Course Author: Craig Hardesty

From the Author:

"All of us, on some level, are designing our courses in a vacuum. We all question whether we have a good product and how it can continually be made better. My course has been slowly evolving for the better part of a decade. Participating in the Blackboard Exemplary Course Program has given me a chance to put my course up against the very best to see where it stands. Participating in this program has afforded me, as well as experts in the field of online course design, the opportunity to examine literally every facet of my course for strengths and weaknesses.  It is a great honor to receive this award, but I especially appreciate the chance to seriously examine, reflect, and receive feedback to make my course even better in the future."

About the Course:

My College Algebra course has been designed to be as visually appealing and user friendly as possible. My goal was to make sure anyone logging on for the first time would know exactly where to go and what to do. While incorporating “Why College Algebra?” as a “real-world” theme, I have attempted to consistently use a variety of visual aids, videos, websites, careers, and discussions illustrating applications of the course concepts that surround us every day. Believing strongly that students need to see their online professors as real people with whom they can connect, I have also incorporated as much of “me” as possible through use of a personalized orientation video series, video lectures, weekly video summaries of all assignments, etc.