Quality Matters: Certification InformationQuality Matters is an international organization that has been certifying online and blended courses since the early 2000s. I became familiar with Quality Matters around 2010, when I began teaching in a hybrid mode at St. Ambrose University. By 2010, I was integrating video instruction with live instruction, and I used Learning Management Systems to deliver resources, activities, and assessments. I had been doing this since around the year 2000.
Having reviewed the Quality Matters rubrics and standards, I believed that my courses could "pass" the QM certification process. Eventually, in 2019, I had one of my courses Quality Matters certified.
This web page contains my experiences and resources relevant to getting my "Business Analytics" course QM-certified in 2019.
Quality Matters Higher Education Rubrics, Sixth Edition (this is a link to the Quality Matters website). Note: the current rubric is the Seventh Edition.
QM Directory of Certified Courses
Before the full review began, I set up a course shell for the Quality Matters review team. The shell was not supposed to have any students.
I knew that a course shell that displays all the content but without students would pose a challenge for the reviewers. Students never see my course this way except in the last week. This is because I pace my course, introducing new topics each week. Additionally, a significant learning component of my courses is “discussions.” By removing students from the course I was also removing significant course content.
An essential criterion for a QM review is that all course and topic objectives be consistent with Bloom's Taxonomy. However, I learned that Bloom's Taxonomies can vary. I found the list I used somewhere on the Quality Matters website.
Bloom's via Quality Matters. My first Bloom's verbs. Another example of Bloom's.
There were times that I thought nothing was happening.
I did not pass. I achieved a 79 out of 100. Standards NOT MET. More importantly, I had five 3-point standards that were NOT MET. I also had three 2-point standards NOT MET. I lacked (5x3 + 3x2) 21 points.
Syllabus (course objectives)
Course Alignment Table (i.e., course map, a mapping of objectives to specific course activities)
Quality Matters allow you to fix problems from the Full Report, if you wish to do so. I decided to do so, providing support for items with issues, and passed.
Final Email from Quality Matters - MBA8150 Certified
QM Final Report (My amendments begin after the words " TOTAL POINTS AWARDED: 79")
QM Course Review Details (summary).
Final Email from Cal Scheidt, the QM Review Team Chair
Rick's instructional video example. This is an example of teaching students to use a software product, Excel.
Ch02 Excel: Graphing Techniques (26 minutes)