Abstract
Over 900 colleges and universities across the U.S. have adopted the Quality Matters Rubric for the design of their online courses with the intention of providing guidance to both instructors and peer reviewers. Given the challenge of how design components align with Web-based instruction delivery in terms of interactivity and formative assessment, there is a need to develop guidelines to establish a strong connection between design and delivery. Such information could support a dynamic, balanced, and student-centered approach to instructional development in virtual learning environments. This chapter proposes a matrix built on the linkage among well-established design practices, delivery methods or strategies, and assessment routines.
TopBackground
Designing an online course needs to be based on a systems approach that considers all aspects of online instruction. Faculty who teach online or plan to teach online can benefit that from a dynamic, balanced and student-centered approach to design, delivery and assessment of instruction. As online course effectiveness depends a great deal on instructional design (Gunawardena, Ortegano-Layne, Carabajal, Frechette, Lindemann, & Jennings, 2006; McGahan, Jackson, & Premer, 2015), rubrics or standards, such as QM or iNACOL as well as faculty professional development programs, can be supported by this systematic approach to teaching online.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Social Presence: Degree to which participants in online social interactions are perceived to be “real” by means of computer-mediated information exchanges.
Help-Seeking: Important self-regulatory and metacognitive skill defined as an achievement-focused behavior involving the search for and employment of a strategy to obtain success.
Formative Assessment: Information used to adapt teaching and learning to meet student needs during the process of instruction.
Transactional Distance: Separation of instructor and learners that necessitates bridging the psychological and communications space; it is the space that constitutes the transactional distance which is understood not simply as a geographical distance, but also a pedagogical concept. Three key elements determine the extent of transactional distance are: structure, dialog, learner autonomy.
Quality Matters (QM) Rubric: Set of design standards for online course, a peer-review process, and also a path for professional development.
Student Engagement: Outcome of involving learners in information exchanges aimed at making meaning via a variety of instructional strategies in face-to-face and/or virtual learning environments.