OVERVIEW: The instructional design & development process begins as a "front-end analysis" for course redesign and must subsequently include a parallel "back-end analysis." This parallel "back-end analysis" consists of:

• student assessment
• course evaluation
• usability studies
• analysis and interpretation

ASSESSMENT: While student assessment for the redesigned courses often includes the traditional summative quizzes, mid-terms and finals (left to the faculty to arrange) they may also include some effort at a student portfolio for the course. This form of assessment complies more closely to a constructivist, student centered, model of learning, which is the theoretical optic that informs our design process. Student completed artifacts for each re-designed course are assessed in terms of a rubric to measure their learning. Collectively, these artifacts make up the student portfolio.

EVALUATION: Course evaluation is an effort to measure the design of a course in fulfilling its course objectives. This pursuit consists of three surveys per course, an initial, a formative and a summative. The initial survey collects data that establishes a point of comparison as well as a profile of the entering class. The formative survey, made available one third the way through the course, collects data that establishes a second point of comparison and provides early evidence regarding the students' overall comprehension and the direction of the course. The significant utility of this survey is that faculty can immediately clarify or correct any problems that students may be having with the course. The summative survey, made available only at the conclusion of the course, collects data that establishes a final point of comparison to the initial and formative surveys. This survey also provides students' retrospective feedback regarding the design of the course in terms of fulfilling its learning objectives and the session outcomes that make up the operational definition of those objectives. The results of the three surveys together fulfill the iterative process of course re-design in terms of its objectives.

USABILITY STUDIES: Usability studies are incredibly useful for those courses with either a partial or complete electronic presence. In comparison to course evaluation that measures the design of a course for learning, a usability study is the test of the effectiveness of the delivery mode of a course in terms of its interface design. The variables that are often measured in such a study are the ease of navigating the design and the overall comprehension of the logistics of its layout. Several usability approaches exist. Typically, the study consists of two halves. The first half instructs a sample of students through a path of links and records the time needed to find each as they proceed as well as the comments made out loud as the students comply. The second half instructs the same sample of students to fill out a questionnaire about the overall layout. As a separate process, this also is iterative as it assists in the re-design of the electronic presence of the course.

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION: The nature of the design process leads to an accumulation of data. The correct analysis and interpretation of this data is essential to drawing meaningful conclusions. These conclusions, based on qualitative and quantitative analysis, can then be applied to the design process. Through the use of Statistical Analysis Software Package, data can be analyzed for statistical significance and utilized for further course modifications.