Internet Learning Volume 3, Number 1, Spring 2014 | Page 26

Internet Learning Volume 3 Issue 1 - Spring 2014
Continuous Improvement of the QM Rubric and Review
Processes: Scholarship of Integration and Application
Kay Shattuck A , Whitney Alicia Zimmerman B , Deborah Adair C
Quality Matters (QM) is a faculty-centered, peer review process that is designed
to certify the quality of online and blended courses. QM is a leader in
quality assurance for online education and has received national recognition
for its scalable, peer-based approach and continuous improvement in online
education and student learning. Regular, robust review and refreshment of
the QM RubricTM and processes keep them current, practical, and applicable
across academic disciplines and academic levels. The review ensures
validity in the set of quality standards that make up the Rubric. An overview
of the regular review of the QM Rubric and process, as well as examples of
the use of data to continuously improve the Rubric and process are presented.
The guiding principles of QM – a process that is continuously improved
upon and that is collegial and collaborative – are discussed in relationship
to Boyer’s scholarship of application and scholarship of integration. Glassick
(2000) noted that Boyer’s scholarship of overlapping discovery, integration,
application, and teaching is “a hard but worthwhile task” (p. 880). This article
outlines how the dynamic and rigorous processes adopted by QM continue
to take on that worthwhile task.
Keywords: Quality Matters, course design, professional development, continuous
improvement, quality assurance, rater agreement
Introduction and Background
The Quality Matters (QM) Program
was initially developed under a 2003–
2006 Department of Education Fund
for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education
(FIPSE) grant. The grant, awarded
to the not-for-profit consortium, MarylandOnline,
was for the development of a replicable
quality assurance program focused
on faculty peer review and improvements
to the design of online courses. During the
grant period, a community of practice within
Maryland researched, developed, implemented,
and disseminated a set of quality
benchmarks (standards) (Shattuck, 2007),
as well as a rigorous peer review process to
improve student learning in online courses.
In their wisdom, the developers of the QM
program recognized that providing an instrument
(a Rubric) and a process for using
this Rubric would not be enough. Drawing
from their own experiences as members of
a community of practice that worked together
for many years to solve the common
issue of improving online course designs
(Cervero & Wilson, 1994; Lave & Wenger,
1991; Schön, 1983; Cousin & Deepwell,
A
Director of Research, Quality Matters Program
B
Doctoral Student, The Pennsylvania State University
C
Managing Director and Chief Planning Officer, Quality Matters Program
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