CTL facilitating Quality Matters at UAF
Quality matters to UAF instructors. And now UAF CTL is happy to be bringing the proven work of the Quality Matters (QM) organization to UAF in support of the continuous improvement of fully online and hybrid courses.
Founded as part of a Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) grant in 2003, Quality Matters has spent more than a decade developing and refining a process for course peer review using a custom, 43-standard rubric based on current research, best practices, national standards, and course design models.
The Quality Matters Peer Review process is:
- faculty-driven
- collaborative
- designed to provide specific, detailed, and constructive feedback on course design
- collegial, not evaluative or judgmental
- centered on the learner’s experience
What does this mean?
It means we need you! We are looking for a few instructors of online or hybrid courses who are interested in putting up their courses for a Quality Matters Peer Review. Undergoing a QM Review is challenging, but rewarding for teachers and learners.
Who reviews the courses?
QM Peer Review teams include a Master Reviewer, a Subject Matter Expert and an External Reviewer from another institution, all of whom have gone through training and been certified by Quality Matters.
What does the review consist of?
Over a three-week period, the review team will individually examine your course using the QM Rubric, decide if it meets expectations for each standard, and–whether it meets expectations or not–write a helpful recommendation providing ideas for improvement and enrichment of that standard. If two or more reviewers agree a standard has been met, no revision is required. If not, instructors can revise their course using the recommendations.
What is reviewed?
A QM Review examines the course content–the learning objectives, curriculum, and planned learning activities– not delivery, using the QM Rubric as an authority rather than individual preferences. All reviewers are trained in applying the Rubric, writing helpful recommendations, and considering the course from the learner’s point of view.
The QM Review is based on continual improvement. It is a diagnostic, not an evaluation. If they wish to do so, all instructors are given an opportunity to revise their course as needed to meet the QM standards. The successful revision results in the course being listed in the national QM Database of quality courses and the right to display the QM logo. Most importantly, a successful course review means a course that is better for learners!
