OPDM’s curriculum design team helps MSU faculty and program leaders build courses and programs, from a single new course or program to a full degree redesign. We work alongside subject-matter experts to turn deep content knowledge into structured, outcomes-driven learning experiences for online, blended, or in-person delivery.
Whether your course lives fully online, blends in-person and digital sessions, or stays in the classroom, we help you sequence content so it flows logically for learners and supports the outcomes you care about most. That means thoughtful module structure, pacing that doesn’t overwhelm, and a design that holds up whether students engage synchronously or work at their own pace.
We help you build knowledge checks, exams, and authentic assessments that measure real understanding, including AI-resistant designs that ask students to apply and reflect rather than simply recall, so grades reflect real learning impact. We design rubrics alongside assessments to make your expectations explicit to students and keep your grading consistent across the course.
Your course benefits from instructional design models with decades of evidence behind them, including ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation) and SAM (Successive Approximation Model). These models shape how we structure every project. Beginning with initial scoping through launch and beyond, we leverage proven instructional frameworks to ensure decisions about your course are grounded in what research shows actually works.
We design toward Quality Matters standards, the field’s leading quality framework for online learning. This means your course will meet benchmarks recognized across higher education, from clear learning objectives and accessible content to consistent navigation and meaningful assessment feedback. This standard is a mark of credibility for you, your department, and your learners.
We develop course-level and module-level learning objectives that connect directly to your program outcomes and accreditation requirements, keeping every assignment and lesson tied to a clear reason for being there. If you’re launching a new program, like an online master’s degree, we can also help you define program-level outcomes from the ground up, ensuring clarity and quality throughout the entire design process.
Course and program development follows a clear, multi-phase timeline:
You’ll always know what stage your work is in and what comes next. And because the work doesn’t stop at launch, we also support ongoing review and revision based on student feedback and performance data, so your course keeps getting better over time.
Ready to design a course or program that delivers real results? Connect with OPDM to get started.
A growing collection of instructional quick tips covering practical strategies in course design, accessibility, D2L, and open educational resources. Each post is short, actionable, and drawn directly from faculty workshop sessions. The site is maintained by Tom Cheng, Senior Learning Experience Designer at OPDM.
Developed by MSU's Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation, this playlist brings together course design resources in one place, from accessibility and educational technology to mid-semester feedback, assessment design, and campus-wide guidance on AI and course policies.
MSU's central resource page for everything related to Quality Matters. Covers MSU's campus subscription (which gives faculty free access to the QM rubric and professional development), options for a formal managed course review, and contracts for instructional design consultation. Links out to the official Quality Matters site for account setup and national certification.