Scenario B (My selected scenario)
As part of its strategic priority to grow and to serve new students, Cuyahoga has begun to explore the possibilities of moving its program into the online world, something it has up to now found no need for. But this has become necessary, with the new generation of students coming along who are not only multicultural but also far more adept with computers and especially with social media. The institution needs to plan for its future. Its already strong and well-respected curriculum needs to be reconfigured to serve a new generation. Current curriculum development and instructional design processes, already successful for a long time, need to be improved to meet the needs of a different kind of student.
Assignment Instructions
The topic of your project will be the result of your examination of different dimensions of your chosen scenario and focusing of your attention on one aspect that seems to you to be worthy of your study. Note that you have wide latitude in your definition (as long as it stays within the bounds of the scenario you have chosen).
Using the Cuyahoga Community College case study, write a draft for Section C of the Course Project Review Form: Part 1 (form attached). Be sure to follow the instructions of the form precisely. Include everything that is asked for (succinctly, of course), and ruthlessly remove anything that is not specifically asked for. Be sure to not exceed the stated word limit, and do not expand the size of the text field.
Action Research Skills
Use the Internet to read AQIP Systems Portfolio 2012. Read carefully the description of Cuyahoga Community College as it appears in the systems portfolio it submitted to the Higher Learning Commission for its reaccreditation. For this course, you will use the characteristics of Cuyahoga to define the imaginary organization that has engaged your team to guide the development of its action research study. Pay special attention to pages 1–8, which give the general characteristics of the institution. In this unit, you will need only this. In subsequent units, you will be directed to other specific parts of the systems portfolio that will help you build your simulated study.
As you study the institution, pay particular attention to its mission and vision, its clientele, its system characteristics, and its placement in the international education ecosystem. Place yourself in the position of an action research scientist, considering ways to help this already strong institution get even better. How will its characteristics affect the kind of action study you will develop? Explore what legal and ethical issues might arise from the institution's locale and type. Get a sense of the power of this organization and of things that can make it even better.
From a list of three key areas, you will choose the one area that you will use for your course project. After making your choice, you will carry out exercises to develop an actionable project in relation to it. Through these exercises, you will learn essential steps in developing the kind of project that will become your eventual capstone project.