KSU Policies and Resources

Students attending online courses within KSU's Bagwell College of Education were required to take a policies and procedures course, but the existing version was long, outdated, hard to navigate, and did not follow KSU branding standards. The goal of this project was to rebuild the course to be shorter, engaging, on brand, and accessible to all students attending courses at KSU.

The course was redesigned with an open structure, allowing learners to access individual modules without having to review the entire course. Using a divide-and-conquer approach, team members developed individual modules while maintaining consistent accessibility, branding standards, and increasing speed.

After completion, we conducted a pilot test with 10 participants reflecting KSU demographics to evaluate learner experience, knowledge transfer, and clarity. Results were overwhelmingly positive, with one participant stating that they wished they had access to the course when they first began their journey at KSU.

Process

The team conducted an audit of the original course and reviewed demographic information for the intended audience to identify areas for improvement. We found several key issues:

The course lacked a clear flow, with related topics separated and presented out of sequence.
Learners had to review the entire course each time they opened it instead of accessing individual modules or previous sections.
The course was primarily an “information dump” with limited learner engagement.
Some information was redundant and repeated in multiple sections.
Several links were broken, and materials did not clearly explain how to find or use available resources.
Many online students were not local to campus, including out-of-state and international students.

As the lead designer, I determined that Articulate Rise best suited our needs based on the audience, course complexity, and the team’s familiarity with the software. It also allowed for rapid prototyping. The team agreed to create materials that could be accessed offline, emphasize resources for both local and non-local students, and incorporate how-to videos and scenario-based activities for more complex topics.

Results

Average course completion time dropped by 10 minutes
Both local and nonlocal students were able to find and locate resources needed to be successful at KSU
Improved overall learner experience and knowledge transfer

tools

Articulate Rise

Microsoft PowerPoint

Canva