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Wednesday, 14 July 2004: 11:00 AM-12:15 PM | |||
Oceanic 3 (Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel) | |||
G-9: Quality Assurance: Are All Courses Created Equal? | |||
| Detailed Description: | Institutions are seeking credible quality assurance in online learning. Quality Matters, a grant project of MarylandOnline (funded by FIPSE), proposes to develop agreements among partner institutions leading to a replicable pathway for inter-institutional QA and online course improvement. It will also include a faculty-centered, peer review-based consortium-wide process to certify the quality of online courses. This session will provide an overview of the grant, explore the review process, and examine the assessment tools. | ||
| Presentation Format: | Roundtable | ||
| Topic: | Measuring outcomes: Student achievement and course success | ||
| Target Audience: | Course Designers, Faculty and Other Instructors, Senior Administrators | ||
| Appropriate Audience Level: | Beginning or new users of WebCT, Experienced WebCT users | ||
| Abstract Text: | Over one-fourth of all college courses utilize an online course management system, according to Kenneth C. Green’s annual Campus Computing Survey (2000 – 2001 academic year). It is essential that the quality of online courses equal that of traditional offerings. A credible quality assurance certification process for online courses ensures that students have access to superior online learning opportunities. Quality Matters: Inter-Institutional Quality Assurance in Online Learning, a grant project of MarylandOnline (funded by FIPSE) provides a process for developing an inter-institutional, faculty-centered, peer course review QA process. MarylandOnline, a consortium of 23 community colleges and senior institutions, is addressing how to demonstrate quality in course design in order to facilitate course sharing among its members. The primary goal of this grant is to improve the quality of shared online courses by establishing a peer-reviewed quality assurance certification process in five disciplines: General Studies, Information Technology, Engineering, Teacher Education and Allied Health. This session will provide an overview of the goals and expected outcomes of the grant. The toolset, rubrics, and protocols that explain how to apply the instruments within a peer course review will be examined. The session will include a small group activity to illustrate the basic principles underlying the Quality Matters project, examples of courses reviewed in year one of the grant, and an opportunity to discuss the implementation and implications of a QA assurance process. Course design issues based on the Standards of Good Practices for Distance Learning will also be showcased.
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| Session Leader: | Jean M. Runyon College of Southern Maryland | ||
| Co-Presenter: | Thomas E. Gorecki College of Southern Maryland | ||
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