Quality Matters and Online Courses in Sakai

Brian Dashew, Instructional Designer, Marist CollegeDr. Reba-Anna Lee, Assistant Director for Academic

Technology & eLearning, Marist College

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Introductions

• Who is here today? • Faculty? instructional designers?• Online courses at your institution?

• Familiarity with Quality Matters?• Are you using it? Considering using it?

About Marist College

• Comprehensive liberal arts college • Located in Poughkeepsie, New

York• 5700 FTE students, 200 full-time

faculty, 500 part-time faculty• Reputation as technology

innovator• Strategic plan calls for growth in

distance learning

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Distance learning at Marist College

• Strong history of online instruction• First fully online MBA program accredited in

New York State• Six online Masters and one undergraduate

degree completion program• Two accelerated undergraduate sessions:

• 10 week summer session• 4 week winter session

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Growth in Programs

• Growth in students taking advantage of online offerings

• Growth in number of courses offered• Winter 2010: 5 4-week courses offered• Winter 2011: 14 4-week courses offered• Summer 2011: 42 10-week courses offered

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Problems

• No central oversight over programs• Limited instructional design training• “Course Readiness Reports”

• Take too much time• Courses not yet created• What happens if we find problems?

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Marist Distance Learning Committee

• Created as an ad hoc committee• Investigates issues related to quality in DL• Year reviewing standards• Voted to recommend college investigate

Quality Matters

Course Review

Feedback

Course

Course Meets Quality Expectations

Course Revision

Quality Matters Basics I

Eight General Standards: 1. Course Overview and Introduction2. Learning Objectives 3. Assessment and Measurement4. Resources and Materials5. Learner Interaction6. Course Technology7. Learner Support8. Accessibility

Key components must align.

Alignment: Critical course elements work together to ensure that students achieve the desired learning outcomes.

Quality Matters Basics II

• More than average; more than “good enough”

• An attempt to capture what’s expected in an effective online course at about an 85% level

• Based on research and widely accepted standards

85 %

Quality Matters Basics III

Standards Points Relative Value

17 3 Essential

11 2 Very Important

12 1 Important

TOTALS

40 85

Team of 3 reviewers initially score individually One score per standard based on team majority Pre-assigned point value Yes/No decision; All/None points Consensus is NOT required

Quality Matters Basics IV

Quality Matters Basics V

A course must achieve:

• “Yes” on all 17 of the 3-point “essential” standards.

• A minimum of 72 out of 85 points72/85 = 85%

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Online Course Redesign Institute

• Five day intensive program in June 2010• Application process• 10 faculty selected• Each faculty given a preliminary report

• Essential standards only• After redesign, faculty are given a complete

report

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Program

• Monday: A framework for your course• Tuesday: Meaningful assessments• Wednesday: Appropriate content• Thursday: Learner interactions• Friday: Welcome statements

• Friday featured brief presentations of redesign work to Deans

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Day 1: Framework

• Basics of Quality Matters• Presentation and discussion of the review

• Standard 2: Writing effective learning objectives

• Faculty given a Planning Guide

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Day 2: Meaningful Evaluations

• Standard 3: Evaluations• Discussion of alignment• Best Practices for Assignments and Tests

and Quizzes• Important that we tie these back to high-

quality course implementation

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Day 3: Course Content

• Standard 4: Content• Standard 6: Tools and Media• Best Practices for Lessons and Resources• Student-generated content

• Web 2.0 tools in iLearn• Organization of course material

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Day 4: Discussions and Interaction

• Standard 5: Meaningful interaction• Best practices for discussion and

collaboration tools• Discussions about when and how to set up

interaction• Setting standards for collaboration

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Day 5: Syllabus

• Standards 1, 7,8: Welcome statement, support, ADA

• Syllabus tool• Opportunity for presentations

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What we saw in presentations

• People valued collaboration with other faculty in the design process

• People were creative in content presentation and activity design

• The design process became part of the course

• Faculty strive for perfection

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Additional Programs

• Fashion department• First department with QM in contracts

• MBA redesign project• MPA program

• First department to vote all courses would be QM-compliant

• Summer course redesign program

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Issues and Concerns

• How do we scale this? • Each review takes between 4-8 hours• Even our shortened training takes 10-20 hrs.

• Support from faculty? • First faculty reviewers hired Spring 2011

• Official QM training followed by shadow review

• Can we use faculty trainers?

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QUESTIONS?