Quality Matter - Professional Development

I recently took the Quality Matters workshop on "Applying the QM Rubric. This was an online two week long course that is a prerequisite in becoming a Certified QM Reviewer.

One of the main concepts covered in the first module was the difference between design and delivery. Design is the anticipating and planning. The delivery is the actual teaching of the course and faculty performance. QM is about the design.


Along with reading over all the criteria in the QM rubric, I discovered the Universal Guide to Learning (UGL)http://www.udlcenter.org/ and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag. These two guides will be helpful in designing course for students with disabilities.

Most of the criteria in the rubric confirms how I already design courses but now I understand how and why these criteria are important. One area that many colleges may lack in student access to resources such as minimal technical requirements, tech support, students with disability information and easy access to accommodations, library resources, and academic support. These are essential and should be present in the beginning of a course.

Outcomes is also another very important aspect of QM. Outcomes should be clear, measurable, written from the student's perspective, indicated where they are met within the course materials, and properly aligned with the level of the activity or assessment. So often, the outcome is measurable and clear but it is not apparent where the outcome is met nor is it level with the type of activity or assessment. For example, the outcome is "Identify principals of design" but the assessment is designing packaging for a product. The is not the appropriate level. The outcome should be revised to "Design a package for a product using the principals of design."

I greatly enjoyed the QM workshop and have been passionate about applying the rubric to design templates, courses, and faculty and staff training. In the future, I hope I can take the certificate program and become a QM trainer or reviewer.