Learn how one instructional design unit at a large public university started an online course quality initiative and gained buy-in from faculty across campus. Attendees will receive both practical and theoretical ideas on how start or restart quality initiatives at their institution.
Since implementation, UVU has completed over 150 reviews using its own revised version of the Open SUNY Course Quality Rubric (OSCQR). To get to this point, buy-in among faculty, instructional designers, and administration for this ongoing initiative was achieved through a multi-month plan.
In order to gain initial support, the instructional design team revised the rubric several times to build consensus and common understanding. Once there was internal support for adoption of the rubric, the next step was to pilot with several faculty members. A faculty member, representing the teaching and learning unit, contacted several online faculty and met with them to discuss the rubric. Those discussions resulted in several important revisions. A copy of the rubric will be available to all attendees.
Beyond campus support, UVU also developed a peer review process of online courses. Peer review of online courses has been established as one possible way for an institution or program to improve quality (Adair, 2017; Gibson & Dunning, 2012). UVU’s review process was developed with the intent to balance efficiency and thoroughness to encourage participation from faculty. This presentation will discuss some of the success and failures in implementing the review process.
To achieve wider support, the rubric was then presented to several key committees on campus. The rubric was also promoted through an online teaching excellence award. Lastly, the rubric was integrated to online teaching certification. These efforts are a reflection of Baran & Correia’s (2014) professional development framework for online teaching. Future directions, including building course review capacity within school and college committees, will be discussed. All of these efforts lead to a common infrastructure of course quality at UVU.
Adair, D. (2017). Developing an International Pool of Certified Quality Reviewers. American Journal of Distance Education, 31(3), 154-159.
Baran, E., & Correia, A. P. (2014). A professional development framework for online teaching. TechTrends, 58(5), 95-101.
Gibson, P. A., & Dunning, P. T. (2012). Creating quality online course design through a peer-reviewed assessment. Journal of Public Affairs Education, 18(1), 209-228.