Quality Rubrics for Distance Education Courses
ABOUT QUALITY MATTERS (QM)
One of NPC's strategic priorities is to create and enhance high-quality distance learning environments. The following frameworks guide our practices as we strive for quality online/hybrid courses:
Quality Matters Rubric Standards
Guidelines for the Evaluation of Distance Education (Online Learning)
Seven Principles of Good practice in Undergraduate Education (Chickering & Gamson, 1987, 1991) and its application in distance education.
NPC has adopted Quality Matters (QM) Rubric as standards for the design and evaluation of its online courses. QM is a faculty–centered, peer review-based process. Based on national standards of best practice, the research literature, and instructional design principles, it is designed to certify the quality of online courses and online components. It offers a rubric for online and hybrid course design that identifies 40 elements distributed across 8 broad standards including Course Overview and Introduction, Learning Objectives, Assessment and Measurement, Resources and Materials, Learner Engagement, Course Technology, Learner Support, and Accessibility. It offers solutions for colleges and universities to create measurable programs. It is comprehensive and quantifiable with assigned points - the review sets a quality goal at the 85% level or better (courses do not have to be perfect but better than good enough).
WHY USE THE QUALITY MATTERS RUBRIC?
Rationale: Quality Matters (QM) is a set of rubric standards designed to certify the quality of online courses and online components. It well serves NPC’s distance education (DE) course quality control purpose because it is:
Based on national standards of best practice, the research literature, and instructional design principles: QM is aligned with Higher Learning Commission's Best Practices for Electronically Offered Degrees and Programs, Seven Principles of Good practice in Undergraduate Education, and/or other accreditation standards. It accommodates the accreditation requirements on the quality of Distance Education.
Systemic and comprehensive: QM offers a rubric for online AND hybrid course design that identifies 40 elements distributed across 8 broad standards including Course Overview and Introduction, Learning Objectives, Assessment and Measurement, Resources and Materials, Learner Engagement, Course Technology, Learner Support, and Accessibility (See Section 508 compliance in online education at NPC).
Measurable: QM offers solutions for colleges and universities to create measurable programs. The measuring instrument is quantifiable with assigned points - the review sets a quality goal at the 85% level (81 pts. out of 95). All the 3pt-value benchmarks must be met as they represent the most critical components of a quality online course. Courses do not have to be perfect but need to be better than good enough. The QM annotations provide details (with examples) for each standard to be further explained and understandable to course designers and reviewers during the course design and evaluation process.
Broadly accepted: QM has been widely adopted by higher ed. institutions and recognized nationally (US and moving internationally).
Read more about Quality Matters at https://www.qualitymatters.org/qa-resources. For questions regarding Quality Matters at NPC, please contact the NPC QM Coordinator, LaTonya Motley at latonya.motley@npc.edu.