Building a Site, Part 5: Creating a curriculum guide

    This week I focused on creating an academic page for the biotech site. I first had to research some of the sites that the team had noted as being sites they like, and then I had to look into my notes to see what the team was hoping to portray on the page itself. In my notes I had written down that the team had wanted to highlight the biotechnology program at GCC, have descriptions of some of the courses included in the curriculum, and contain information on how to register for classes. I searched the Maricopa Community College site, and the Glendale Community College Site for the biotechnology program. I had originally thought to create the academic page using filler text, but I found that it was difficult to decipher what type of information should be placed in the filler text area. That is to say, I have used filler text on other pages of the site, but, for instance, the heading would read, "Project 1," and it would be followed by the filler text. Those headings made it easy for those adding content to know what type of content to add. But on the academic page, they would just be very simple, somewhat vague headings/topics. Therefore I made the choice to use preexisting text from GCC's biotech program description to complete the academic page, which is entitled, "Curriculum Guide." While the text is taken from GCC's site, I did take the opportunity to adjust the overall look of how the text was displayed based on the items and goals that the team had stipulated in a previous meeting. For example, I highlighted the courses that include heavy lab experience and identified skills and techniques that could be gained from the biotech program.

<-MCC  Mine->

I also took the opportunity to link some of the current pages on the site into the academic page. To ensure that the academic page did not seem to cluttered or overwhelmed with text, I used several collapsible groups to house information, that while informative, was not a main selling point that the lab team had prescribed. 

The "Curriculim Guide," page also has information on the biotech club and seminars.

The final addition to this page was including information on how students can register for biotech classes.

    As noted previously, in an attempt to make the page less "full," I created a subpage, "AAS Biotechnology," containing a more detailed look at the biotech program. This page encompasses more in-depth description of what the program entails, what will be learned from the program, and a course list. and a link to the official MCCCD curriculum. I also added a link to GCC's course sequence page, and repeated the steps for how to register for classes.

    With the academic's main and subpage completed, I moved onto completing the, "Contact," page. This page was relatively straight forward. I added an area for a picture of the biotech's program director, and listed his contact information and office location. I also added a video I found of a tour of the Life Sciences building as I thought it might give future/potential students an chance to see where they might be attending classes.

    Next week I will try to meet up with the biotech team again to see if there are any further adjustments that they wish to see. There are still some tweaks that I have not completed from the previous meeting, but I will attempt to get to them before the meeting.