Quality Matters at TAMIU

The Quality Matters Rubric consists of 44 standards assigned different points depending on their relative importance. Twenty-two (22) of the standards are considered essential in a quality online course and have the highest point value of 3. The remaining 22 standards are assigned 1 or 2 points. The maximum possible number of points is 101.

For a course to meet Quality Matters review expectations, the course must have:

1. Answered ‘Yes’ to all 3-point Essential Standards
2. A total overall score of 85 out of 101 points

Each review has two peer reviewers. Each reviewer examines the course for evidence that a specific review standard (SRS) is either met or not met. Both reviewers must agree to mark an SRS as "met," so the course receives the points for that standard. The course gets zero points for an SRS if they disagree on the decision or if they both agree the course does not meet the SRS. There are no partial points.

No, QM is not a student evaluation of the faculty member’s delivery of the course. It is a peer evaluation of the design (not the content) of the course.

After a course has met QM standards and is recognized by Quality Matters, the “QM Certified” seal can be displayed within the course and anywhere else that the course is advertised. This indicates to stakeholders that the course has been measured against a widely accepted national benchmark for quality assurance in online education and it has achieved the recognition that says the course design is of high quality.

The “QM Certified” seal will have a year at its lower edge in which the course was certified. The QM standards are revised every two years to reflect current research on best practices in online learning. Technology and course materials are expected to undergo substantial change in that period of time. Therefore, the QM certification expires after 5 years.

Not necessarily. The general guideline for a QM-certified course is that the recognition is no longer valid if the course design changes are greater than 10-15%. Therefore, if a course achieves QM certification and an instructor subsequently makes significant changes to the QM-certified design that affect more than 10-15% of the course, the QM Certified seal can no longer be associated with the course. It would need to be reviewed again to earn QM certification. It is the responsibility of the Institutional Representative or the original course designer to make this determination.

The QM process is designed so that all courses will eventually meet expectations. If a course does not meet expectations upon initial review, the faculty course developer receives detailed feedback from the team and has the opportunity to revise the course.

The Department Chair, the Dean, and the Provost will have the authority to determine any additional institutional recommendations or consequences for courses that continue to not meet expectations.

Per QM requirements, the entire review process may take place over a maximum period of 20 weeks. However, it usually takes the peer review team about 3 weeks to conduct the actual review of the course.

As the faculty course developer, you will complete the Course Representative Worksheet, a document that describes your course for the peer review team and which you will discuss with them during a pre-review conference call. After the review has been conducted, you will complete a Faculty Response Form. If the course does not yet meet expectations, you may make revisions and submit the revised course along with the Course Amendment Form.

No, the review will take place in a copy of the course so that reviewers do not have access to any student data.

eLearning will create guest accounts for the reviewers to log into Blackboard and access the course shell for review.