A banner of a woman pointing at text that says Quality Matters

Quality Matters at VSU

™ (QM) is a faculty-centered, peer review process designed to certify the quality of online and blended courses.  QM is a leader in quality assurance for online education and has received national recognition for its peer-based approach to continuous improvement in online education and student learning. VSU's QM membership is available to all faculty and includes:

  • Professional development workshops and certification courses for instructors and online learning professionals
  • Faculty-centered, continuous improvement models for assuring the quality of online courses through regular review and revision, including self-reviews, internal peer reviews, and official QM reviews
  • The , featuring General Standards and Specific Review Standards based on research and intended to guide faculty and staff course developers through the development, evaluation, and improvement of online and blended courses.

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To create your QM Account, contact the Quality Matters Coordinator at VSU's Center for eLearning or go to the  website. Once there, select “No, I am new here” and then click "Sign In."  Use your VSU email address when creating your account.

QM-Managed Course Reviews

A well-designed course is more likely to engage learners and positively affect their performance.

When you’re ready to put a course through the peer review process, you’ll receive helpful feedback and fresh ideas from colleagues who are interested in your course that will help you to improve the quality of your course and create a more active learning experience for students.

In order for online or hybrid course to become officially QM-certified, it must go through a rigorous Official Course Review process that evaluates the course using QM Rubric Standards and Annotations. A typical Official Course Review takes 4-6 weeks.

The official review team consists of two QM-certified Higher Education Peer Reviewers. The composition of the review team includes:

  • At least one reviewer who is external to the organization submitting the course
  • At least one reviewer who is a Subject Matter Expert (SME)
  • A Team Chair who is a QM Master Reviewer

Any online or hybrid course that has been taught for at least one semester is eligible for this type of review. The goals of the program are to increase student retention, learning, and satisfaction in these courses by focusing on continuous improvement of course design and pedagogical practices.

If you have any questions about the QM course review process, please contact us at: elearning@valdosta.edu or 229.245.6490.

QM Professional Development 

Quality Matters offers a variety of , including webinars, workshops, and courses leading to Online Teaching and Peer Review certification.

For more information, visit the  and .

 

Become a QM-certified Peer Reviewer or Master Reviewer

Your discipline, areas of expertise and other experience will help others recognize you as a possible candidate for serving on official QM-Managed course reviews for other organizations for which you'll be compensated.

Here are just a few reasons to consider earning a reviewer role:

  • Make a difference in online learning
  • Reflect on and improve your own course
  • Make important connections
  • Enhance your communication skills
  • Add to your resume and increase career opportunities
  • Earn stipends
  • Gain recognition
  • Improve your knowledge of course design and pedagogy

What are the steps to become QM-certified Peer Reviewer or Master Reviewer?

  1. Complete the  - In addition to learning about the QM Rubric and the course review process, participants will learn to apply the concept of alignment and draft helpful recommendations for course improvement.
  2. Complete the  - The Peer Reviewer Course is designed to prepare experienced online faculty and instructional designers to participate as QM-Certified Peer Reviewers. It includes a review of the foundational principles of Quality Matters and the QM Rubric. In addition, over the three-week period, participants apply Specific Review Standards to an online course (locate evidence, make decisions based on the evidence, and write helpful recommendations). Finally, participants use their new skill-set to complete a practice review of an online course using eight Specific Review Standards from the QM Rubric.
  3. Meet the .
  4. Complete the Peer Reviewer application.

Allow at least one week after the completion date of Applying the Quality Matters Rubric (APPQMR) workshop registering for the Peer Reviewer Course (PRC) to ensure your record reflects successful completion of the APPQMR.