Quality Matters
Quality Matters (QM) is a peer review process for evaluating online courses to insure the high quality of those courses and improve student success. QM began as an initiative organized by a group of experienced online educators at Maryland Online supported by a FIPSE grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
The process involves submitting your online course to QM for review. QM selects an appropriate group of peer reviewers --faculty in the same discipline and instructional designers-- to conduct the review. The criteria used for the review consist of 14 standards established by QM based on a thorough literature review of effective online course design and practices. The peer reviewers give each course a score based on rubrics created from these 14 standards. A passing score earns your course the QM stamp indicating that the course is a QM certified course. If your course scores below the passing score, you may use the comments from the reviewers to improve the weaker elements in your course and bring the course up to the QM standard and resubmit for approval. A fee is charged for the QM review.
UW-W subscribes to the Quality Matters process. UW-W faculty can access the QM rubric (matrix of review standards) and can use it as a reference while developing an online or hybrid course.
Online Course Review Submission Procedure - UWW
iCIT/LTC (Learning Technology Center) provides a central clearinghouse for online course submission for QM review. Roni Telfer will be the contact person and serves as the QM Institutional Representative for UW-Whitewater. This service is available for all colleges on campus. College of Business & Economics faculty should contact Bob Schramm.
Requirements for a course to be submitted to QM for Review
- Faculty interested in getting a formal QM review should be familiar with QM standards and the QM rubric and believe the course is compliant with the standards, and any other requirement by your college or department.
- The LTC offers Intro to QM workshops during the semester,
- The LTC offers one-on-one consultation if desired as you develop your course.
- You may also seek advice from faculty peers who have passed QM reviews or experienced in online teaching
- A course submitted for review has to be taught totally online for two semesters
- Discuss with institutional representative for exceptions
- Faculty has to secure the approval from the department or college before a course will be submitted
- The department or college will agree to pay the cost of a QM review – currently $750 per course
Submission Procedure for Faculty
- You will fill out the following two forms with signatures and send it to Roni Telfer (telferv@uww.edu) or LTC at Andersen 1002
- QM Online Course Review Intention form (in PDF) with approval signature for your course
- QM Course Review Application Form (in PDF) and complete the Course Information Sections (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7). Then Sign the Faculty Developer Section on page (3)
- If desired, the LTC will do a quick review and give you an opinion on its alignment with the QM standards
The LTC currently does not have the resources to do any in-depth review prior to submission. We strongly suggest you attend our workshops, or work with us closely as you develop your course. You may also seek advice from colleagues in your college/department who are familiar with the process
- Once all information is complete, the LTC will submit your course to QM. A normal review takes about six weeks, depending on how quickly the instructor and peer reviewers correspond with each other. The following timeline can be used as a guideline after the submission:
About 1 week after submission date:
QM will send you an email with a login to the QM system. Please remember your password. You will need to fill out an instructor’s information form to provide some background info needed by the Peer Reviewers. Please complete this form and submit it as soon as possible. In the meantime, QM will form a Peer Review team consisting of three QM certified reviewers.
About 2-3 weeks after the submission date:
The QM Review Team chairperson will contact you and arrange a conference call for your course review. Before the conference call, the LTC will set up special accounts to access your course. The Peer Reviewers would have a chance to look at the course as well as the instructor’s information form. During the call, you will have a chance to clarify any questions the QM Review Team may have regarding the course set up, and to discuss the timeline of your course review.
About 2-6 weeks after the submission date:
Upon completion of the review, the QM Review Team will assess the online course and send you the peer review report outlining any suggestions for improvement.
QM Stamp & Re-submission
- If you pass, Congratulations! According to the recent QM statistics, about fifty percent of the courses do not pass the first review. If you do not pass on the first attempt, you will be sent a Course Amendment form with the peer review report. You have four weeks to resubmit the course for review. One-hundred percent of the resubmitted courses should pass the second review process.
- The LTC will be happy to assist you in interpreting the comments and suggesting revision or modification.
- You should notify your college/department of the results of the review.
- When course meets QM review standards, QM will list your course on QM website, and provide QM Recognized logo to be displayed as desired.
