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Center for Teaching with Technology

Quality Matters

At ESU our goal is student success, especially when it comes to online courses.

Delivering on that goal depends upon well-designed, well-presented courses and programs. Quality Matters (QM) is a system that helps you deliver on student success with review, improvement, and certification of quality courses. Using QM begins to instill a culture of quality throughout ESU.

What is Quality Matters?

Quality Matters (QM) is a system for reviewing and improving courses that are offered online or though hybrid learning. Using research-based rubrics and standards, QM evaluates the online learning components of a course, and provides balanced and constructive feedback aimed at improving student success.

Delivering on that goal depends upon well-designed, well-presented courses and programs. Quality Matters (QM) is a system that helps you deliver on student success with review, improvement, and certification of quality courses. Using QM begins to instill a culture of quality throughout ESU.

What is Quality Matters?

Quality Matters (QM) is a system for reviewing and improving courses that are offered online or though hybrid learning. Using research-based rubrics and standards, QM evaluates the online learning components of a course, and provides balanced and constructive feedback aimed at improving student success.

After obtaining QM certification, faculty members can display the QM Certification Mark on the syllabus and D2L course homepage. The mark informs our students that the course has clear expectations, meaningful content, and engaging activities.

The QM Rubrics and Standards were designed to help educators, institutions, and most importantly, students. The rubrics are intended to guide you through the development, evaluation, and improvement of your online and blended courses with objective feedback on your course design. The rubric may be used by individuals to guide course design, conduct a self-review, and/or for an informal, internal, or formal review for QM recognition.

The QM rubric is broken down into eight General Standards:

  • Course Overview and Introduction
  • Learning Objectives
  • Assessment and Measurement
  • Instructional Materials
  • Learning Activities and Learner Interaction
  • Course Technology
  • Learner Support
  • Accessibility and Usability

Each of the General Standards are further broken down into Specific Review Standards. In total, there are 42 Specific Review Standards. A course meets QM certification if it meets the standards at an 85% level.

Reviews provide benchmarks, chart a path for improvement and lead to certifications. Faculty and staff know they will be supported by peer feedback in an open, collegial process. Institutions can demonstrate they offer quality-assured courses and programs supported by best practices, rigorous review, and research.

Our workshops are designed for busy professionals. Whether you are looking to improve or design your online course (IYOC), improve your content delivery, or become familiar with the foundation of how the QM rubric and standards inform course design (APPQMR), we can help you. We can also do a brief QM overview session for your whole department.

Contact Us

For more information about QM, or getting your course QM certified, please contact Devin Feighan at dfeighan@esu.edu

Contact Information

Campus Address
Stroud Hall 408
Phone:
(570) 422-2869
Title of Department Leader
Instructional Support Manager
Name
Devin Feighan