As part of our mission to provide faculty support for teaching and learning through the use of Blackboard, we are introducing the Quality Matters program.
The purpose of this program is to contribute to faculty excellence, facilitate student success and provide a continuous improvement process for courses in Blackboard.
What is Quality Matters?
Quality Matters is a not-for-profit subscription service providing tools and training for quality assurance of online courses.
Designed by faculty for faculty, the program entails three main components: a rubric, a peer review process and professional development opportunities.
There are over 480 subscribers located throughout the United States and increasingly abroad. Undergoing review every few years, the rubric is based on research, best practices and sound instructional design principles.
What are the benefits?
Faculty benefit from the use of a tested rubric to guide their online course development process.
By undergoing a quality matters review of their course whether officially or not, faculty can improve their course and gain additional skills for designing and administering a course in Blackboard.
The peer-review process means faculty work with one another across institutions to understand best practices and design principles related to online and blended courses.
A variety of workshops focused on online instruction and course design provide opportunities to build faculty excellence.
How can I get involved?
STaR is developing resources to support the application of the rubric and the meeting of QM standards. Contact Kati Gordon in the STaR office for more information on how to participate. You can also visit the Quality Matters website by going to www.qmprogram.org
