Implement Online Learning at Cal Poly

IMPLEMENTING MORE ONLINE LEARNING AT CAL POLY
D. H. Moody
PROJECT REPORT
COMMUNITY & REGIONAL PLANNING STUDIO III
CITY & REGIONAL PLANNING DEPARTMENT
CAL POLY – SAN LUIS OBISPO

IMPLEMENTING MORE LEARNING AT CAL POLY
Douglas Harvey Moody
Prepared for Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
as partial fulfillment
of the Requirements for CRP 556 Community Planning Lab III,
Department of City and Regional Planning
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA
June, 2015

Implementing More Online Learning at Cal Poly
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Acknowledgements
Thank you Adrienne Greve for advising me while I developed this report. Your constant and
thoughtful feedback was invaluable. I also have to give you credit for introducing the idea of
WHEREAS statements as an implementation tool. Without your single sentence comment, I
never would have considered using WHEREAS statements to inform BE IT RESOLVED statements
that can be used to guide bottom-up policy development. I feel like this is a document functions
like a press release for policy development, and I never would have stumbled upon that idea
without your essential insights. Also thanks to Mike Boswell for making sure that everyone who
graduates from a Cal Poly City and Regional Planning program knows the difference between
bottom-up and top-down planning.
Thank you Chris Clark for your ability and willingness to listen, develop ideas, and change
course when need be. I also thank you, Chris, for your sense of humor, consistent curiosity, and
steady flow of sage advice.
Thank you Catherin Hillman for taking the time to share your online learning expertise with me;
your insights are the basis of this report.
And thank you Felicia, Charlie, Zola, and Brandi Stansbury. Just after online learning arose as a
discussion topic in Chris Clark’s Cal Poly master plan studio, I was in a cab in Los Angeles with
my lovely girlfriend Brandi, her sister and brother, Felicia and Charlie, and Charlie’s wife Zola
(Felicia’s boyfriend, Hector, was there, too) headed to a 40th birthday party for Brandi’s cousin,
Cristina, at a Veteran’s Hall in Lomita, CA. I was interested in what people thought about online
learning, and Felicia, Charlie, and Zola had each recently taken online courses. After my
discussion with them in the back of the cab, my interest was sparked—I knew online learning
held many answers and Cal Poly should do more of it, and I set out to explore why and how…

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Introduction
This is a plan to implement more online learning at Cal Poly, and it is intended for review by Cal
Poly’s Academic Senate, Associated Students Inc. (ASI), and Inter Housing Council (IHC). This
plan develops and presents resolution and policy statements and recommendations for the
Academic Senate, ASI, and IHC to consider, modify, adopt, and/or recommend for adoption as
they see fit. This plan also recommends that the Academic Senate, ASI, and IHC each consider
creating a committee focused on online learning evaluation and implementation. To this end,
this plan should be submitted to the Academic Senate Senators and Executive Committee, ASI
Board of Directors and Executive Committee, and the IHC Coordinating Board.
Cal Poly should integrate more online learning because people are living more and more of
their lives online, and a polytechnic university should be current with—and preferably a leader
of—local, national, and worldwide technology trends. Integrating more online learning also
creates opportunities to improve learning outcomes, educate more students, increase revenue,
and save costs.
Using the proposed resolution statements as a guide, this plan cultivates policy development
statements (i.e. WHEREAS and BE IT RESOLVED statements) that are used to create academic
and master plan policy recommendations. The proposed policies are intended to improve
learning outcomes, better understand perspectives, create incentives, inspire polytechnic
online learning leadership, improve efficiency, increase capacity, and build stronger mutually-
beneficial relationships with other colleges and universities.

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Overview
Section one of this plan presents an overview of the current state of online learning at,
projected funding for, and opportunities for mutually-beneficial relationships between Cal Poly
and California Community Colleges and other CSUs. Section two develops online learning
resolution (WHEREAS) statement recommendations. Section three uses the recommended
WHEREAS statements developed in section two to develop to policy development (BE IT
RESOLVED) statements. Section four uses the BE IT RESOLVED statements created in section
three to cultivate and present policy recommendations that can be used to guide how online
learning is further integrated into Cal Poly, both on and off campus.
Section four recommends policies for both the academic plan and the master plan. Academic
plan policies guide academic programming, and master plan policies guide physical
development. Academic plan policy recommendations encompass subject areas that include
using online learning to improve safety, learning outcomes, and student success; competitive
advantage through efficiency and specialization; increasing educational capacity; incentives and
non-mandatory approaches to incorporate best practices; stronger partnerships with
community colleges and other universities; and developing a system to identify and develop
online learning course components that are desired but not available. Master plan policy
recommendations include using space more efficiently and increasing internet and computing
capacity and accessibility.
With more detail than earlier sections, section five discusses characteristics of effective online
courses and considerations for implementing online learning that include quality assurance,
course rubrics, instructor certifications, checks for student readiness, and other best practices.
Cal Poly’s Center for Learning and Technology (CTLT) is also discussed.
Section six and seven present initial background research that provides foundational
justification for the resolution and policy statements in sections two through five. Section six
discusses why Cal Poly should further incorporate online learning, and topics covered in this
section include opportunities to accommodate multiple learning styles, improve learning
outcomes, increase flexibility and accessibility, use space more efficiently, increase safety,
enhance participation, and provide more timely, relevant, appropriate, and engaging feedback.
Section seven is intended for testimonials of personal experiences with online learning, but, at
this point, it is essentially a placeholder—there is a single testimonial from me, the author of
this plan.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Section 1 - Existing Conditions........................................................................................................ 1
Cal Poly’s Online Learning Platforms.......................................................................................... 1
PolyLearn – Cal Poly’s Online Learning Management System................................................ 2
Common Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) ........................................................................... 3
Common Objections to Online Learning..................................................................................... 3
Online Learning and Relationships with other Colleges and Universities.................................. 3
CourseMatch – Online Learning Between CSUs..................................................................... 4
California Community College Financing and Relationship to CSUs....................................... 5
Distance Education at California Community Colleges........................................................... 6
General California Community College Facts ......................................................................... 7
Section 2 - WHEREAS (Resolution development) Statement Recommendations.......................... 9
Online Course Structures and Learning Outcomes..................................................................... 9
Instructor Incentives................................................................................................................. 10
Cal Poly Campus Physical Development................................................................................... 10
Cal Poly Academic Programming Opportunities with California Community Colleges............ 10
Campus Perceptions ................................................................................................................. 11
Section 3 –BE IT RESOLVED (Policy Development) Statements.................................................... 13
Online Course Structures and Learning Outcomes................................................................... 13
Cal Poly Campus Physical Development................................................................................... 14
Cal Poly Academic Programming Opportunities with California Community Colleges............ 14
Instructor Incentives................................................................................................................. 15
Campus Perceptions ................................................................................................................. 15
Section 4 - Policy Recommendations............................................................................................ 17
Academic Plan Policy Recommendations................................................................................. 17
Safety .................................................................................................................................... 17
Learning Outcomes............................................................................................................... 17
Instructor Incentives and Perspectives................................................................................. 18
Efficiency and Partnerships with Community Colleges and Other Universities................... 18
Technology Leadership ......................................................................................................... 18
Master Plan Policy Recommendations ..................................................................................... 18

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Efficiency............................................................................................................................... 18
Increased Internet and Computing Access and Capacity ..................................................... 18
Section 5 – Online Learning Considerations................................................................................. 19
What is an Effective Online Course?......................................................................................... 19
Quality Assurance ..................................................................................................................... 19
Team Review......................................................................................................................... 20
Instructional Plan Review ..................................................................................................... 20
Web Design Review .............................................................................................................. 20
Staff Review .......................................................................................................................... 21
Peer Review .......................................................................................................................... 21
Accepted Online Learning Rubrics............................................................................................ 22
Quality Online Learning and Teaching (QOLT) Rubric .......................................................... 22
@one Rubric ......................................................................................................................... 24
Quality Matters (QM) Rubric ................................................................................................ 24
Online Instructor Certifications and Professional Learning Communities ............................... 24
CSU Professional Learning Community (PLC) ....................................................................... 25
@one Online Instructor Certification ................................................................................... 25
Quality Matters (QM) Online Instructor Certifications and Workshops .............................. 26
Center for Teaching, Learning & Technology (CTLT) ................................................................ 27
Student Readiness for Online Learning .................................................................................... 27
Section 6 - Why Online Learning?................................................................................................. 29
Better Learning Outcomes through Multiple Simultaneous Teaching Styles .......................... 29
Effective Assessment through Timely, Relevant, Appropriate, and Engaging Feedback ..... 29
Enhanced participation through E-tivities............................................................................ 29
Schedule Flexibility & Accessibility ........................................................................................... 29
Student Affordability and Accessibility..................................................................................... 30
Increased Safety........................................................................................................................ 30
A More Efficient Use of Space - Comparing Space Types......................................................... 30
Stanford Space and Furniture Planning Guide ..................................................................... 31
Section 7 – Online Learning Personal Testimonials...................................................................... 35
Doug Moody (Author’s End Note) ........................................................................................ 35
References .................................................................................................................................... 37

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List of Figures
Figure 1: Current Cal Poly Online Learning Platforms .................................................................... 1
Figure 2: Current PolyLearn Usage ................................................................................................. 2
Figure 3: Stanford Typical Wet Lab Space Requirements............................................................. 32
Figure 4: Stanford Typical Dry Lab Space Requirements.............................................................. 33
Figure 5: Stanford Typical Dry Lab w/ Teaching Space Requirements ......................................... 34
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Stanford Classroom Space Guidelines ............................................................................ 31

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SECTION 1 - EXISTING CONDITIONS
This section discusses how online learning is already incorporated into Cal Poly’s practices.
Cal Poly’s Online Learning Platforms
Online learning platforms can be broken down into four categories: online learning
management systems web-conferencing and document sharing tools, and email and calendar
systems. At Cal Poly, as can be seen in Figure 1: Current Cal Poly Online Learning Platforms
below, PolyLearn is the online learning management system (LMS); Google Hangouts,
Blackboard Collaborate, and Skype are used as web-conferencing tools; OneDrive is the official
document sharing tool, but Google Drive, Dropbox, Adobe Creative Cloud, and Autodesk 360
are also available and used; and the email and online calendar system is currently Zimbra, but it
is being converted to Office 365.
Figure 1: Current Cal Poly Online Learning Platforms

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PolyLearn – Cal Poly’s Online Learning Management System
Online learning is not a new concept at Cal Poly. As can be seen in Figure 2: Current PolyLearn
Usage below, as of December 2014, Cal Poly already has around 2,300 courses, 20,000
students, and 1,000 faculty who use PolyLearn (California Polytechnic State University, 2015a).
PolyLearn is a Moodle platform, and Moodle is the most popular learning management system
platform—Moodle is also open-source and free (Moodle, 2015).
Figure 2: Current PolyLearn Usage
(California Polytechnic State University, 2015a)
PolyLearn also has links to faculty and student support pages for many types of online learning
formats and modules, and the subjects covered by these links are briefly summarized in the
following two paragraphs.
Subjects Covered by PolyLearn Faculty Support Links
The PolyLearn faculty support page has information about using PolyLearn, including: what is
new in PolyLearn, turning courses on and off, adding a syllabus, gradebook help, loading videos
into YouTube, a Moodle tool guide, a PolyLearn quick start guide, a course organization quick
start guide and videos, tips for optimizing phots for web-viewing, strategies to create an
accessible course, and file management options. The faculty support page also has information
about pedagogy, including: tips for the grading forum, tips for teaching with wikis, tips for
helping students keep track of completed activities online, ways to use technology to enhance
teaching and learning, ways to check for plagiarism with technology, methods to teach critical
thinking online, methods to create and test a hypothesis online, and ways to use PolyLearn to
check if students are retaining course material. (California Polytechnic State University, 2015b)
Subjects Covered by PolyLearn Student Support Links
The PolyLearn student support page has an orientation video and tutorials that cover
assignments; blogs; navigating, editing, and printing books; chat; the choice activity module (for
instructor polling); forums; course glossaries; grades; private files; student profiles;
questionnaires (used by instructors to gather student opinions); quizzes; course site pages; and
the workshop activity module (used by instructors to have students grade one another
according to a provided rubric) (California Polytechnic State University, 2014).

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Common Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
According to Catherine Hillman of the Center for Teaching, Learning & Technology (CTLT) the
following are some of the most common questions and requests from faculty related to online
learning that the CTLT currently receives:
 How do I/we develop, share, and manage recorded and live-stream videos like shorts
(e.g. experiment demonstrations), lectures, student videos, training sessions, and events
 How do I/we facilitate online discussions & develop course-specific group contracts and
netiquette for online classes?
 How do I/we host guest speakers, remote group meetings, and document sharing
online?
 How do I design an online course?
 What copyright and intellectual property rights and privileges issues are associated with
online courses and how are they handled at Cal Poly?
 Can you help me with online gradebooks?
Common Objections to Online Learning
From the two quarters I spent working on Cal Poly’s master plan and the quarter I spent talking
with the Cal Poly community about online learning while developing this plan, I can report that
the following objections to online learning are common within the Cal Poly community:
 Online learning is an excuse for teachers not to teach
 Learn by doing cannot be done online
 In the past intellectual property rights and privileges have not been honored, and they
may not be in the future
This plan recommends developing a better understanding of these objections by administering
a campus-wide online learning perception survey.
Online Learning and Relationships with other Colleges and Universities
This sections discusses the CSU CourseMatch program that gives CSU students an opportunity
to take one online course from another CSU each term. This section also gives an overview of
California Community College (CCC) budgets, students, and distance education programs
because the author of this plan believes that there is enormous opportunity for Cal Poly to
generate revenue by providing more Californians with components of Cal Poly educations by
developing stronger partnerships with CCCs, and strengthened partnerships between Cal Poly
and CCCs could be similar to the partnerships between Cal Poly and other CSU universities
established by the CourseMatch program.

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CourseMatch – Online Learning Between CSUs
CourseMatch is a program that is available to Cal Poly Students, and a description of the
CourseMatch program is below (California State University, n.d.-a):
“The CourseMatch program provides an opportunity for eligible fully matriculated CSU
students to enroll in one fully-online course per term offered by another CSU campus.
The program is aimed to facilitate access to high-demand, high success courses as part
of the continuing effort of providing students with access to the courses needed to
expedite graduation.”
To be eligible to participate in CourseMatch, the student must have completed at least one
term at the home campus as a matriculated student and earned at least 12 units there, have at
least a 2.0 GPA in all work completed at the home campus, be in good standing at the home
campus, and be enrolled as a full-time student at the home campus, with tuition paid, during
the period of concurrent enrollment at the host campus (California State University, n.d.-b).

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California Community College Financing and Relationship to CSUs
Governor Brown’s proposed budget for CCCs is much larger and growing more than his
proposed budget for the CSU, and the author of this plan thinks that mutually-beneficial
opportunities could be realized if the CSUs were to developed stronger partnerships with CCCs.
In these strengthened partnerships, CSU universities could provide subject–specific
specialization and expertise to CCCs that lack specialization and/or expertise in these areas, and
Cal Poly has specialty and expertise in many academic subjects, and some of Cal Poly’s specialty
and expertise could be offered to CCC students as online course components. The next
paragraph compares and contrast enrollments and budgets of the CSU and CCCs.
In 2014, total CSU enrollment was over 450K students (California State University, 2014), and
Governor Brown’s proposed 2015-16 budget for the CSU is $153M (5% higher than the 2014-15
fiscal year) while the California Community College’s proposed budget for over 2.1M students is
approximately $424M (8% higher than the 2014-15 fiscal year) (Taylor, 2015), and this larger
CCC budget is expected to increase statewide access to community colleges for approximately
45,000 students (California Community Colleges, 2015).
Furthermore, according to the CCC Chancellor’s Office website, the State of California saves
money by educating students at CCCs before they transfer to a CSU or UC, and the Associate
Degree for Transfer program launched by the CCC and CSU in 2012 simplifies the transfer
process. The CCC Chancellor’s office website also states that (California Community Colleges,
2015):
“The California Community Colleges is the most cost-effective system of education in
California. While the state revenue needed to support one community college full-time
student is slightly more than $5,000 per year, that same student costs approximately
$7,500 in the K-12 system and $20,000 and $11,000, respectively, at UC and CSU.”
Online learning provides an opportunity to further simplify the transfer process and for
students accepted to Cal Poly to take Cal Poly courses before they arrive in San Luis Obispo.

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Distance Education at California Community Colleges
The previous subsection gives an overview of high-level economic and efficiency benefits that
could be enjoyed by Cal Poly, CCCs, the CSU, and Californians, in general, if online learning
partnerships between Cal Poly, other CSUs, and CCCs are strengthened correctly, but are Cal
Poly and CCCs in a position to implement more online learning? As discussed previously in this
section, online learning is already woven into Cal Poly’s fabric, and the following CCC distance
educations facts that are provided by the CCC Chancellor’s Office website indicate that that
online learning is woven into the fabric of CCCs, as well (California Community Colleges, 2015):
 Nearly 27 percent of all CCC students will take a class offered through distance
education this year, up from 12.5 percent in 2005-2006.
 Of all courses offered at CCCs, 12.3 percent are offered through distance education, and
it is estimated that nearly half of all courses have some online component.
 CCCs first started offering distance education courses in 1979.
 Of the 2.4 million students enrolled at CCCs in 2011-2012 academic year, 621,501 CCC
students took at least one distance education course.
 The average course-load of all CCC students in 2011-12 was 12 units, and the average
course load of CCC students who enrolled in distance education courses was 15 units.
 CCC distance education almost doubled from 21,414 sessions in 2005-06 to 41,354 in
2011-12.
 Two age categories (18- to 19-year-olds and 20- to -24- year olds) account for 61
percent of those enrolled in CCC distance education courses in 2011-12.
 Thirty-seven percent of CCC students surveyed in 2011 said they enrolled in at least one
distance education course because of the convenience.
 Fifty-one percent of CCCs offer certificates and degrees that can be earned without
stepping onto campus for classes; these certificates and degrees typically include a
combination of both online and television courses.
 The Internet provides CCC students with 94 percent of the distance education offerings;
television is next with 8 percent, followed by correspondence (2 percent) and video
conferencing (1 percent).

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General California Community College Facts
The following general California Community College facts are also provided by the CCC
Chancellor’s Office website, and they are included here to highlight that developing stronger
partnerships with CCCs is a massive opportunity for Cal Poly to educate more Californians,
increase accessibility, and increase revenue. The facts below also highlight a barrier (or perhaps
an opportunity?) to Cal Poly fully realizing the benefits of strengthened partnerships with CCCs:
of the 112 CCCs, only three are on the quarter system (California Community Colleges, 2015):
 With more than 2.1 million students on 112 campuses, the CCCs are the largest system
of higher education in the United States.
 Approximately one in every five community college students in the nation attends a
CCC.
 Most of the 112 CCCs are on the semester system, but Foothill, DeAnza and Lake Tahoe
community colleges are on the quarter system.
 Three out of every 10 Californians ages 18-24 are currently enrolled in a community
college.
 Fifty-five percent of CCC students are people of diverse ethnic backgrounds and roughly
53 percent are female.

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SECTION 2 - WHEREAS (RESOLUTION DEVELOPMENT) STATEMENT
RECOMMENDATIONS
This section recommends online learning WHEREAS (resolution development) statements that
should be considered for inclusion in resolutions considered by Cal Poly’s Academic senate, ASI,
and IHC. The recommendations implied by the WHEREAS statements in this section are used to
inform RESOLVED (policy development) statements in section three of this plan, and the
RESOLVED statements in section three are used to develop the policies recommended in
section four.
Online Course Structures and Learning Outcomes
WHEREAS, bringing more course components online is an opportunity to improve; and
WHEREAS, online learning should only be incorporated in ways that improve student success;
and
WHEREAS, the Quality Online Learning and Teaching (QOLT) rubric is the CSU standard, @one
Standards for Quality Online Teaching is the California Community College standard, and
Quality Matters (QM) is the national and international standard for evaluating online courses;
and
WHEREAS, quality learning requires well defined learning objectives, content, learning
activities, and assessment methods; and
WHEREAS, course review helps assure quality; and
WHEREAS, detailed information is, and can further be, gathered from Cal Poly online courses;
and
WHEREAS, circumstances sometimes make it unreasonable for students to attend every class;
and
WHEREAS, every student has the right to a quality education; and
WHEREAS, labs sometimes involve hazardous and/or expensive chemicals and equipment; and
WHEREAS, course content is sometimes time-restrictive and/or conducted off-site; and
WHEREAS, Cal Poly has specialty and expertise is many academic disciplines; and
WHEREAS, Cal Poly has extensive polytechnic resources; and

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Instructor Incentives
WHEREAS, intellectual property rights and established and effective intellectual methods
should be honored; and
WHEREAS, the first three years of an online course are typically more work for an instructor;
and
WHEREAS, instructors generally begin to experience returns on their time-investments in online
courses at around the fifth year of the course; and
WHEREAS, instructors sabbatical cycles are generally seven years; and
Cal Poly Campus Physical Development
WHEREAS, most laboratory- and studio-based classes require more space per student than
traditional lecture formats; and
WHEREAS, the integration of online learning at Cal Poly that could result in the greatest gains
towards maximizing the use of productive space on campus is moving portions of laboratory-
and studio-based classes online; and
WHEREAS, online course components decrease demand on the campus academic core and
make more space available in the academic core for uses that require space in the academic
core; and
WHEREAS, being able to work from home and public spaces is desirable; and
WHEREAS, leaving living spaces to work or attend class is common practice and walkability is
desirable; and
Cal Poly Academic Programming Opportunities with California Community
Colleges
WHEREAS, Cal Poly offers courses that are desirable for community college students, often
transferable, and not available at all or some community colleges; and
WHEREAS, of the 2.4 million students enrolled in California Community colleges in the 2011-
2012 academic year, 621,501 took at least one distance education course; and
WHEREAS, the State budget allocated to California Community Colleges is almost three times
larger than the CSU budget; and

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WHEREAS, State funding for California Community Colleges is expected to grow by 8% and CSU
funding is expected to grow by 5%; and
Campus Perceptions
WHEREAS, campus perceptions of online learning should be understood before implementing
large-scale online learning programs; and

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SECTION 3 –BE IT RESOLVED (POLICY DEVELOPMENT) STATEMENTS
Guided by the WHEREAS (resolution development) statements in the previous section, this
section provides recommendations for BE IT RESOLVED (policy development) statements that
could be included in Cal Poly’s Academic senate, ASI, and IHC resolutions. Section four uses the
BE IT RESOLVED statements in this section to create policy recommendations.
Online Course Structures and Learning Outcomes
BE IT RESOLVED that Cal Poly should evaluate the potential usefulness and effectiveness of
bringing parts of courses online.
BE IT RESOLVED that online learning should only be incorporated in ways that improves student
success.
BE IT RESOLVED that best practices should be incorporated when course components are
brought online.
BE IT RESOLVED that online courses offered by Cal Poly should seek to meet and/or exceed all
criteria established by the Quality Online Learning and Teaching (QOLT) rubric, the @one
Standards for Quality Online Teaching rubric, and the Quality Matters (QM) rubric.
BE IT RESOLVED that instructors should be compensated or otherwise incentivized to complete
online learning instructor certifications and participate in the CSUs professional Learning
Community.
BE IT RESOLVED that Cal Poly online course instructors should be certified in the California
Community College @one instructor certification program or have equivalent knowledge.
BE IT RESOLVED that Cal Poly online course instructors should be certified in the QM instructor
certification program or have equivalent knowledge.
BE IT RESOLVED that Cal Poly instructors from every college and department should regularly
participate in the CSU’s Professional Learning Community.
BE IT RESOLVED that data should be gathered from Cal Poly online courses and their
components and used to evaluate, develop, operate, and improve.
BE IT RESOLVED that more lab course components that improve safety should be offered
online.

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BE IT RESOLVED that online discussions that establish netiquette and group contracts should be
facilitated at the beginning of each online course.
BE IT RESOLVED that after critical course material is presented in a course, students should be
able to access it online at any time.
BE IT RESOLVED that more online course components that increase flexibility and accessibility
by allowing students to engage with time sensitive and/or remote content should be offered
online.
BE IT RESOLVED that Cal Poly should develop more systems for instructors and students to
identify and develop online learning course components that are desired but not available.
BE IT RESOLVED that moving more space-intensive components of laboratory- and studio-
based classes online should be studied.
Cal Poly Campus Physical Development
BE IT RESOLVED that multi-purpose computer labs and internet infrastructure should be
dispersed throughout the campus core.
BE IT RESOLVED that space should not be allocated solely for online learning in the campus
academic core.
BE IT RESOLVED that increased internet and computing access and capacity should be made
available in student housing and communal and public spaces.
BE IT RESOLVED that Cal Poly should provide non-residential online learning spaces near
student residences.
Cal Poly Academic Programming Opportunities with California Community
Colleges
BE IT RESOLVED that Cal Poly should offer more online courses to students at other colleges
and universities.
BE IT RESOLVED that Cal Poly students should be able to take more online courses from
community colleges, CSUs, and other universities when they cannot take them at Cal Poly.

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Instructor Incentives
BE IT RESOLVED that developing online courses should not be mandatory.
BE IT RESOLVED, that instructor online learning incentives should be in period with sabbatical
cycles.
BE IT RESOLVED that instructors should have first right of refusal to teach the online courses
they develop for seven years.
Campus Perceptions
BE IT RESOLVED that online surveys should be conducted at appropriate intervals that explore
uses of, common objections to, and positive experiences with, online learning within the Cal
Poly Community, and versions of this survey should be administered to students, instructors,
staff, and administrators.

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SECTION 4 - POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
This section draws from the BE IT RESOLVED (policy development) statements in section three
above to develop policies that are recommended for inclusion in the Cal Poly academic and
master plans.
Academic Plan Policy Recommendations
This plan recommends that the following policies be considered for inclusion in Cal Poly’s
academic plan:
Safety
Study offering components of laboratory- and studio-based courses with avoidable and
unnecessary safety concerns as online modules.
Learning Outcomes
A Cal Poly instructor from each college and department shall regularly participate in the CSU’s
Professional Learning Community (PLC).
Study the relationship between student success and online course components.
Study the feasibility of meeting and/or exceeding all criteria in the Quality Online Learning and
Teaching (QOLT), @one Standards for Quality Online Teaching, and Quality Matters (QM)
rubrics for online courses, and develop a feasible online learning implementation plan.
Instructors who teach online courses shall be certified in the California Community College
@one and QM instructor certification programs (or prove equivalent knowledge), and
instructors shall be appropriately compensated, or otherwise incentivized, to obtain these
certifications or equivalent knowledge.
Use data gathered from Cal Poly online courses to develop, operate, and improve learning.
Offer more time sensitive and/or remote content online.
Netiquette and group contracts shall be facilitated at the beginning of each online course.
Critical course material shall be available online after it has been presented in the class.

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Instructor Incentives and Perspectives
Developing online courses shall not be mandatory.
Instructors shall have first right of refusal to teach the online courses they develop for a period
of seven years.
Conduct online surveys at appropriate intervals that explore uses of, common objections to,
and positive experiences with, online learning within the Cal Poly Community, and a version of
this survey shall be administered to students, instructors, staff, and administrators.
Efficiency and Partnerships with Community Colleges and Other Universities
Improve availability and transferability of courses between Cal Poly and other CSUs, California
Community Colleges, and other universities.
Technology Leadership
Develop more systems for instructors and students to identify and develop online learning
course components that are desired but not available.
Master Plan Policy Recommendations
This plan recommendations that the following policies be considered for inclusion in Cal Poly’s
master plan:
Efficiency
Study bringing online more laboratory- and studio-based course components that require a lot
of space.
Increased Internet and Computing Access and Capacity
More internet and computing access and capacity shall be available in student homes and
communal and public spaces.
Multi-purpose computer labs shall be disbursed throughout the campus core.
Space shall not be allocated solely for online learning in the campus academic core.
Non-residential spaces that can be used for online learning shall be available near student
residences.
Provide space and equipment to meet bandwidth, storage, and computational demands.

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SECTION 5 – ONLINE LEARNING CONSIDERATIONS
This section reviews standards for effective online courses and considerations for implementing
online learning, including online learning quality assurance, course rubrics, instructor
certifications, checks for student readiness, and other best practices. Cal Poly’s Center for
Learning and Technology (CTLT) is also discussed.
What is an Effective Online Course?
This sections discusses quality assurance and current and accepted online learning course
rubrics and instructor certifications that are directly applicable to Cal Poly.
Quality Assurance
An article titled Toward a Quality Assurance Approach to E-learning Courses (Kidney,
Cummings, & Azalea, 2007) states that a quality online course is the direct result of effective
quality assurance strategies, and the paper identified eight categories of online course quality
assurance strategies, which are: instructional design, web development, editing, usability and
accessibility, maintainability, copyright, infrastructure impact, and content and rigor. The article
describes a course production process that employs a variety of specialists, including
instructional designers, web developers, graphic artists, multimedia specialists, web
programmers, and project managers.
The articles identifies attributes of online course quality from learner, faculty, and
administrative perspectives. According to the article, both learners and instructors want
courses that are intuitive and customizable. Also according to the article, online learners want
courses with accurate and thorough instructions that are easy to access and use; learners also
want online course components to be well-integrated and function properly. The article
indicates that online instructors want courses they can prepare quickly that are also easy to
teach, update, and customize. The article states that administrators want online courses to
have accurate and valid information with rigor comparable to that of non-distance courses;
they also want the courses to boost enrollment, enhance the university’s reputation, be
reasonably easy to teach and maintain, and be free from copyright violations and other
components that might create institutional liability (Kidney et al., 2007).
To assure quality, the article recommends that online courses be reviewed by the online course
team, university staff, and peers. The focus of the team review is to review the instructional
plan and the web design. The staff review focus is editing, usability and accessibility,
maintainability, copyright concerns, and infrastructure impact. Peer review is intended to
evaluate online course content and rigor (Kidney et al., 2007).

20
The article also provides four online course quality assurance “disappointments” the authors
describe as common (Kidney et al., 2007):
 Implementing online course peer reviews is difficult
 Instructors teach online courses before going through a quality assurance process
 Online courses developed through informal processes
 Faculty refuse to authorize or consider any changes to their courses
Furthermore, the article presents the following as the most common reasons faculty are
opposed to online course quality assurance processes (Kidney et al., 2007):
 Inconsistency with academic freedom and traditional course review processes
 Time-consuming and cumbersome without reward
Team Review
The section provides an overview of online course team instructional plan and web design
reviews, as recommended by the Toward a Quality Assurance Approach to E-learning Courses
article. Online course team reviews can track course progress in early stages of production and
help identify development needs (Kidney et al., 2007).
Instructional Plan Review
The first steps of the instructional plan review outlined in the article is identifying the sequence
of learning objectives and modules and listing learning materials (e.g. readings, activities,
quizzes, tutorials, exercises, discussions, etc...). Next, the article recommends that the online
course team create assessment criteria and, as the course progresses, the course team should
benchmarks course progress, brainstorm new and appropriate activities, and suggests changes
and/or additions to the course (Kidney et al., 2007).
Web Design Review
The web design review is intended to identify design and technical problems. Prior to web
design review, the Toward a Quality Assurance Approach to E-learning Courses article
recommends that, using the instructional plan as a guide, the web developer(s) and graphic
artist(s) create a prototype of the online course, then the web review team should check that
the prototype works properly and includes things like links to the syllabus, course tools, the
university’s online learning support site, a course evaluation form. The article also
recommended that a course web style sheet, sample instruction module, organizational chart,
and lists of media, graphics, and applications be developed and reviewed during the web design
review (Kidney et al., 2007).

21
Staff Review
The section provides an overview of online course staff editing, usability and accessibility,
maintainability, copyright, and infrastructure reviews that are recommended by the Toward a
Quality Assurance Approach to E-learning Courses article (Kidney et al., 2007).
Editing
All staff and faculty do not have polished and professional writing and presentation skills, and
editing helps universities present polished and professional products and services, so online
courses should be edited (Kidney et al., 2007).
Usability and Accessibility
Online courses that are accessible and usable have user-centered designs that take cognitive
factors like differing perceptions, memorization techniques, learning methods, problem solving
approaches into consideration, so the usability and accessibility of online courses online
courses should be reviewed (Kidney et al., 2007).
Maintainability
Course developers should be mindful that creating and maintaining online courses can be a
significant investment, and ease of maintenance and updating should be considered when
developing online courses. One way to reduce the complexity of online course updating and
maintenance is to try to use the built-in tools of the course delivery platforms before trying to
develop customized alternatives and/or “work-arounds” (Kidney et al., 2007).
Copyright
Online courses can create intellectual property liability concerns. Among other more common
strategies, one strategy to lessen liability associated with online courses is to link to external
websites rather than embedding content (Kidney et al., 2007).
Infrastructure Impact
The impact of online courses on a universities technology infrastructure should be reviewed
and lessened where appropriate. The university should also be sure that it has technology
infrastructure that can support its online course offerings (Kidney et al., 2007).
Peer Review
Online course peer review should be used to ensure the content, rigor, and pedagogy
reasonably meet or exceed those of non-distance education courses that cover the same
subject matter: “Timely, accurate and complete information is fundamental to learning.
Maintaining the academic rigor of a course is fundamental to certifications and accreditations…
appropriate application of learning and assessment theory is an integral part of the
instructional design process, [and] a peer review of how well that linkages were crafted is
always worthwhile” (Kidney et al., 2007).

22
Accepted Online Learning Rubrics
Several professionally and academically accepted rubrics that evaluate online learning courses
according to established criteria exist, and they include the CSU’s The Quality Online Learning
and Teaching (QOLT) rubric (California State University, 2013b), the California Community
College’s @one rubric (Microsoft IT Academy Program, 2012a), and Quality Matters(QM)—the
national and international standard for online learning rubrics (MarylandOnline, 2014c). The
CSU’s QOLT rubric and the QM rubric focus on providing instructor’s with tools to design,
evaluate, and improve their courses and the CCCs @one rubric focuses on evaluating
instructors.
Quality Online Learning and Teaching (QOLT) Rubric
The CSU’s QOLT rubric for online instruction can be used by instructors to evaluate and improve
their existing courses, design new online modules and courses, and/or as a means to gain
recognition for exemplary online instruction. The QOLT rubric has six categories: learner
support and resources, online organization and design, instructional design and delivery,
assessment and evaluation, innovative teaching and technology, and faculty use of student
feedback. The requirements for “exemplary courses” in each of these categories are outlined
below (CSU Chico, 2015):
Learner Support and Resources: “contains extensive information about being an online learner
and links to campus resources… provides a variety of course-specific resources, contact
information for instructor, department, and program [,and]… offers access to a wide range of
resources supporting content and different learning abilities.”
Online Organization and Design: well-organized, easy to navigate, and “students can clearly
understand all components and structure of the course;” in addition, the “course syllabus
identifies and clearly delineates the role the online environment will play in the total course,
aesthetic design presents and communicates course information clearly throughout the
course… all webpages are visually and functionally consistent [,and] accessibility issues are
addressed throughout the course (including: sight, mobility, hearing, cognition, ESL, and
technical).”
Instructional Design and Delivery: “offers ample opportunities for interaction and
communication student to student, student to instructor and student to content;” moreover,
“course goals are clearly defined and aligned to learning objectives… learning objectives are
identified and learning activities are clearly integrated… [the] course provides multiple visual,
textual, kinesthetic and/or auditory activities to enhance student learning and accessibility… [,
and the] course provides multiple activities that help students develop critical thinking and
problem-solving skills.”

23
Assessment and Evaluation of Student Learning: has “multiple timely and appropriate activities
to assess student readiness for course content and mode of delivery… learning objectives,
instructional and assessment activities [that] are closely aligned… ongoing multiple assessment
strategies [that] are used to measure content knowledge, attitude, and skills… regular feedback
about student performance [that] is provided in a timely manner throughout the course [,
and]… students’ self-assessments and peer feedback opportunities exist throughout the
course.”
Innovative Teaching and Technology: “uses variety of technology tools to appropriately
facilitate communication and learning,” and “new teaching methods are applied and
innovatively enhance student learning and interactively engage students… a variety of
multimedia elements and/or learning objects are used and are relevant to accommodate
different learning styles throughout the course… [, and the] course optimizes Internet access
and effectively engages students in the learning process in a variety of ways throughout the
course.”
Faculty Use of Student Feedback: the instructor “offers multiple opportunities for students to
give feedback on course content… offers multiple opportunities for students to give feedback
on ease of online technology and accessibility of course… uses formal and informal student
feedback in an ongoing basis to help plan instruction and assessment of student learning
throughout the semester.”

24
@one Rubric
@One offers Standards for Quality Online Teaching. There are ten standards, and they are all
instructor focused. The following are the categories for which the @one standards develop
criteria that can be used to evaluate instructors (Microsoft IT Academy Program, n.d.):
 Knowledge, understanding, and application of current and effective online teaching that
support student success
 Knowledge and understanding and facilitation of “legal, ethical, and safe technology
use”
 Knowledge and understanding of design and utilization of “a variety of formative and
summative assessments to help students achieve the course learning objectives”
 Knowledge and understanding of:
o “the value of active learning, participation, and collaboration within the online
classroom, and [application of] this knowledge to the design of his/her course”
o “the importance of teacher-student communication, and [application of] this
knowledge in various ways within the course”
o “the implications of the Americans with Disabilities Act and section 508 of the
Federal Rehabilitation Act, and ensures that course material is accessible”
o “methods for collecting data regarding student learning, and uses this data to
modify teaching and course content”
 Effective use of "a range of technologies tools--both within and outside of the Learning
Management System--that support student learning and engagement”
 Participation “in ongoing professional development”
 Ability to “arrange media and content that supports student learning, success, and
progression throughout the course”
Quality Matters (QM) Rubric
At the time of this writing, the author of this plan has not been able to obtain access to the QM
rubric because Cal Poly does not have administrative access to the QM site (but all of the Cal
Poly Instructional Designers in the CLTL are QM certified), and according to Catherine Hillman
of the CTLT (who is QM certified), the QOLT rubric is “almost identical to the QOLT rubric with
just a few changes,” so, this plan will not explore the QM rubric further, but this plan also
recommends that Cal Poly studies the QM rubric while studying the QOLT and @one rubrics,
because the QM rubric is the national and international standard.
Online Instructor Certifications and Professional Learning Communities
Instructor certifications can be obtained in the @one and QM systems, but no instructor
certification exists for the CSU’s QOLT online learning rubric; however, the CSU operates a
professional learning community (PLC) that fulfills objectives that are similar to those of online
instructor certifications.

25
CSU Professional Learning Community (PLC)
In lieu of an online instructor certification program, the CSU operates the Professional Learning
Community (PLC) where (California State University, 2013a):
“Faculty and staff across the CSU are supported through the involvement in a
Professional Learning Community (PLC) focused on various aspects of effective course
redesign. To date, approximately 200 CSU faculty and staff have participated in the PLC,
which meets biweekly using Collaborate as a platform for synchronous online
presentations, discussions, and collaborations. The meetings cover different topics such
as assessment, gathering and analyzing course effectiveness data, learner analytics,
flipped/blended course models, Supplemental Instruction, Universal Design for Learning,
academic integrity, virtual labs, ePortfolios, etc. The PLC sessions take place every-other
Friday. Anyone interested may attend live by clicking on the “Join session” link at the
appropriate day and time. In addition, slides and session recordings are posted shortly
after each session.”
@one Online Instructor Certification
The @one certification program is intended to help instructors acquire effective course design
skills, increase student success and retention rates, better use existing course management
tools, and learn to leverage new media that inspires students to excel. Becoming a certified
@one instructor requires that instructors watch an introductory one hour desktop seminar
about the @one certification program, enroll, and complete five core courses that each require
a commitment of approximately ten hours per week, and each course lasts four to five weeks.
The @one courses are taken with other instructors, and the courses have beginning and end-
dates. Furthermore, the @one certification courses are facilitated by online course experts, but
participant work is completed asynchronously because participants work according to their
unique schedules, and the assignments have due dates. The five core @one courses are:
Introduction to Online Teaching and Learning, Course Management Training, Building Online
Community with Social Media, Creating Accessible Online Courses, and Designing Effective
Online Assessments. After the core courses are completed, instructors will transition into an
online teaching practicum where they will “polish” their online teaching skills by developing an
ePortfolio that is a “robust collection of digital artifacts and reflections” comprised of material
created during completion of required coursework—the ePortfolio is intended to demonstrate
the instructor’s skills and abilities. During the practicum phase, instructors meet with an @one
Peer Reviewer to evaluate the ePortfolio and prepare for the practicum culmination, which is
an online presentation to a final review committee that showcases the instructor’s work and
proficiency with the @one Standards for Quality Online Teaching. (Microsoft IT Academy
Program, 2012b).

26
@one also has an option for school-specific customized certification programs where
institutions select a customized curriculum plan and final certification designations are awarded
by the sponsoring institution.
Quality Matters (QM) Online Instructor Certifications and Workshops
QM offers professional development courses and workshops for instructors that already teach
online, instructors that that don’t, and for online learning facilitators. QM also offers overview
presentations (MarylandOnline, 2014d).
QM Online Certification Courses
All QM online certification courses are “rigorous and time intensive,” and “participants should
be aware that certification courses are not workshops and have more demands in terms of
assignments and assessments of learning.” In QM online certification courses, “facilitators
determine [the instructor’s] readiness to hold QM roles based on the work completed,” and
“ample time should be set aside for each certification course,” and “QM recommends that only
one certification course be taken at a time…” QM offers courses that are intended to certify
online instructors as peer reviewers, master reviewers, course review managers, online
facilitators, face-to-face facilitators, Improving Your Online Course (IYOC) face-to-face
facilitators, IYOC online facilitators, continuing and professional education accelerated peer
reviewers, and K-12 accelerated higher education reviewers (MarylandOnline, 2014d).
All Cal Poly Instructional Designers in the CTLT are QM certified.
QM Workshops
QM workshops require “no prerequisites and can be taken by anyone who is interested in
improving the quality of online course design, and how to start teaching online”
(MarylandOnline, 2014d), and QM offers their workshops online or as full-day or half-day on-
site workshops (MarylandOnline, 2014a).
For instructors that currently teach online, QM recommends the Applying the QM Rubric
(APPQMR) and the Improving your Online Course workshops (IYOC). The APPQMR workshop is
QM’s “flagship workshop and is the prerequisite for the Peer Reviewer Course[;] this workshop
provides an overview of the QM Rubric Standards, peer review process, and Quality Matters.”
The Improving Your Online Course workshop “provides a focused look at the QM Standards so
[instructors] can incorporate improvements to… current online course(s)” (MarylandOnline,
2014b).
For instructors that do not currently teach online QM recommends the Teaching Online (TOL),
Designing Your Online Course (DYOC), and Designing Your Blended Course (DYBC) introductory
workshops. The TOL workshop is an introduction to online delivery that examines “the
differences between traditional classroom and online learning; the instructor’s role in the

27
online classroom; the importance of engaging students, and keeping them engaged; and the
various methods of facilitating online discussion using the discussion board.” The DYOC
workshop covers methods to develop “overall course organization and create a plan for [the
instructor’s] first module.” The DYBC workshop helps instructors “create a plan for flipping
[their] classroom” by teaching skills to “develop a plan for what happens not only inside the
classroom, but outside as well” (MarylandOnline, 2014b).
QM also offers other courses that cover topics like ensuring that course design is helping
students achieve desired outcomes, managing the flow of questions about where to go and
what to do in online courses, and making active learning a part of course design. Courses
focused on ensuring that course design is helping students achieve desired outcomes include
Connecting Learning Objectives and Assessments and Using Instructional Materials and
Technology to Promote Learner Engagement. Courses focused on managing question flow
include Design that Welcomes Your Students and Addressing Accessibility and Usability.
Courses that focus on integrating active learning into course design include Using Instructional
Materials and Technology to Promote Learner Engagement and Connecting Learning Objectives
and Assessments. (MarylandOnline, 2014b).
If instructors cannot or do not find time to take a full QM course, QM also offers two hours web
conferencing workshops regularly (MarylandOnline, 2014b).
Center for Teaching, Learning & Technology (CTLT)
Cal Poly’s Center for Teaching, Learning & Technology (CTLT) is resource that is available to all
instructors to help them develop practices that are appropriate for their courses and
pedagogies, and instructors interested in developing online courses are encouraged to take
advantage of the CTLT’s expertise and resources—the CTLT offers instructor incentives, one-on-
one consultations, and scheduled and by-request workshops (California Polytechnic State
University, 2015e), and some QOLT workshops have stipend opportunities (California
Polytechnic State University, 2015d).
The CTLT also facilitates learning communities that “enable a diverse cohort of faculty and staff
from across the university to dive deeply into an issue, challenge, or set of topics related to
their professional careers [by] supplying faculty and staff with time, space and resources”
(California Polytechnic State University, 2015c).
Student Readiness for Online Learning
Instructors are not the only participants who should be equipped for online course success;
students should be, too, and the CSU recommends that students self-assess to determine if
they are ready to take an online course using a tool developed by CSU Stanislaus (California
State University, n.d.-b). CSU Stanislaus offers students a non-mandatory online-learning-

28
readiness self-assessment that is intended to help students determine if they are comfortable
enough with an online learning environment to take an online course. The assessment asks
potential online learning students questions that cover subjects like reliable computer and
internet access, computer and internet proficiency, self-management, learning,
communication, and working formats, abilities, and preferences (CSU Stanislaus, n.d.).

29
SECTION 6 - WHY ONLINE LEARNING?
Cal Poly should implement more online learning. The potential benefits include better learning
outcomes through more effective feedback and participation methods; increased flexibility,
accessibility, and affordability; improved safety; and more efficient use of space. These
outcomes are summarized below.
Better Learning Outcomes through Multiple Simultaneous Teaching Styles
In online courses, materials may be presented in a number of ways, including experiment
demonstrations, training sessions, recorded lectures, broadcast events, presentation slides,
videos, audio recordings, podcasts, discussion boards, file-sharing, wikis, conference calls, video
conferences and interactive broadcast lectures and events. This can give both learners and
teachers the ability to find methods that work for them.
Effective Assessment through Timely, Relevant, Appropriate, and Engaging
Feedback
Assessment is central in learning and learning design, and the quality of feedback has been
found to be less important than the quality of the learner’s engagement with the feedback.
Learners are more likely to benefit from timely, relevant, and appropriate feedback (Armellini &
Aiyegbayo, 2010), and online learning provides opportunities for anytime access, engagement,
and feedback. Furthermore, online course formats allow feedback to be communicated rapidly
when feedback is programmed into the course and/or when students and faculty are available
for communication of assessment.
Online learning formats also create opportunities for new methods that can improve things like
relevance, appropriateness, and engagement. Data that represents online learning usage at Cal
Poly does exist, but, unfortunately, during the time that this plan was developed, PolyLearn
staff did technical staff were facing major deadlines and were unable to extract the data.
Enhanced participation through E-tivities
E-tivities are intended to enhance active and participative online learning by blending effective,
engaging, and rewarding online methods into traditional pedagogies (Armellini & Aiyegbayo,
2010).
Schedule Flexibility & Accessibility
Because many online courses components do not require meetings they can be completed
anytime participants find time in their schedules. Furthermore, mobile technology and internet
access are becoming ubiquitous, so online learning can happen almost anywhere, and this
could help more people attend or teach college, especially if they don’t live or work near one.

30
Student Affordability and Accessibility
Traditional forms of education are expensive, and online learning could make education more
affordable and, therefore, more accessible. For example, universities have funds and services
that attract and create well-to-do residents, so universities are usually located in well-to-do
areas, so rent and other costs of living near universities are often higher, and this scenario can
create a barrier to lower income students. Online education allows students to work from
home, remote online learning centers, and/or mobile devices, and this could save students
money and increase higher education accessibility.
Increased Safety
Labs sometimes involve hazardous and/or expensive chemicals and equipment, and offering
these lab components online could improve safety and/or lower costs. If students’ major or
profession requires hands-on experience in a lab, these students should continue to take these
courses in person, but if lab components have unnecessary and avoidable safety concerns, they
should be offered online. Lab components are unnecessary and avoidable if students do not
need hands-on experience for their major or profession. Online learning also provides
opportunities to offer lab components that are otherwise too expensive and/or too dangerous
(e.g. working with special nuclear material or neutralizing chemical weaponry).
A More Efficient Use of Space - Comparing Space Types
This section explores the role online learning can play in using valuable space in the academic
core more efficiently. Stanford’s Space and Furniture Planning Guide (Stanford University
Department of Land Buildings and Real Estate, 2009) is used as a basis for exploration because
Stanford is recognized as one of the best universities in the world and because Stanford is less
financially constrained than Cal Poly, so Stanford is more likely to plan according to want/need
requirements that financial constraints—this guide was also easy to find through a web search.
However, Stanford’s Space and Furniture Planning Guide focuses on more traditional classroom
and science lab formats, and Cal Poly has many courses that require classroom, lab, and studio
layouts that differ from these formats, so more study is needed to identify layouts and space
requirements of Cal Poly course offerings.

31
Stanford Space and Furniture Planning Guide
The Stanford Space and Furniture Planning Guide, which was originally published in 2003 and
has been updated 4 times since, states that “Computer clusters, which are areas available for
student use on a casual or an assigned basis, should provide approximately 30-36 net
assignable square footage (nasf) per workstation.” As can be seen in Table 1: Stanford
Classroom Space Guidelines, Error! Reference source not found., Figure 4: Stanford Typical Dry
Lab Space Requirements, and Figure 5: Stanford Typical Dry Lab w/ Teaching Space
Requirements below, this guide also identifies minimum space required for classrooms as a
range from 12 to 22 nasf per workstation, and laboratory space ranges from 116 to 217 nasf per
person. Based on the guide, computer clusters require approximately 1.5 to 3 times more space
than classrooms, but require approximately 3 to 7 time less space than laboratories (e.g.
chemistry laboratories). (Stanford University Department of Land Buildings and Real Estate,
2009)
Computer labs require less space than laboratory-based classes that move the components of
their courses online that use the most space would foreseeably be the integration of online
learning at Cal Poly that could result in the greatest gains towards maximizing the usefulness of
on-campus space.
Table 1: Stanford Classroom Space Guidelines

32
Figure 3: Stanford Typical Wet Lab Space Requirements

33
Figure 4: Stanford Typical Dry Lab Space Requirements

34
Figure 5: Stanford Typical Dry Lab w/ Teaching Space Requirements

35
SECTION 7 – ONLINE LEARNING PERSONAL TESTIMONIALS
This section is intended to include statements from individuals about their personal experiences
with online learning. Readers of this document are encouraged to share a testimonial of their
experience with online learning. More online learning testimonials could also be obtained
through targeted interviews with Cal Poly community members by CTLT staff or a Cal Poly
online learning implementation team member, if such a role existed. Testimonials could also be
drawn from the campus-wide online learning perception surveys that are recommended earlier
in this plan.
Doug Moody (Author’s End Note)
Other than my personal experiences as a graduate student using the PolyLearn course format
that is common at Cal Poly, I have had little experience with online learning at Cal Poly.
However, I have had many conversations with students who have taken online courses at other
universities, and they overwhelmingly like that online courses can be completed at almost any
time from almost any location, and that, often, they can choose between learning methods.
Personally, during my three years at Cal State Fullerton completing the math- and science-
heavy first three years of an undergraduate engineering program, I personally found online
learning to be irreplaceable, and online content was sometimes included in course content, and
other times I sought out the content myself. On difficult math and science problems I could
watch videos of instructors solving somewhat obscure problems and fast-forward to the parts I
needed, I could watch videos and animations at my leisure that taught me important nuisances
of physical behaviors, and I completed online assignments that were able to provide just the
right amount of feedback and the right amount of help at the right times.

36

37
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