The journey to quality in online learning is one of continuous improvement with many steps along the way. That is why Idaho State University (ISU) developed three separate pathways to help its team meet their quality goals. Find out what the pathways are and the steps involved.

In the third and final installment of our white paper series on academic rigor, invited author Andria F. Schwegler, Associate Professor of Psychology at Texas A&M University – Central Texas explores how institutional processes and support impact the application of academic rigor by faculty. Plus, discover what faculty can do to support academic rigor and how their behaviors, expectations, and interactions with students affect student experiences and academic performance.

Achieving QM Certification for your course is not the end of the process — it’s just the beginning! Sharing the certification with key stakeholders, including students, is an important next step. As the QM Ohio Consortium shares, promoting QM-Certified courses helps differentiate your offerings in a crowded online environment and gets the word out to students about the quality learning experiences your institution provides.

In 2011, Texas A & M International University began its quality assurance journey. Now, the University leads institutions in Texas with 144 certified courses. Along the way, the University’s team learned some important lessons about the process — lessons the University’s Director of Instructional Technology & Distance Education is now sharing to help others move their own quality assurance journeys forward.

When Matthew Tyler — Instructional Designer and Technologist — wanted to expand his knowledge of current best practices in online course design, he turned to QM. Serving on K-12 Reviews helps him stay abreast of current developments in online learning, network with like-minded individuals and impact student achievement. Discover how being part of the K-12 review process can help meet your professional development needs too.

Our in-depth look at academic rigor continues in this second white paper from author Andria F. Schwegler. After establishing a comprehensive definition for academic rigor in her first paper, Andria advances the conversation in this second piece by examining the contexts needed to operationalize it — to put academic rigor into practice. Explore how elements such as course design, course delivery and the real world affect academic rigor, including how those elements support academic rigor and higher-level learning.

With a course catalog that includes offerings such as “The Future of Space Travel”, K-12 Publisher Pointful Education aims to provide today’s students with meaningful, future-thinking courses. But Pointful recognizes that it takes more than unique content to meet the needs of today’s learners. Find out how they are using QM to deliver the complete package — relevant courses that set students up for success.

Internal Reviews play an important part in the quality assurance process. Just ask East Central University in Oklahoma. After conducting 71 Internal Reviews, the University shares lessons learned, including how Internal Reviews improve the student experience, the steps the University takes to prepare faculty for the process, and how the reviews serve as a stepping stone to official reviews.

In light of today’s higher education environment — an environment where the value of higher education is being questioned and a focus on degree completion is paramount — it is imperative to improve the quality of the courses and programs being offered. Academic rigor is often a signal for the kind of education that is desirable, but the lack of a clear definition of it can actually erode academic expectations and impede student learning. To begin to address these issues, a comprehensive definition of academic rigor is needed.

Many factors contribute to a student’s online learning experience, including class size. That begs the question — what is the ideal number of students for an online class? As research shows, there is no easy, cookie-cutter answer, but there are some guidelines based on factors such as course design and pedagogy.