Quality is never an accident it is always the result of intelligent effort'

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WKU Office of Distance Learning A unit of the
Division of Extended Learning and Outreach

• Quality is never an accident it is always the
  result of intelligent effort.
• John Ruskin, English critic, essayist,
  reformer (1819-1900)

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Why WKU needs QM

• 860 WKU courses offered in AY 2005-2006
• 10,865 WKU enrollments in AY 2005-2006
• WKU currently has no organizational mechanism
  that assures high quality and positive student
  learning in online courses

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Quality Matters (QM)

• Began as a grant funded (FIPSE) project of
  MarylandOnline in 2003
• Created an inter-institutional continuous
  improvement model for assessing and assuring the
  quality of online courses among the 19 schools in
  the system

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Quality Matters (QM)

• KYVC is paying for the first year of training and
  access to an online rubric and database
• KYVC wants to have 60 reviewers trained to do
  reviews by December 5, 2006
• Training was held October 3 for 13 WKU and BGCC
  faculty and 8 faculty from 4 KCTCS institutions

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Peer review process

• Team of three reviewers uses an online rubric to
  evaluate an online course
• 3-member review team includes one content expert
  and at least one member from an institution other
  than the courses home institution
• Reviewers input scores and comments into a
  database which generates a report for the course
  being reviewed

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Peer review process

• Course instructor part of the review process
• Instructor talks to the review team before the
  review begins and gets a comprehensive report
  with comments after the review
• Team of three reviewers work both individually
  and collaboratively to review course

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Peer review scoring

• 14 of the 40 standards on the rubric are
  considered essential and all must be met
• Out of 80 possible points a course needs to score
  68 (85) to attain recognition as a quality
  course
• Majority rules within the team

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Benefits of being reviewed

• Report from the review team will contain useful
  comments which will improve the course
• Information and suggestions may also be useful
  for other online courses, hybrid, or even FTF
  courses
• Peer reviewed logo to add to your course site
• 150 provided for changes made to course as a
  result of the review

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What QM is not

• Not about the individual instructor (its about
  the course)
• Not a faculty evaluation (its about course
  quality)
• Not about win/lose or pass/fail (its about
  continuous improvement in a supportive
  environment)

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What QM is not

• The course does not have to be perfect
• No one is going to tell you how to teach your
  subject area
• Your course score and the final report after the
  review will only be seen by you

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Want more information?

• Contact Pam Wilson at 270-745-2106 or
• E-mail pam.wilson_at_wku.edu

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• In KentuckyQuality Matters