Online Course Curriculum Design for Subject Matter Experts: An Agile Methodology

Curriculum design is a critical component of course development, facilitating the creation of meaningful learning experiences across delivery methods and learner types. Existing curriculum design methodologies often assume that educators possess prior knowledge and experience in curriculum developme...

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Main Authors: Luis Rojas, Katrina Sorbello, Cristian Rusu, John W. Castro, Paulina Gonzalez-Martinez, Claudio Alvarez, Fei Luo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2025-01-01
Series:IEEE Access
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10960467/
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author Luis Rojas
Katrina Sorbello
Cristian Rusu
John W. Castro
Paulina Gonzalez-Martinez
Claudio Alvarez
Fei Luo
author_facet Luis Rojas
Katrina Sorbello
Cristian Rusu
John W. Castro
Paulina Gonzalez-Martinez
Claudio Alvarez
Fei Luo
author_sort Luis Rojas
collection DOAJ
description Curriculum design is a critical component of course development, facilitating the creation of meaningful learning experiences across delivery methods and learner types. Existing curriculum design methodologies often assume that educators possess prior knowledge and experience in curriculum development. However, these frameworks do not account for Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) who, with limited or no curriculum design experience, seek to develop online courses. Furthermore, current methodologies lack a learner-centered process model that is agile and responsive to external changes. With their inherent flexibility and adaptability, Agile methodologies offer potential solutions by allowing for quick adaptation to shifting educational environments. This paper introduces Agile Online Course Curriculum Design (AOCCD). This framework empowers SMEs to create learner-centered online curricula through iterative development cycles incorporating continuous learner feedback. The AOCCD was validated through a mixed-method study in which 12 SMEs applied this approach to develop their online course curricula, assessing its utility and effectiveness. Results demonstrate that AOCCD enables SMEs, regardless of prior curriculum experience, to create well-structured and scaffolded learner-centered courses, addressing the need for structure and responsiveness in online education design.
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spelling doaj-art-92aa9ada2d5e43728d77a19c7e18dc372025-08-20T03:18:24ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362025-01-0113668096682810.1109/ACCESS.2025.355938710960467Online Course Curriculum Design for Subject Matter Experts: An Agile MethodologyLuis Rojas0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4446-227XKatrina Sorbello1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6560-8998Cristian Rusu2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1504-2540John W. Castro3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7938-7564Paulina Gonzalez-Martinez4Claudio Alvarez5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5442-2140Fei Luo6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7062-4404Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad San Sebastián, Santiago, ChileThe Stella Way, Hillcrest, AustraliaPontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, ChileDepartamento de Ingeniería Informática y Ciencias de la Computación, Universidad de Atacama, Copiapó, ChileFacultad de Ingeniería y Arquitectura, Universidad Central de Chile, Santiago, ChileFacultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Aplicadas, Universidad de los Andes, Santiago, ChileSchool of Information Science and Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, ChinaCurriculum design is a critical component of course development, facilitating the creation of meaningful learning experiences across delivery methods and learner types. Existing curriculum design methodologies often assume that educators possess prior knowledge and experience in curriculum development. However, these frameworks do not account for Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) who, with limited or no curriculum design experience, seek to develop online courses. Furthermore, current methodologies lack a learner-centered process model that is agile and responsive to external changes. With their inherent flexibility and adaptability, Agile methodologies offer potential solutions by allowing for quick adaptation to shifting educational environments. This paper introduces Agile Online Course Curriculum Design (AOCCD). This framework empowers SMEs to create learner-centered online curricula through iterative development cycles incorporating continuous learner feedback. The AOCCD was validated through a mixed-method study in which 12 SMEs applied this approach to develop their online course curricula, assessing its utility and effectiveness. Results demonstrate that AOCCD enables SMEs, regardless of prior curriculum experience, to create well-structured and scaffolded learner-centered courses, addressing the need for structure and responsiveness in online education design.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10960467/Adaptive learning systemsagile methodologiescurriculum designonline educationstudent-centered learning
spellingShingle Luis Rojas
Katrina Sorbello
Cristian Rusu
John W. Castro
Paulina Gonzalez-Martinez
Claudio Alvarez
Fei Luo
Online Course Curriculum Design for Subject Matter Experts: An Agile Methodology
IEEE Access
Adaptive learning systems
agile methodologies
curriculum design
online education
student-centered learning
title Online Course Curriculum Design for Subject Matter Experts: An Agile Methodology
title_full Online Course Curriculum Design for Subject Matter Experts: An Agile Methodology
title_fullStr Online Course Curriculum Design for Subject Matter Experts: An Agile Methodology
title_full_unstemmed Online Course Curriculum Design for Subject Matter Experts: An Agile Methodology
title_short Online Course Curriculum Design for Subject Matter Experts: An Agile Methodology
title_sort online course curriculum design for subject matter experts an agile methodology
topic Adaptive learning systems
agile methodologies
curriculum design
online education
student-centered learning
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10960467/
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