Questions to Prompt Departmental Discussion

The Office of the Provost encourages faculty conversation at the department level to identify which courses make good candidates for online delivery. These discussions will likely include pedagogical affordances, curricular priorities, and consideration of student needs or preferences. In the end, decisions about teaching modality rest within academic units. Consider using the questions below as a starting point to support your unit's conversation and decision-making.

1. How do online courses fit within departmental curriculum?

   1. What are the pain points and bottlenecks within your programs? Could online sections help?
      • Which courses do students have trouble fitting into their schedules?
      • Which courses do students postpone taking until just prior to graduation?
      • Which courses might be taken online while students are completing an internship or other time-intensive requirement?
      • Which courses might students take online while at home during summer months?
   2. Which courses serve as common prerequisites for other courses in your program(s)?
   3. Which online courses (or sequence of courses) might enhance students' ability to earn a minor?
   4. Which online offerings show promise to make your program nimbler? For example:
      • Helping students accelerate time to degree.
      • Helping students get back on track if they’ve fallen behind in a term.
      • Providing options for students seeking to earn a double major, additional minor, or accelerated masters.
   5. Which online courses might enhance career readiness by reinforcing self-management skills or by providing experience working in a distributed team?

2. Which courses from your department serve student majors within other academic units?

   1. Which of your courses meet a UO Core Education requirement?
   2. Which of your courses serve as an in-demand prerequisite to other parts of the curriculum?
   3. Do some of your courses provide a 'trailing' option for students who drop or fail a high-challenge gateway course?
   4. Which of your courses might allow students outside your major to explore topics and discover new areas of interest?

3. Considering the questions above, what scheduling options make sense for your unit?

   1. How many online courses might a typical student need in one academic year to address scheduling complexities or other competing obligations?
   2. What is the optimal mix of classroom and online courses to support student success?
   3. Would a particular sequence of online courses enhance student achievement (for example: a cluster of prerequisites, core ed courses, requirements within your 4-year plan, or courses leading to a minor)?
   4. Would some courses lend themselves to a rotating modality schedule (e.g., 2 terms in person, 1 term online)? Could you predetermine the rotation so that students can plan for a specific online course in a future term?

4. How might faculty within your department benefit by sharing experience and resources?

   1. Which of your programs’ courses have already been developed for online delivery?
   2. Could your department increase cohesion across sections if faculty share online materials or structure?
   3. Which of your faculty are highly skilled in teaching online? Is there an avenue for faculty to share that expertise with colleagues?