Course Structure

eCornell courses are authored by distinguished Cornell faculty who are leaders in their fields of study and often recognized internationally. The transformation of the content from the campus classroom into an effective and engaging online course comes about through a process of close collaboration between eCornell's learning designers and Cornell faculty.

Problem-Based Learning
In eCornell courses students are presented with a problem or case study, offered activities to explore and engage in the topics relevant to it, and resources to help them solve it. Learning happens as students build knowledge and skills with audio presentations, self-guided quizzes and interactive simulations—all based on authentic, relevant, real-world situations. Students are placed in cohorts and the sharing of ideas and collaboration via discussion board forums brings the course materials to life.

Wrapping the whole experience are various collaboration elements: opportunities for learners to discuss the problem, share professional experiences, and interact with an eCornell instructor. Collaboration is the glue that holds the learning experience together, providing the richness and depth that only human interaction can provide.

The eCornell Learning Molecule
eCornell courses are designed using a Learning Molecule Model: a flexible, learner-centered, online learning approach where learners are presented with a problem to solve, an activity to accomplish, or an assignment to complete, and are then given a list of informational resources to help them complete it.

This unique approach serves four important functions:

• It uses the metaphor of a molecule to help organize the content and conceptualize the learning experience.
• It supports an object-oriented approach to the design of individual parts of a course, while providing a framework for maintaining the pedagogical integrity of the whole.
• It provides a systematic way of organizing reusable interactive-media templates for building online learning tools.
• It provides a set of metrics for calculating the effort it will take to produce a course, and the time it will take the learner to complete it.

eCornell recognizes that learners come to our courses with varying levels of experience and expertise; some will require more support than others to help them complete the activities and assignments. Thus, learners are invited to pick and choose the resources they need and the level of support they require to be successful. In other words, they can access the informational resources at any time, taking advantage of all, some or none of them according to their needs.