A knowledge management system for disseminating semi-structured information in a worldwide university

Clearly setting and communicating educational expectations among a group of faculty members is a highly challenging task. Given a worldwide university environment this task is significantly more challenging than in a single campus institution. We report on a knowledge management system to capture and convey course and program details, as well as human expertise based on many years of instructor experience. This system significantly aids the educational process and enables consistent material to be delivered throughout the world. Moreover, the system enables faculty members to be given clear expectations, thus permitting instructors to set personal and collective goals. The paper describes documents contained in the knowledge management system including a dasiasyllabus prototypepsila and a dasiafaculty course guidepsila in which instructor expertise is captured. Through this system, all documents can be readily disseminated worldwide. The system also provides a dasiasyllabus collector,psila and dasiaassessment toolpsila designed to record information regarding a specific course offering. This technology enables a feedback loop for gathering and analyzing data, and incorporating findings back into the program. Regular audits can also be conducted, further ensuring the consistency and standards of our programs. The contribution that the system has made to the success of our programs is discussed.