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Online & Hybrid Course Quality Assurance Program

Background:

California State University, East Bay started the Quality Assurance (QA) program at the beginning of Spring 2015 with the help of funding from the CSU Chancellor’s Office, and support from the Provost Office. Quality Matters (QM) is a nationally recognized organization dedicated to the continuous improvement of online course design and peer review process. A QM high quality course certification process consists of three elements: a detailed quality standards rubric to evaluate the design of online and blended courses, a collegial peer review process, and professional development Quality Matters training. In an effort to continuously enhance Online and Hybrid courses at CSUEB, faculty are encouraged to take training courses through Quality Matters (QM) or Quality Learning & Teaching (QLT), work with Online Campus eLearning Specialists, request peer-review of their Online or Hybrid courses, and be certified by QM or QLT as Quality Online Course.

Is there a real impact on students’ learning? YES

Many faculty who have taken a QM workshop or certified their course(s) have shared how that experience positively impacted their students and changed how they facilitated their face-to-face courses. Previous reports and studies conducted by our own faculty research associates have shown that there is evidence of a decrease in non-passing grades and faculty perception regarding the impact of quality assurance is positive. With the help of Institutional Effectiveness & Research (IER), we have put all relevant historical data together in a preliminary dashboard to further demonstrate the impact of QA on student success (from 2018 to 2023). The data shows the percentage of non-passing grades decreased after QA implementation on all areas such as First-Gen/Non First-Gen, URM/Non-URM, and Low Income/Not Low-Income,...etc.

Accomplishment & Ongoing Activities:

Cal State East Bay is the first to initiate and the only CSU campus with Subscriber-Managed Official Reviews status where we conduct and manage our own Official Course Reviews for the campus. We facilitate QM workshops for Cal State East Bay faculty with face-to-face QM certified workshops such as; Design Your Online Course (DYOC), Improve Your Online Course (IYOC), and Applying the Quality Matters Rubric (APPQMR).

Thus far, Cal State East Bay has a total of 28 certified Peer Reviewers, 6 Master Reviewers, 5 QM Coordinators and 7 Facilitators for various QM workshops, all due to faculty involvement and our overall dedication to quality course design. Cal State East Bay has certified over 200 courses since the program’s inception. We are proudly ranked #1 in California and #10 in the nation as for February 2024 for most QM certified courses. Since 2015, the faculty and staff have completed over 600 QM certified workshops. Cal State East Bay continues to strive in providing quality assurance training to its faculty.

For general inquiries, and questions about the Quality Assurance, faculty training, and quality online/hybrid course certification program, please contact the Office of the Online Campus: online@csueastbay.edu or call 510-885-2100 and ask to speak to one of our eLearning Specialist.