LDC Publishes Article in Journal of Faculty Development

Learning Design Center Publishes Article on New Instructor Orientation in the Journal of Faculty Development

The Learning Design Center (LDC) at the University of San Diego is proud to announce that their new instructor orientation was recently featured in an article in the Journal of Faculty Development.

The article, titled “New Instructor Orientation: Preparing Faculty to Facilitate Online Courses," was authored by Heather Leslie, Elizabeth Morgan, and Ashley Kovacs of the LDC. It details how the three-week asynchronous online course, LDC-102, prepares instructors to effectively facilitate asynchronous courses in the University’s online degree programs The USD Way.

"This new instructor orientation has been rated very highly by the online programs’ Academic Directors and by the instructors who have taken the course,” said Leslie. "This course can serve as an example to other educational developers and institutions looking to create programs that orient new faculty to best practices for effective online teaching.”

Key elements of the New Instructor Orientation (LDC-102) course include hands-on, scenario-based learning that equips faculty with the skills to:

• Humanize the online classroom with strong instructor presence
• Facilitate engaging student-to-student discussions 
• Give meaningful feedback to guide students toward deep learning
• Provide outreach, remediation, and intervention to support student success

This new instructor orientation, along with LDC-101, which onboards new Subject Matter Experts to designing online courses (see eLearn Magazine article), and the new student orientation, which helps prepare students to succeed in the online degree programs (see International Journal of Designs for Learning article), exemplifies LDC’s commitment to supporting the University’s mission to providing academic excellence that delivers a high-quality student experience. 

The New Instructor Orientation article can be accessed through Digital USD and the Copley Library.

About the University of San Diego 

The University of San Diego is a Catholic university committed to advancing academic excellence and expanding liberal and professional knowledge through high-quality educational programs, preparation of leaders dedicated to ethical conduct and compassionate service, and creation of a diverse and inclusive community.