5 Faculty Earn QM Certification for Course Design

Mon, 14 Feb 2022 09:39:38 -0500
biro, hawken, online-hybrid, online-learning, pivot, qm-certification, qmi, quality-matters, quality-matters-impact

After participating in rigorous peer reviews of their online and hybrid courses, five UMBC faculty have earned Quality Matters certification as part of the campus’ Quality Matters Impact (QMI) pilot. In partnership with the Provost’s Office, the QMI pilot launched in FA2021 as an extension of the award-winning PIVOT program to recognize exemplary course design.

Faculty participants received feedback from certified Quality Matters peer reviewers at UMBC and other online learning experts in the QM community. The five courses include:

AGNG 355 - The Experience of Dementia

Louise Murray

Date certified: 12.17.2021

CHEM 101 - Principle of Chemistry I

Sarah Bass

Date certified: 02.01.2022

EDUC 667 - Structure of English for TESOL

Mary Tabaa

Date certified: 11.18.2021

ENCH 300 - Chemical Process Thermodynamics

Mariajose Castellanos

Date certified: 01.24.2022

PBHL 100 - Survey of the US Healthcare System

Katie Birger

Date certified: 02.02.2022

These courses are eligible to display the QM Certification Mark, an internationally recognized symbol of online and blended course design quality. The QM Certification Mark represents these instructors’ ongoing commitment to creating learning environments that provide students with a clear pathway to success. QM Certification is the result of the faculty’s dedication to continuous improvement.

Promoting quality and lessons learned

In the first GO Chat of 2022, scheduled for February 25 at 1 PM, Louise Murray and Mary Tabaa will share their experiences with the formal review process and showcase their QM-certified courses.

The call for participation in the Quality Matters Impact program is open twice a year with reviews scheduled in fall/winter and spring/summer. Using the 6th edition of the QM Higher Education Rubric, a formal QM course review is designed to be a collegial process to provide helpful recommendations for continuous improvement and reinforce effective, research-based practices for online and hybrid course design.

A QM Official review provides independent validation of quality, learner-focused course design. As of February 2022, only nine courses in the University System of Maryland are formally certified by Quality Matters, which is valid for five years. To maintain QM certification, and be listed on QM’s website, courses may be recertified for an additional three years or officially reviewed again. A course achieves QM Certification when it meets QM Rubric Standards at the 85% threshold or better and meets all Essential Standards.

DoIT’s Instructional Technology team manages the formal review process and facilitates the fully online, asynchronous Applying the Quality Matters Rubric workshop designed to help instructors prepare for a formal course review. When a course is deemed having met QM standards, the instructor is eligible to display the QM Certification Mark on the syllabus or within the course itself. QMI program participants receive a $1,000 professional development award for completing required activities and their course meeting QM standards.

For more information about the Quality Matters Impact program, please contact the QM coordinators for UMBC:

Dr. Mariann Hawken

Director, Instructional Technology

mariannhawken@umbc.edu

Dr. Susan Biro

Manager, Online Learning

sbiro@umbc.edu