Conference Presentations

Course design is at the front and center of online learning yet it is the least developed aspect of online learning pedagogy. Between the continued growth of distance learning enrollments and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the need for quality course design is essential to student success and completion and is critical to the sustainability of community colleges. This session will highlight one community college's efforts to progressively implement QM specific review standards in an effort to increase course completion rates.

This presentation delves into the innovative integration of the UAkron Online Promise (UAOP) with the Quality Matters rubric, a strategic approach aimed at augmenting student retention and bolstering learning outcomes. The UAOP, a commitment to excellence in online education, coupled with the rigorous standards of the Quality Matters rubric, creates a robust framework for course design and delivery.

Explore lessons learned from a liberal arts HBCU's creation and implementation of an institutional Accessibility Policy for Online Course Design informed by the ADA, sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, WCAG 2.0, and QM General Standard 8.

Explore lessons learned from a liberal arts HBCU's creation and implementation of an institutional Accessibility Policy for Online Course Design informed by the ADA, sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, WCAG 2.0, and QM General Standard 8.

Synchronous components of online courses can have many more variables in delivery than asynchronous components. In this session, we will share how VirtualSC uses common expectations, rubrics and presentation templates and to ensure that all students receive a quality experience, regardless of delivery method.

Integrating QM Standards after courses are completed identifies issues too late - resulting in poorly designed courses that fall short of meeting both learner needs and QM standards. We will share proactive tools and strategies that introduce QM before Step 1 of content construction, discuss what your organization already does in this regard, and explore opportunities that will result in courses that better meet learner needs and QM Standards. Come learn and share what your organizations does to stay a step ahead!

This fireside chat-style conversation will provide insight into national regulatory and policy intentions and practices related to quality assurance and new forms of teaching and learning. Considering the rapid growth of alternative providers of education, the conversation will turn to questions about what quality assurance might look like in the future as higher education and alternative providers begin to "share" students. Will we see more collaboration between them and who is responsible for quality in that relationship?

This session will discuss how to implement a quality assurance program that is based upon the Quality Matters Rubric and structured using a webbed approach to expand the impact across campus. Specific examples of the implementation process at a large university will be shared. Participants will leave the session with recommendations on how to implement a similar approach on their campuses.

How can we maintain quality after the QM review is over? That was the issue a small CC had to overcome. Hear about a plan that ensures this quality that includes leadership, continuous improvement, maintained quality, integrity of master courses, updates to common pages, scheduling of reviews, etc.

QM Members can login to MyQM and view the QM Success Story recording related to this presentation.

Research shows that student outcomes are significantly affected by the instructor's belief in their abilities. If so, it would be important to understand how this belief gets translated to students through your written and verbal communication. After analysis of several thousand text threads and comparison of student outcome data, patterns of both effective and ineffective communication emerged. These patterns have been codified into a rubric for training and self evaluation. Learn all about our process, findings, the rubric, and how to use it in this session.

After careful analysis of thousands of text threads, we identified a clear pattern of communication which resulted in high student outcomes. We will be sharing our communications rubric which summarizes these findings.

In this session, participants will learn about the quality assessment review process used at Western Governors University to evaluate the quality of objective and performance-based assessments, which are used as sole indicators of student competence. The convergence of the three key teams of program management, performance feedback, and psychometrics has resulted in a continuous improvement model shared by diverse units. Identifying assessment priorities is often a challenge in educational organizations.

Creating quality courses for online learning can be a challenge.  The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh is offering a professional development opportunity called “Quality Courses by Design”. How does one get instructors to share with each other on course design?  By being students in an online course and sharing their lived experiences on teaching! 

This conference was originally planned to be held in New York City, but we all find ourselves in a very different place and state of mind today. As the QM East conference winds down, this part of the program will open up a space to reflect on what the Covid-19 emergency measures have meant for quality initiatives across institutions (for better, for worse, and as yet to be seen!). How has this time of remote instruction shifted your thinking about the QM Rubric? Are some elements more important than others during a time of crisis?

Are you looking for evidence-based hands-on approaches to quality assurance in online higher education programs? Then this presentation is for you as three institutions will discuss their innovative approaches to seeking quality assurance in online programs.

Because Quality Matters is a program which has received national recognition for its peer based approach to continuous improvement in online course design, lead support staff/faculty from each NMSU campus collaborate to exchange QM implementation ideas, communicate successes, and create connections. In this presentation, each campus will describe their own implementation plan, process, and experiences. Join Sharon, Sherrell, Nicole, and Krista to find out what’s happening at each of the NMSU campuses regarding QM implementation.

Radford University piloted an innovative retention program for high-achieving incoming freshman students during the Summer of 2014. Dubbed “Accelerate" the program moved from concept to launch, including the creation of a new semester and five compressed schedule courses, in less than 30 weeks.  This was largely possible due to a systematic program design and improvement process that utilized QM throughout.