Course Development for Tulane University
Moving flagship, research-led courses online while preserving academic rigor and faculty voice.
The Challenge
A crisis moment demanding quality at speed
When the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered campuses, Tulane University faced an urgent challenge: how to move many high-quality, on-ground courses online quickly—without sacrificing the academic rigor that defines its programs. A previous vendor had struggled to meet Tulane’s expectations for quality and schedule, leaving the university in need of a reliable partner that could earn faculty trust and deliver on a compressed timeline.
The Partnership
Building trust with faculty as true partners
Six Red Marbles partnered closely with Tulane’s faculty and academic leadership to co-design each course. We paired an experienced instructional designer with every faculty member, creating a collaborative environment where subject matter expertise and instructional design worked hand in hand. This approach ensured courses retained faculty voice, scholarly depth, and pedagogical integrity.
The Strategy
SRM applied a learning experience design approach that blended:
This strategy ensured that financial literacy concepts were not only taught, but experienced and reinforced.
What SRM Designed & Developed
Online courses built at scale
During the initial 14-month engagement, SRM developed 26 unique online undergraduate courses. Based on the success of that work, Tulane designated SRM as a lead content partner. Since then, we have continued the partnership—particularly with the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine—supporting course revisions and semester prep for 200+ courses.
The Learning Experience
Media-rich, learner-centered experiences
The resulting courses featured lecture videos, curated readings, discussion activities, quizzes, and scaffolded assignments. Each course was designed to preserve academic rigor while improving accessibility, usability, and student engagement in an online environment.
The Impact
Reliable delivery with lasting institutional impact
SRM delivered on time and at scale. Tulane was able to transition dozens of courses online without compromising quality, while faculty adoption increased as instructors experienced the instructional value of the redesigned materials. The work also included a Canvas redesign and accessibility improvements that strengthened course quality and inclusivity.
Why It Matters
Turning urgency into long-term capability
By combining trusted faculty partnerships with flexible, production-ready workflows, SRM helped Tulane transform an urgent operational challenge into a sustainable model for high-quality online course delivery—one that continues to support the university well beyond the initial crisis.
I wanted to thank you for including me in the special online courses. Six Red Marbles is great. I've now made 20 lecture videos as well as much of the discussion, readings, supplementary material, and quizzes to accompany them. I was skeptical at first, but now I'm a convert.
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