2 Continuous Course Improvement
In any instructional experience, it’s important to evaluate and adjust course elements based on what is working effectively for student learning. This process is referred to as continuous improvement [1].
Courses should be periodically reviewed based on the agreed-upon guidelines to ensure high-quality and accessible online courses. Guidelines developed or chosen by an academic unit should be reviewed periodically by members of its community (e.g., faculty, administrators, instructional designers) to help ensure the best possible online program and course quality.
There are a number of methods you can use to review your online course:
- Before your course has started:
- Consult with an instructional designer or academic technologist from your college.
- Utilize TeachingSupport via the Get Help Now! Link or email TeachingSupport@umn.edu
- Final syllabus and reading schedule should be determined 2 weeks in advance of the start date to ensure disability-related accommodations can be set in place.
- Add the DRC syllabus statement to the final syllabus.
- For digital accessibility use UDOIT and the Link Validator in your course site before publishing for student access
- While the course is running:
- Review learning analytics (Canvas)
- Collect students’ feedback via periodic surveys
- Ask students to let you know when they find parts of the course confusing or incorrect (e.g., links, directions, course site navigation, etc.)
- After the course has ended:
- Review learning analytics (Canvas)
- Conduct a post-class survey of student learning (e.g., Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT) in Higher Education Project Pre-Survey and End-of-Term Survey Questions)
- Student rating of teaching (e.g., Using your students evaluations)
- Apply course quality assurance standards to your online materials.
Additional Resources
- Ensuring Online Course Quality (CEI, UMN)
- The Check – Guide to Online Course Design – UMN College of Education and Human Development
- Student Feedback on Quality Matters Standards for Online Course Design (2017, Educause)
- Continuously Improving Online Course Design using the Plan-Do-Study-Act Cycle (2015, Journal of Online Learning and Teaching)
- Quality Matters Higher Education Rubric – UMN membership licensed centrally
- Online Learning Consortium Course Review Scorecard
- Learning Design and Online Teaching Effective Practice
- Shattuck, K, ZimmeView Chapterrman, W. A. & Adair, D. ( 2014). Continuous Improvement of the QM Rubric and Review Processes: Scholarship of Integration and Application. Internet Learning: Vol. 3: Iss. 1, Article 5. ↵