TSTC Marshall spotlights online web design and development program | News
Texas State Technical College in Marshall is highlighting their web design and development program, which teaches students how to top search engine results on the internet.
TSTC’s web design and development program is 100 percent online and taught through what the college described as the performance-based education model (PBE). The program takes students through the process of creating websites including how to build one and market it. The college created the program to help web developers create perpetually active websites.
“One of the easiest ways a site can fail is that customers never see it because marketing and search engine optimization was never done,” said TSTC’s interim director of alignment for web design and development Shannon Ferguson. “The good news is our program gives our students the foundation they need to be successful in web development.”
The web design and development program at TSTC offers an associate of applied science degree, as well as certificates of completion in front end designer, web developer and PHP developer focuses. The program emphasizes website production, programming, applications, and maintenance areas of study, helping students to understand how to build both small and large-scale e-commerce websites.
“To stand out, you need to understand end-user design, usability testing, accessibility, design concepts, many different web concepts, SEO (search engine optimization), and promoting the sites,” said Ferguson.
The program is a part of the TSTCYou initiative utilizing the PBE method, which offers flexible scheduling for students. PBE allows to work at their pace and demonstrate program mastery through assessments with instructors. These instructors require students to score an 80 percent or higher on their course projects before allowing them to move on to the next module.
“If skills are not mastered on the first attempt, they are given another opportunity to fix the missed skill and then allowed to resubmit the assignment,” said Ferguson. “We give students flexibility by giving them the opportunity to fall slightly behind or even accelerate to finish the course early. We encourage our students to get ahead.”
Recent TSTC graduate Dave McMillan discussed joining the web design and development program after working in the oil industry for over a decade. When considering the school for his son, McMillan chose to join the program where he graduated with an associate of applied science degree in 2023. McMillan currently serves as an online operations director for BH-USA in Longview.
“Coding was always a passion of mine, I just didn’t know how to make it come true,” said McMillan. “I absolutely loved the program. I’m so thankful I went through TSTC.”
