Quality Matters (QM) is a faculty-centered peer review process designed to certify the quality of online and blended courses. QM is a leader in online education quality, receiving national recognition for its approach and process. The organization also provides tools to help faculty develop, maintain, and review their own online courses. IU has purchased a license for Quality Matters (QM) which allows faculty across all IU campuses to use these tools and rubrics for review and improvement of their individual courses.
The Rubric and Standards
The research-based QM Rubric contains 8 General Standards, with each one containing several Specific Review Standards, that reflect best practices in online course design to support teaching and learning. The standards help to guide faculty through the design, development, evaluation, and improvement of an online or blended course.
The general standards for higher education focus on:
- Measurable student learning outcomes
- Assessments that measure the extent to which students have reached the outcomes
- Learning materials that help students master the outcomes
- Active learning activities that also align to the outcomes
- Technology used to support student interaction with clear instructions
- Usable, organized, and consistent Canvas site and other materials
- Accessible materials, including both documents and Canvas pages
Faculty may use the tools and rubric purely for self-evaluation of their course, or they can have their course reviewed for certification as a QM quality course.
If you are new to QM and would like to learn more about how it can assist you as you work to further improve your course, please request a consultation with a QM certified consultant. We also offer a workshop, Quality Matters at IU: Applying the QM Rubric, that provides a comprehensive introduction to QM and the opportunity to apply QM standards to a course. It is normally offered towards the end of the spring and fall semesters. Please check our event calendar for actual dates and times. Note that the workshop is almost a full day, running from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Participants need to be present and participating for the full time to receive a QM certificate of completion.
The Informal Course Review
There are two parts to the review process for course certification: the informal review and the formal review. Both the formal and informal peer reviews are a faculty-driven process. They are designed to be a formative assessment and provide useful and actionable feedback for course improvement. No review is a pass/fail decision. Consultants in the CTL are happy to assist you in applying the rubric to your course and preparing for a course peer review.
Before a course can be submitted for a full formal review, it must complete an informal review (IU peer reviewers only). The purpose of the informal review is to provide feedback to help ensure that all Standards are met before the course goes for a formal review. The informal review process mirrors the formal review process. The peer reviewers for an informal review are 3 IU Indianapolis faculty who are QM trained, certified peer reviewers who are also experienced online instructors.
The informal review looks at all QM Standards plus the IU Interaction Standard. The IU Interaction Standard was developed because, while QM provides a baseline for quality online course design, its standards don't address important non-design aspects such as online teaching and facilitation.To discuss an informal review, please request a consultation with a QM certified consultant.
The Formal Course Review
The formal course review process also involves a team of 3 faculty who are QM trained, certified peer reviewers and experienced online instructors. In the formal review, the team must include at least one member in the same discipline and at least one member from outside of IU.
Courses that meet 85% of the Specific Review Standards, including the Essential Standards, are eligible to receive QM Certification as a quality course. Setting the standard for certification at 85% recognizes that no course is perfect and there is always room for additional improvement. Courses that do not initially meet the necessary standards have the opportunity to be revised based on the feedback provided. Once the faculty member has made revisions to their course, they resubmit to the faculty peer review team leader, who will review the updates to ensure that the standards are met and certify the course.
Becoming a QM Peer Reviewer
Those interested in becoming a peer reviewer would need to complete the Quality Matters at IU: Applying the QM rubric workshop, an additional 3-week asynchronous online Peer Reviewer course from QM, and be regularly teaching online. The cost of the additional training is paid for by IU. Certified QM Peer Reviewers are generally paid to conduct informal reviews of IU Indianapolis courses and formal QM reviews of both IU courses and courses from other institutions. If you have already completed the "Applying the QM Rubric" workshop and are interested in becoming a peer reviewer, please request a consultation with a QM certified consultant.
