Building Faculty Expertise in Outcome-based Education Curriculum Design Srividya Bansal, Ashraf Gaffar School of Computing, Informatics, Decision Systems Engg. Arizona State University, Mesa, AZ, USA {srividya.bansal, ashraf.gaffar}@asu.edu Odesma Dalrymple Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering University of San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA odesma@sandiego.edu Abstract— An information technology (IT) tool that can guide STEM educators through the complex task of course design development, ensure tight alignment between various components of an instructional module, and provide relevant information about research-based pedagogical and assessment strategies will be of great value. A team of researchers is engaged in a User-Centered Design (UCD) approach to develop the Instructional Module Development System (IMODS), i.e., a software program that facilitates course design. In this paper the authors present the high-level design of the IMODS and demonstrate its use in the development of the curriculum for an introductory software engineering course. Keywords—instruction design; outcome-based education; semantic web-based application; user-centered design I. INTRODUCTION Felder, Brent and Prince [1] have made a strong argument in support of instructional development training for engineering faculty. This argument, which cites among other reasons: shortfalls in graduation rates, changing demographics and attributes of the student body, and modifications in the expectations of graduates; can be extended to encompass all STEM fields. Furthermore, studies show that for 95% of new faculty members, it takes four to five years, through trial and error (the most common method of gaining expertise in teaching), to deliver effective instruction [2]. While there are a number of options available to faculty for receiving instructional development training (i.e., training focused on improving teaching and learning), most share similar format, features, and shortcomings. For example: workshops, courses and seminar series, the most common program structures, are often offered at a cost to the institution, department or individual attendee; delivered face-to-face at specified times; and accessible to a restricted number of persons. Even when interest is high, these factors can become obstacles to participation. Outcome-based Education (OBE) is a result-oriented approach where the product defines the process. The learning outcomes guide what is taught and assessed [3], [4]. This approach contrasts the preceding “input-based” model that places emphasis on what is included in the curriculum as opposed to the result of instruction. There is a growing demand and interest in faculty professional development in areas such as OBE, curriculum design, and pedagogical and assessment strategies. In response to these challenges and needs, a group of faculty researchers from two south-western universities have undertaken a project to design and develop the Instructional Module Development System (IMODS) that will facilitate self-paced instructional development training while the user creates his/her course design with the added benefits of being free to all who are interested, accessible almost anywhere through a web browser, and at any time that is convenient. Additional key features of the IMODS are as follows: 1. Guides individual or collaborating users, 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). 2. Contains 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 system will present options for assessment and instruction that align with the type/level of student learning desired. 3. Generates documentation of a course designs. In the same manner that an architect’s blue-print articulates the plans for a structure, the IMODs course design documentation will present an unequivocal statement as to what to expect when the course is delivered. 4. Provides just-in-time help to the user. The system will provide explanations to the user on how to perform course design tasks efficiently and accurately. When the user explores a given functionality, related explanations will be made available. 5. Provides feedback to the user on the fidelity of the course design. This will be assessed in terms of the cohesiveness of the alignment of the course design components (i.e., content, assessment, and pedagogy) around the defined course objectives. In this paper the authors present the high-level design of the IMODS and demonstrate its use in the development of the curriculum for an introductory software engineering course. The rest of the paper is organized as follows. Background material for this research project is presented in section 2. Section 3 presents the high-level design of the IMODS software system. Section 4 presents a case study that demonstrates the use of the IMODS framework in the development of an introductory software engineering course. The paper concludes with future work and acknowledgements.