Quality Matters Background InformationBackground Information In the Fall of 2003, Maryland Online (MOL), a statewide consortium of 19 Maryland community colleges and senior institutions received a grant from the U.S. Department Fund For The Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE). Funded by the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE)
Award Amount: $509,177
Term: 3 Years (September 2003 through August 2006)
Fiscal Agent: Prince George's Community College The Quality Matters project proposes to develop a replicable pathway for inter-institutional quality assurance and course improvements in online learning. It will create and implement a process to certify the quality of online courses and online components.The Quality Matters (QM) project is creating an inter-institutional continuous improvement model for assessing and assuring the quality of online courses. To characterize quality, QM first turned to the research literature and national standards. The project identified 40 elements, distributed across eight broad standards, shown to positively impact student learning. These elements were then incorporated into a web-based rubric and weighted from 1 (important) to 3 (essential). Annotations and multiple examples from real online courses have been provided for each essential element. Among the national standards included are those of the Sloan Consortium, one of QM’s external partners.A team of three faculty members is trained to use the rubric in reviewing an online course. The reviewers include one content expert and at least one member from an institution other than the course’s home institution. Review team members work both individually and collaboratively, and in communication with the course’s faculty member, to provide a compiled report that highlights exceptional elements and provides positive recommendations for improving the course. The QM project then provides instructional design support for implementing the review team’s recommendations. At the completion of the review and revision process, a course receives Quality Matters Recognition. To receive QM Recognition, a course must demonstrate all 3-point essential review elements and receive a total score of 68 out of 80 possible points. Quality Matters is a complex and challenging project run by MarylandOnline (MOL), a statewide consortium of 14 community colleges and five senior higher education institutions. MOL has an innovative “seat-bank” program in which participating institutions make seats available to each other in selected online courses. One of the distinguishing features of QM is the voluntary nature of participation in the project at all levels, from faculty to institutions. Achieving consensus without interfering with the internal practices and policies of each institution is an additional practical consideration. The QM project was initially designed to assure MOL members of the quality of each other’s courses, and thereby increase participation in the seat bank, resource sharing, and articulation agreements. Institutions also gain access to a quality assurance process and materials and can strengthen their institution’s accreditation package through the external review of online course quality. Faculty gain the opportunity to improve their online course, access to instructional design support, and professional development activities. Faculty peer reviewers have noted an immediate positive impact on their own online courses as a result of their exposure to the rubric and heightened awareness of quality standards, the opportunity to view other online courses, and collaboration with colleagues. Steps are being taken at every stage of the project to insure that the process and tools are replicable, reliable, scalable, and sustainable. QM activities have grown steadily from the review of seven online courses in spring 2004 to the selection of 20 courses for review in spring 2005. More than 100 faculty have already been trained to use the rubric. QM also convened a previously nonexistent statewide instructional design affinity group which has since become an active and separate organization. Plans for Year 2 of the grant include the debut of online rubric training, adaptation of the rubric to blended and face-to-face courses, and research projects focused on the impact of the QM process and rubric on student learning. | 
