Faculty Development and Instructional Design Through a Quality Matters Tool for Online and Hybrid Course Assessment
Track Choices
Innovations in Organizational and Educational Development
Abstract
Institutional assessment has become increasingly important for quality assurance as course delivery methods hybridize and instructors leverage diverse online tools within Learning Management Systems (LMSs). Educators face multiple challenges while teaching variations of delivery methods in their courses. Some of the challenges are design of course content, learning new technologies and LMSs, and effective communication. However, instructors, particularly junior faculty, are rarely included in detailed individual-level course assessment practices, as these evaluations are traditionally completed by program leadership. This presentation reports on an institution-specific assessment tool, based on Quality Matters-informed criteria, created to ensure course-level quality assurance for online, in-person, synchronous, and asynchronous course delivery styles. This formative tool functions as a dashboard and is currently being used at the Institution. Results of the reported self-study point to several benefits to using the formative dashboard tool, such as training junior faculty in course assessment, development, and expectations, maintaining programmatic alignment in learning objectives, and maintaining quality and equivalence within the native institution LMS regardless of online or in-person teaching modality. Junior faculty employed this tool to improve course design and became habituated to developing measurable learning outcomes. Program leadership used the same tool as a summative metric of course standardization.
Faculty Development and Instructional Design Through a Quality Matters Tool for Online and Hybrid Course Assessment
Zoom Room 5
Institutional assessment has become increasingly important for quality assurance as course delivery methods hybridize and instructors leverage diverse online tools within Learning Management Systems (LMSs). Educators face multiple challenges while teaching variations of delivery methods in their courses. Some of the challenges are design of course content, learning new technologies and LMSs, and effective communication. However, instructors, particularly junior faculty, are rarely included in detailed individual-level course assessment practices, as these evaluations are traditionally completed by program leadership. This presentation reports on an institution-specific assessment tool, based on Quality Matters-informed criteria, created to ensure course-level quality assurance for online, in-person, synchronous, and asynchronous course delivery styles. This formative tool functions as a dashboard and is currently being used at the Institution. Results of the reported self-study point to several benefits to using the formative dashboard tool, such as training junior faculty in course assessment, development, and expectations, maintaining programmatic alignment in learning objectives, and maintaining quality and equivalence within the native institution LMS regardless of online or in-person teaching modality. Junior faculty employed this tool to improve course design and became habituated to developing measurable learning outcomes. Program leadership used the same tool as a summative metric of course standardization.