What Is Quality Matters?
Quality Matters (QM) is a non-profit organization that provides tools, resources and a research-based rubric to help institutions measure the quality of their online and hybrid course design. After a three-year pilot from 2016-2019, Penn State adopted QM beginning July 1, 2019. The spirit of QM is collegial, continuous improvement through peer review.
Using QM
Penn State is a subscriber to Quality Matters. All Penn State faculty and staff can access QM resources and use the rubric to measure the quality of courses they create or support. The rubric was originally designed to be used as part of a structured peer review process in which a team of three individuals review a course independently, then share their collective findings and recommendations with the course representative. However, the rubric is also useful as a guide during course design and development or when planning a new program. Designing with the rubric in mind can provide a solid foundation for a new course or program.
The QM Rubric can also be used by individuals, by small teams within a department or unit, or as part of a more formalized course review process. One advantage to QM is its flexibility to adjust to any quality assurance needs you may have.
Explore the QM Standards to learn more.
Our Team
Penn State Quality Matters Coordinators, Penny Ralston-Berg and Lisa Byrnes, Instructional Designers, World Campus Learning Design.
To discuss your needs and the possibilities of using QM with your online or hybrid courses, please contact Penny using the Contact form.
Penn State QM Advisory Committee Members
- Will Diehl, Faculty, College of Education
- Stephanie Edel-Malizia, Instructional Designer, Teaching and Learning with Technology
- Kaitlin Farnan, Faculty, Altoona
- Jonathan Gunnell, Director, eLearning Initiatives, Behrend
- Tom Iwinski, Instructional Designer, College of Engineering
- Ravi Patel (Faculty) and Jennifer Gray (ID), College of Health and Human Development
- Stanley S. Smith, Director, Online Instruction, Department of Mathematics
- Chulapol Thanomsing, Instructional Designer, College of Medicine
- Abigail Zlockie (ID) and Kelly Wolgast (Faculty), College of Nursing
History
In early 2015 the Design, Media, and Technology (DMT) sub-committee of the PSU Online Coordinating Council examined the possible need to update the current Penn State Online Course standards. These original standards were crafted almost 10 years prior and were based on the early work of Quality Matters (QM). After a review of several rubrics, including the existing PSU rubric, it was decided that the university should move towards adopting the QM rubric for our online course standards.
The decision was heavily based on the knowledge that the QM rubric is built on a solid body of research and is updated to reflect current trends and research every three years. Further, this decision carries a caveat in that we reserved the right to add items we found important to PSU, but may currently be missing within the QM rubric.
Three-Year Pilot
Following the decision of the DMT sub-committee to adopt the QM rubric, a work group was formed to explore how we could best implement QM across Penn State courses. The work group met with representatives from QM to discuss various approaches and determine pricing for training, formal reviews, and informal processes.
Based on this information and the recommendations of the QM team, a three year plan was developed. The expanded QM Implementation committee included designer and faculty representation from across the colleges and campuses. Over the the pilot period, 74 faculty and designers were trained in applying the QM Rubric and 22 courses were reviewed. Some pilot teams also explored ways to use QM as a guide when designing new online programs or courses.
Implementation
The pilot ended June 30, 2019. Based on the success of the pilot and need for quality assurance resources and tools across Penn State, QM was officially adopted and implemented on July 1, 2019.
