The Economic System:
1st Year-Course Redesign
Economics & Finance Dept; Buffalo State
College: SUNY:
 A General Ed Course- primarily for non-majors
300+ students per semester; hybrid course
Redesign Goal: move from traditional lecture to
a multi- learning mode course, with on-line
materials, including text with embedded videos;
undergraduate learning assistants,who meet
once a week for games, exercises & reviews.
The Redesign Team
 Dr. Karen O’Quin, Project Director; Associate Dean,
Natural & Social Sciences;
 Dr. William Ganley, Professor of Economics & Finance
 Meghan Pereira, Director ANGEL, Instructional
Resources;
 Ginger DeMita, Research Associate, Undergraduate;
 Additional Faculty: Dr. Ted Schmidt and Dr. Curtis
Haynes
 Chair Department of Economics & Finance:
 Dr. Ted Byrley
Initial Planning
 The Buffalo State Redesign project was planned from the top
downward: the College Provost, Dennis Ponton solicited interest
from academic departments in response to a SUNY-wide call for
course redesign proposals. Criteria for proposals were developed.
 Various departments expressed interest; however only the
Economics & Finance Dept submitted draft proposal.
 Ted Schmidt, Bill Ganley, Meghan Pereira & Associate Dean O’Quin
went to an NCAT workshop to develop a complete proposal; each
wrote various components of an implementation strategy with
assistance from NCAT staff.
 There were numerous iterations and the Provost was given regular
updates on the details of the process.
Administrative Support
The Provost took the initiative
 Appointment of a primary administrator, an
associate dean, as project head with direct
reporting & accountability to the Provost
Funding support to cover gaps before SUNY
funding kicked in: travel funds to grant
application workshop; student stipends in Fall
2008.
Previous department chair was on board
Administrative support
 The Administration allowed the process to get underway
before asking for communication to the broader campus
community.
 Cooperation from 2 academic departments to recruit
ULAs.
 Amazing support, training & direction from the ANGEL
administration & staff: trainings students to use the
technology- embedding videos, editing on-line text,
monitoring student participation and to use activities like
on-line the on-line Jeopardy game
Course Materials
1st step: consensus of teaching faculty as
to core materials.
2nd step: adding existing materials to online access- quizzes, study guides
Development on-line text readings
Researching and embedding videos to
support the text
How Far Can We Go?
New issues to deal with:
 Will the course have flexibility for new
instructors to teach the course
Updating the materials
On-going recruitment of ULAs
Expansion of the concept to other
departments