Conference Presentations

The Online Course Improvement Program (OCIP) at New Mexico State University (NMSU) blends formats and technologies- including using the Quality Matters framework for course design- to provide professional development (PD) for faculty teaching blended and or online courses (http://ocip.nmsu.edu/).

The session presents a new Quality Assurance Taxonomy devised via a Delphi study with a panel comprising shareholders in online higher education at the student, faculty, and administrative levels.  The taxonomy can be used to facilitate both internal and external evaluations and inform quality standards, documents, practices, processes, and measurements.  It introduces a concept no t previously found in literature--the increased criticality of QA dimensions (such as student support and faculty support) that results from the online modality.

Several years ago when we first decided to adopt Quality Matters (QM) on our campus we encountered a problem of buy-in from administration and faculty.  They did not know what QM was all about and did not want to invest the time, energy or money into an unknown. We started a grassroots effort to spread the word about QM through those wonderful early adopters, but we were still missing people. We found there were opportunities at events on campus to prompt QM, but did not have a formal presentation.

Working together, the eLearning Advisory Committee (eLAC), Center for Engagement and Learning, and eLearning developed an internal QM Review process and infrastructure. Using a slow-roll approach, we kicked off internal reviews with only two courses at first, building our pathway as we progressed forward. We will present an architecture of our decision making and creation of processes and support infrastructure, as well as the results of our efforts.

(Poster Session - w/ PPT)

Although visual representations have been around since cave paintings, visuals created with new technologies are changing the definition of what it means to be literate. Visual literacy is not just an "add-on," because incorporating visuals into learning practices helps the brain create meaning. Learn how to integrate visuals to capture the interest of today's learners and invoke emotions of curiosity, excitement, and enthusiasm. Explore digital tools and resources to support and enhance visual literacy in today's face-to-face, blended, or online classrooms.

Academic institutions seem to be facing an accelerating threat to integrity and, consequently, to the credibility of academic degrees (especially those earned online). Growing in both number and scope, these incidents include - but go well beyond - student cheating. For example, acquisition and sale of an institution's course material, such as assignments and exams, appears to be increasing through both the manipulation of students to share materials and cyber attacks.

Academic rigor is promised by educational institutions, but translation from theory to practice poses challenges. This session explores attendees' definitions, interprets QM Standards as evidence of rigor, and solicits areas needing further research.