Conference Presentations

From recruiting and onboarding to enrollment, there are definite steps that lead to an online program that is student-centered and focused on success. This highly engaging session will focus on setting the stage for student success and retention in online programs, and resources for the session will be both synchronous and asynchronous so that participants can share and access materials long after the conference has concluded.

During this presentation, we'll discuss different ways in which teachers can stand out from the crowd, develop meaningful connections with students, and make their courses a little more than boxes and videos on a screen.

Quality Matters (QM) is one of the most widely adopted sets of standards for best practices in online courses to promote student learning. In this study, we examined student perceptions of the impact of QM-certified courses on students’ learning and engagement. Fifty graduate students enrolled in online courses completed a survey developed based on the QM Rubric items. The QM framework includes 43 individual standards clustered into eight general categories.

Join this session for a brief overview of research related to student views of quality online learning followed by an active discussion about how we might include the student point of view in future research projects. What questions should we ask? What do we need to know to help tomorrow’s students succeed? Bring your ideas!

Do students agree with the items included in the QM Rubric? Do they rate QM Standards at the same level of importance? Help us find out! In 2024, a research team will repeat the 2009-2011 national study of student perspectives of quality using the recently released QM Higher Education Rubric, Seventh Edition. Join the session to discuss study details and learn how to participate.

As personalized learning becomes the latest educational buzzword, what about the outcome? What if the student is the driver and educators ask students what they want to be assessed on? The poster session will demonstrate techniques used for student reflections.

This poster describes a multi-year study about student perceptions of the importance of online course design elements revealing areas of challenge and opportunity for online learners. Students indicated three areas of high importance to their online course experience including course organization, communication, and grading/feedback, elements promoting fair and equal access to quality education. Takeaways include: two survey designs, top three important online design elements to students.

Although many institutions offer their learners orientations to online learning, not all instructors offer a specific orientation to their course. Both orientations are beneficial to the online learning environment and to the course, but they accomplish different objectives. Providing a Course Orientation allows learners to familiarize themselves with the information and expectations that are critical to each course they are taking.

We will provide a brief overview of curriculum mapping implementation, including how it relates to the Learning Management System (LMS), development of shared resources and frameworks designed for consistency and clear expectations for students.

All too often, online course quality is determined by a course’s compliance with industry standards rather than consultation with actual students. In this presentation, we share a case study of student-driven quality assurance practices recently developed in a University Center for Assessment, Teaching, and Technology.  Attendees will leave the session inspired to create their own student-driven quality assurance practices at their respective institutions.

This session introduces OER and describes the development and implementation of an OER project within an online course. A framework is provided to facilitate development of OER projects in other courses. This topic is timely as learner engagement declines and costs for textbooks increase. It will facilitate attendees to explore new and innovative strategies to overcome these barriers to learning and create affordable, interactive experiences geared toward learner engagement and student success.

The QM model is designed to infuse quality into the online classroom. This model is almost foolproof. The word “almost” is important. The instructor plays an important role in completing the quality assurance of the online course. At any time during the semester, the instructor can metaphorically derail students’ learning experiences. The following is a case study of how one instructor inadvertently lost track of the quality of her online students.

After engaging faculty in course redesign and evidence based teaching, the speaker has summarized models of implementing Quality Matters in faculty development. Multiple resources are shared based on experiences across multiple formats of faculty PD from two institutions.

To meet local priorities and emphasis, a group of instructional designers organized a checklist of course quality items using QM and other related course-quality standards. These were then applied to the QM standards as annotations, and a few additional standards were added. This presentation will share the annotations and additional standards, and describe the process of getting there.

Our job is to meet or exceed consumer demand. To provide learners a well-designed product that supplies "more bang for their buck." We must aim our focus toward the learner. Learners today expect more than they did a few years ago. There weren't as many options in the past. The demands of learners and course design are continually changing. If we do not meet learners' needs, they will be lost -- to competition or to complacency. This session examines innovative ways to improve these areas of demand: Course Navigation, Interaction, Content, Calendar, Support.

Equity and access are two main themes that are found throughout the General Standard 8 Specific Review Standards (SRS). SRS 8.3 is a complex essential standard that requires text and images in files, documents, LMS pages, and web pages to meet the needs of diverse learners.  Between the requirements for properly formatting basic images, complex charts, graphs, and infographics, along with tables, documents, PDFs, and different aspects of text, there is a lot to consider when designing digital instructional content.

To succeed in college and beyond, students must learn to think critically, make the right decisions, and regulate their behavior. These aspects of cognition depend on executive functioning (EF) - central processes executed in the frontal lobe of the brain. Together we will explore how to use Quality Matters (QM) Standards to create courses that effectively support EF. ­­You will learn about strategies and technology tools that can support EF in face-to-face or online college courses.