Student-Centered, e-Learning Design in a University Classroom

Regional state university expectations for increased instructional rigor in addition to improved student satisfaction and retention resulted in faculty concern regarding lack of student motivation and class preparation. In an effort to leverage learning, a group of faculty members redesigned courses placing initial content acquisition responsibility on students. As a result, students entered classes prepared to engage collaboratively in student-centered learning activities and demonstrate workplace skills in real world scenarios. Pre-class instruction using multimodal digital tools maximized and individualized learner content acquisition. As a result, learner engagement increased before, during and after class. The process of redesigning one sophomore-level education course is described in this chapter. The redesigned course included collaborative and student-centered undergraduate coursework driven by technology applications to meet twenty-first century adult learner preferences.