Course Development Technique:
A Course Developer's Experience at Sukhothai University

Context:
The following selection describes the course development model used at STOU, the open university in Thailand. The model should also be helpful for readers from other countries.

Source:
Brahmawong, Chaiyong. "Course Development Technique: A Course Developer's Experience at Sukhothai Thammathirat University." In M. Parer, ed., Developing Open Learning Courses. Victoria, Australia: Monash University Centre for Distance Learning, 1992, pp. 257–61.

Copyright:
Reprinted by permission

Our model, STOU Plan, directed implementation of the various aspects of the teaching and learning process. Five major steps are identified:

• identify problems and public needs;
• develop curriculum;
• produce multimedia distance learning media;
• identify and implement the delivery system; and
• identify the modes of evaluation and follow ups (see Figure 1).

These systems were also developed into subsystems.

Figure 1
STOU plan for distance education system

Evaluate Student's Achievement

1.0
Survey of Problems & Public Needs

2.0
Develop Curriculum

3.0
Produce Course-ware/ De Package

4.0
Deliver Knowledge and Experience

5.0
Evaluate

Print
Radio
TV
AV
Tutor
Seminar/Workshop
Community Resources

STUDENT

Evaluate DE System

Media component

STOU's media component is based on the print-based approach, i.e. printed materials supplemented by audiovisual media, radio/TV programs and tutorials. We are presently planning to use teleconferencing and computerised instruction as new modes of delivery. With assistance from the University of Guelph, Canada, the VITAL (Video Integrated Teaching and Learning) CAI system is being tested. For educational telephone service, a committee on Uses of Telephone in Education was appointed to research the most effective way to widen and expand learning opportunities for students.

Course teams

A course team is an official body appointed by the Academic Senate to undertake the planning, preparation, production and evaluation of course materials. One course team is appointed for each three-credit or six-credit course.

A course team consists of 9 to 11 members, including five to seven content specialists, an educational technologist, a test specialist, an editor and a secretary. One of the academics is appointed Chairperson and one as editor (see Figure 2).

The course team is charged with responsibility for the overall production of the courseware through a series of 18-24 meetings within a period of one to two years before the course is offered to students. Specifically, a course team will undertake the following activities:

• review and finalize the titles of the 15 units as proposed by the curriculum committee. If there is any change in the titles of the units the finalized units must be submitted to the Academic Senate for approval;
• select the writer(s) for each unit and submit the names, qualifications and experiences to be approved by the Academic Senate. Two or more writers may be assigned to write a unit, but one writer may not be allowed to write more than three units in one course unless special permission is given;
• review the details of content analysis and the concept mapping of each unit to oversee the coverage and prevent duplication among topics within different units;
• approve the unit and lesson plans presented by each writer;
• approve the themes and main points to be covered by other media such as audiocassettes, radio and TV programs and tutorials;
• review the draft content of each unit presented by the writer and approve the revised version before forwarding to the editor, the Office of Academic Affairs and the Office of the University Press for printing;
• approve the final production of audiovisual media, radio and TV programs and other supplementary media; review self-pre-tests and self-post-tests for each of the 15 units.

Figure 2
Composition of a course team

CS1
Chairman

CS2

CS3
Editor

CS4

CS5

CS6

CS7

TS

ET

Secretary

CS-Content Specialist

ET-Educational Technologist

Course development procedure

After deciding what media components and approaches were to be used, we started to plan our own media production systems. In 1979 about 30 STOU academics attended a two-week training workshop on developing print materials. This was conducted by a team of three experts from the Open University, UK.

Subsequently we began working on our own model for writing printed materials. First we investigated existing contemporary instructional media production system models available in Thailand such as Chula Plan, developed in 1973 at Chulalongkom University and NTR Plan, a derivation of Chula Plan developed for the NTR Project (Non-traditional role of teachers) under the lnnoTech Centre. Second, we developed a nine step system called 'STOU Plan for Multimedia Production'. The nine steps of STOU's Multimedia Production System are:

• analyse/review the content and units;
• identify teaching units;
• plan the lessons;
• prepare learning activities;
• construct test items;
• combine multimedia into distance learning packages;
• conduct developmental testing of multimedia packages; and
• Implement and evaluate multimedia packages (see Figure 3).

Figure 3
STOU plan for multi-media production system

1.0
Analyze & Review Content

2.0
State Principles & Concepts

3.0
Write Lesson Plans

4.0
Prepare Activities

5.0
Produce Multi-Media

6.0
Construct Evaluation Instrument

7.0
Produce DE Package

8.0
Conduct Developmental Testing

9.0
Dissemination

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