Analysis of design elements in universal course shell templates of high-ranking universities

Despite popular myths related to the design and development of an online course, the endeavor is rather complicated. Universal Course Shell Templates (UCSTs) can alleviate teachers’ workload, support teachers in taking pedagogically sound decisions, and assist students in their engagement with the course. The study begins with a review of the widespread terms used for Online Learning Environments and then moves to debunk myths around online course design and analyze the potential benefits and challenges of establishing a UCST. The study employed quantitative content analysis to examine the design elements that are included in the UCSTs of high-ranking universities based on the theoretical framework by Baldwin et al. (2018) and Martin et al. (2021). The frequency of appearance of each element as part of the navigation menu and within the UCST is reported and the findings are discussed with a pedagogical lens focusing on the elements included in the navigation menu.