Media Room

University of the Rockies was awarded a research grant last year by Quality Matters (QM), a leader in quality assurance for online education, to study student and faculty perceptions related to the QM peer review process. This month, Dr. Tina Parscal, University of the Rockies provost, and Dr. Barbara Frey, grant researcher, presented the preliminary findings of that research at the third annual Quality Matters Conference in Baltimore, Maryland.

Quality Matters recognition is a peer review process that is designed to evaluate the quality of online and blended courses. Online courses are reviewed by a team of three experienced online instructors and the course faculty developer, who establish a quality ranking. To become QM Recognized, a course must achieve an 85% quality ranking or higher.

University of the Rockies currently has 68 QM-recognized courses, and continues to submit five courses each month for QM review.

University of the Rockies’ research examined the extent to which the QM recognition impacted student perceptions of a course; which standards have the greatest impact on student perceptions of a course; and what instructors perceive as the positive and negative aspects of teaching the same course before and after the QM course review process.

Data was collected via surveys. Students were surveyed on eight QM standards and completed the survey twice: once before QM review and again after the QM recognition was achieved. Faculty surveys were administered to the QM reviewers and to faculty members who completed teaching a QM course. Student and faculty perceptions were each measured, and then compared for variance.

In the preliminary findings, students have perceived QM recognized courses as having strong overviews and introductions, learning objectives, and learner interaction and engagement.

“Most University of the Rockies’ courses are QM recognized on the first submission, and students report perceiving a high level of course quality,” said Parscal.

Researchers attributed this to several factors, including the thorough and complete integration of QM standards into the course development process and a rigorous quality assurance process for all courses.

Faculty responses have been favorable toward the process due to improved communication and feedback with students. The study will continue through April 2012, and more complete results will be released after analysis.

About University of the Rockies

University of the Rockies is a graduate school specializing in master's and doctorate degree programs in the social and behavioral sciences. Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association (www.ncahlc.org), classes are offered online and at the University's Colorado Springs, Colorado, campus. For more information, please visit www.rockies.edu or call Shari Rodriguez, associate vice president of Public Relations, at 866.621.0124 x2513.

About The Quality Matters Program
The Quality Matters™ program is a faculty-centered peer course review Quality Assurance process. Review criteria are linked to external standards; criteria and process are supported through instructional design principles; and the process is vetted by faculty experts. The goals of the program are to increase student retention, learning and satisfaction in online courses by implementing better course design.  Quality Matters is sponsored by Maryland Online and has been adopted by hundreds of higher education institutions across 35 states and Canada.