A course taught and designed by Dr. Amar Kanekar, associate professor and graduate coordinator of health education and promotion at UA Little Rock, has received the Quality Matters (QM) Certification Mark for course design quality.

Organization and Administration in Health Education and Promotion Programs, HHPS 4378/5378, is an online undergraduate and graduate course taught during a 5-week summer session. It covers the principles and practices of organizational management and administration in health education programs.

“An emerging health education specialist needs education and training in applying these principles in their practice as health education specialists as most of them work in various health care organizations,” Kanekar said. “It’s a very important course in our health education and health promotion program. Having good quality online courses for students greatly helps in student recruitment and retention.”

The certification is an internationally recognized symbol of online and blended course design quality and represents Kanekar’s ongoing commitment to create learning environments and provide learners with a clear pathway to success. The certification is the result of Kanekar’s dedication to continuous improvement. The course is now listed on the QM directory of certified courses.

“The Quality Matters Official Review provided the opportunity to reflect on this course and examine it from the learner perspective,” Kanekar said. “From accessibility to learner engagement to assessments, the review used internationally-recognized standards and best practices to examine critical course components related to the learner experience and ultimately learner success.”

The QM Official Review provided independent validation of the quality, learner-focused course design found in HHPS 4378/5378. Reviews are conducted by QM-Certified Reviewers and use the Quality Matters Rubric and associated Standards, which are based on research and best practices. A course earns the QM Certification Mark once it meets QM Rubric Standards at the 85 percent threshold or better and meets all essential standards.

Kanekar is well known for innovation in online course design and development. In addition to several courses earning the QM certification, the professor is the recipient of the 2017-18 Blackboard Exemplary Course Program Award, has been a lecturer for Blackboard’s Innovative Teaching Series, and received a presidential citation for dedicated service and contributions from the National Society for Public Health Education.