Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) Programs
These examples from courses in the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) program incorporate focused mini lectures on the Auburn Online Learning Glass and custom interactives that provide immediate feedback for students to practice in a low-stakes environment before moving on to more complex, graded, and project-based assignments. The BSBA program was the first complete degree program created collaboratively by business faculty and Auburn Online, where I worked as part-time project manager and part-time designer to facilitate the development of up to twelve courses every two to three months.
Building Community and Reducing Cognitive Overload in Online Programs through Orientation
I created this orientation course when Auburn University’s new online Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) launched. It was important to maintain engagement and hold students accountable by providing high-touch support and building intentional relationships. This orientation brings Auburn traditions and values to the online student, includes online students in virtual meet and greets with on-campus students, and prepares them to work within the program’s online environment. Inspired by Microsoft’s Office Assistant, “Clippy,” I designed our own assistant, Aubie (Auburn University’s mascot). Aubie’s role is to guide students through the flow and function of each Canvas LMS page in the course and to prepare students for the variety of assignments they may encounter in their program courses. You can find him in the top right corner of every page in the orientation.
Principles of Flight: Targeted Simulations and Interactive Activities
To assist in the development of the Principles of Flight course at Auburn University, I employed my technical writing skills to incorporate over 800 pages of FAA materials and recordings from instructor’s classrooms in an online setting. Beyond the text, I was able to work collaboratively with the lead ID, programming, and creative lead to transform the course from a technical manual to a student-centered, multimedia experience.
Biological Sciences: Project-Based Learning, Learning Glass Videos, and Interaction
I worked with talented biology faculty members to develop two online courses that leveraged multimedia interactives, learning glass videos, and a virtual exhibit for students to create a community around their research projects in a completely online course. We emphasized translating written course material to visualize biology and I personally storyboarded and developed the scripts for the learning glass videos with faculty. The result helped us build a solid foundation with the College of Sciences and Mathematics, and I continued to develop a complete online chemistry course.
Math-Physics Bridge: Role-playing, User Interface, and Gamification
The most unique design project I have ever consulted on is the Math-Physics bridge we built at Auburn Online. When a diagnostic test determined that success in General Physics strongly correlated with the mathematical skills students possess at the beginning of the course, we knew we could work to improve class performance by bridging the gap. In 2016 we developed a highly interactive, self-paced, online, non-credit short course with an interesting twist: students would role play as video game developers to consult with math and physics experts to build a series of spy chase scenes that they needed to work out the physics behind.
I contributed to the UI and the mapping of math concepts to their assignments to organize for animations that would serve as “consultant videos” and mini lecture content. To totally immerse the learner in their role, students were greeted with a desktop screen and prompted to complete assignments through a series of “emails” and “video chats.” When they completed an assignment, an animated video would be revealed to reward the student and mimic the experience of successfully building out a video game scene.