slide deck and presented to them via Zoom. We created hands-on activities that allowed them to reinforce the content presented.

The Result

The faculty created a lesson plan using ChatGPT, Gemini, and Microsoft CoPilot. We made comparisons on each platform performed. We also worked through the iterative methods of refining prompts to get greater results.