User research for the instructional module development (IMOD^TM) system

A team of researchers from Arizona State University is engaging in a User-Centered Design (UCD) approach to develop the Instructional Module Development System (IMOD^TM), i.e., a software program that facilitates course design. The IMOD^TM system will be an open-source web-based tool that will guide individual or collaborating STEM educators, step-by-step, through an outcome-based education process as they define learning objectives, select content to be covered, develop an instruction and assessment plan, and define the learning environment and context for their course(s). It will also contain a repository of current best pedagogical and assessment practices, and based on selections the user makes when defining the learning objectives of the course, the IMOD^TM system will present options for assessment and instruction that aligns with the type/level of student learning desired. While one of the key deliverables of the project is the software tool, the primary focus of this initiative is to advance the development of faculty expertise in course design for undergraduate STEM education. To this end, the project addresses the following two research goals: 1. Identify deficiencies in user interactions with existing course design tools. 2. Obtain consensus opinion on a representation of the required knowledge (learning taxonomies, help data and pedagogical and assessment strategies) for designing a course or learning environment. In this paper we present a project update and the data collected so far from user studies that have been conducted.