\u201cThis is the first course students take for their agricultural leadership and professional development program,\u201d said Jason Garvey, lead instructional designer at Purdue University and one of the course\u2019s developers. \u201cThe idea is to introduce students to professional competencies important in the work world, and it\u2019s really the first course of its kind at Purdue.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What makes this online course so unique is that it prepares students to participate in 10 experiential learning activities by covering 10 unique competencies: well-being, grit, career and self-development, leadership, critical thinking, teamwork, connections and networks, communication, professionalism, and technology. Within the course, each competency is covered through engaging videos from Purdue professors, industry professionals and students. Plus, the course is fully asynchronous, allowing students to complete it on their own schedule. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAsynchronous courses are tough,\u201d said Jay Akridge, trustee chair in teaching and learning excellence and a professor of agricultural economics at Purdue University. \u201cI\u2019d taught a number of online courses, but those courses had a lot of instructor engagement, which makes the course similar to an on-campus course. But asynchronous courses need to be all-inclusive and self-contained. We had to ask \u2014 are the directions clear? Are the assignments clear? Does the pacing make sense?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Akridge is an instructor for the course, and he helped to build it along with his colleagues Liz Buyers, Christine Wilson, Jason Garvey, Talay Herman and a team of other professionals. In total, the course took about a year. The process of building it required the expertise of many \u2014 from determining the structure and flow of the course in Brightspace, to designing and creating assessments and activities, to shooting and editing videos on-campus. A project of this complexity also required many check-ins, meetings and tests to ensure everything was working properly. It was a major effort, but, according to Akridge, the payoff has been worth it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo far the course has played out really well,\u201d Akridge said. \u201cThe students have been pleased. They like the videos and assignments, and they think the course is nicely structured. We\u2019ve gotten positive feedback \u2014 as well as some ideas for how to refine the course.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Christine Wilson, senior associate dean and director of academic programs in Purdue\u2019s College of Agriculture, described the course building process as inspiring and fun. \u201cWe were able to coordinate and split up areas and responsibilities to very efficiently and effectively create the course modules and build the course,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJason Garvey and Talay Herman from the innovative learning team were simply outstanding to work with to build the online course design \u2013 they took what we envisioned and created with topics, concepts, and videos and helped transform them into excellent online learning,\u201d Wilson continued. <\/p>\n\n\n\n By building a foundational course that\u2019s 100% online, the course design team behind AgLeadPro has also given students access to much-needed flexibility. Since the course can be completed asynchronously, it doesn\u2019t have an enrollment cap like most on-campus courses, and students can complete it at their own pace. This is a big boon for students who want to complete the AgLeadPro certificate during their time at Purdue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe would like to see hundreds of students per semester in the course\/program,\u201d said Akridge. \u201cThe course\u2019s flexibility also gives students the opportunity to complete it over the summer or winter breaks. And our goal is that AgLeadPro helps them be better prepared for the work world.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Though AgLeadPro is offered online, it also gives students the opportunity to connect with Purdue\u2019s campus through experiential learning. In the course, students must participate in 10 activities connected to the 10 competencies the course covers. These activities help introduce students to campus events and opportunities that align with the 10 professional competencies. After completing the activities, students complete the certificate with a reflection that helps them communicate what they have learned to employers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis course gives students a strong foundation for completing the rest of the program,\u201d said Garvey. \u201cAnd it helps them figure out where they are going from there.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n AgLeadPro is just one example of the effort, time and teamwork that it takes to create a successful online course. Every year, Purdue offers hundreds of online courses to students, and each one requires meticulous planning, designing, implementing and evaluation. Purdue\u2019s course design team makes this all happen, even if most students never get to see what happens behind the scenes. According to Akridge, when it comes to helping students meet their goals, the effort is worth it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou put so much effort into it before the course even launches, and once it starts it has to be successful,\u201d said Akridge. \u201cIt\u2019s worth the work because we are helping students shorten that step from the university into their career.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are interested in designing your online course with Purdue\u2019s course production team, email tlt@purdue.edu to get started. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For more information about AgLeadPro and Purdue\u2019s agricultural leadership program, visit the program\u2019s webpage.<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When Purdue students complete an online course, they\u00a0only see the finished product,\u00a0moving through each video, assessment and activity\u00a0like\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0viewing a film, removed from\u00a0what\u2019s\u00a0going on behind the scenes.\u00a0But,\u00a0just like in film production,\u00a0the real\u00a0magic of course\u00a0design happens when the credits roll.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":8336,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[],"area-of-study":[],"person":[75],"class_list":["post-9084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-teaching-learning","person-faculty-staff"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/generic-story-image.jpg",1800,1200,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/generic-story-image.jpg",1800,1200,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/generic-story-image.jpg",1800,1200,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/generic-story-image-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/generic-story-image-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/generic-story-image-1024x683.jpg",1024,683,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/generic-story-image-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/generic-story-image.jpg",1800,1200,false],"rt_custom":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/generic-story-image.jpg",1800,1200,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"RM Barton","author_link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/author\/barton53\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Teaching & Learning<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"When Purdue students complete an online course, they\u00a0only see the finished product,\u00a0moving through each video, assessment and activity\u00a0like\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0viewing a film, removed from\u00a0what\u2019s\u00a0going on behind the scenes.\u00a0But,\u00a0just like in film production,\u00a0the real\u00a0magic of course\u00a0design happens when the credits roll.\u00a0\u00a0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9084"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9084\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9088,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9084\/revisions\/9088"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9084"},{"taxonomy":"area-of-study","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/area-of-study?post=9084"},{"taxonomy":"person","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/person?post=9084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/JasonGarvey_Profile_Square-copy.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Talay-Herman-edited.jpg\")