LOS ANGELES — The University of Southern California Marshall School of Business has won an award from the Online Learning Consortium for an information session that the School’s instructional designers will present at the Consortium’s 21st annual international conference this fall. The interactive presentation describes the new model that Marshall’s instructional designers developed for creating online courses for an integrated MBA curriculum.
The Marshall Online MBA’s integrated curriculum consists of five courses, all of which are cross-disciplinary. In each course, students acquire essential knowledge about germane business functions including accounting, finance, marketing and management. The program’s integrated curriculum enables students to gain insight into how these disciplines fit together and how an organization works holistically.
Since Marshall’s integrated courses typically are taught by a team of faculty members, the School had to rethink the model that it traditionally used to develop online programs. The old model paired one instructional designer with one subject matter expert. “When tasked with the design and development of a multi-disciplinary course with four subject-matter experts,” says Kimberly Brower, associate director of instructional design, “we developed a process that mirrored the inter-disciplinary curriculum model.”
The presentation, Integrated Instructional Design: Building a Process for Creating Multi-Disciplinary Courses at the Graduate Level, outlines the methodologies that the team employs in the pre-production, production and post-production phases of course development. The Online Learning Consortium selected it as a recipient of the Best-in-Track award in the Institutional Strategies & Innovations learning track for its Shaping the Future of Online Learning, conference October 14-16, in Orlando, Fla.
Marshall introduced its full-time online MBA this fall, after first developing a new curriculum, training faculty members in virtual instruction, and building a studio to produce engaging educational content. “We set out to develop an online curriculum that would provide our students with an exceptional learning experience,” says Phil Griego, USC Marshall’s assistant dean of online learning. “I’m pleased that our team is receiving this well-deserved recognition for its outstanding work.”
About the USC Marshall School of Business
USC Marshall is one of the premier business schools in the U.S. and internationally recognized as a home for path-breaking research that emphasizes entrepreneurship, innovation, leadership and social responsibility. The USC Online MBA from the Marshall School of Business is built to help students succeed in the digitally driven business landscape, providing a curriculum focused on the practical skills expected of today’s global leaders. Located in the heart of Los Angeles, Marshall brings undergraduate and graduate students a unique perspective on the world, including global opportunities for experiential learning. The vibrant and active Trojan alumni community includes more than 89,000 people in 92 countries.
