Abstract
A key component of quality assurance in online higher education is the periodic evaluation of fully online courses, by both internal and external reviewers, against standards developed by the offering institution. These standards can address a variety of quality areas including but not limited to: the organization and structure of the online course; the extent to which technology is used to foster learning and student engagement; and the use of available communication features to stimulate student discussion and interaction. In this paper the online evaluation processes and criteria of the two largest U.S. state universities involved in online education – University of Maryland University College and Troy University – are compared. It will be shown that the two institutions arrived independently at very similar quality standards for online courses, and that these standards are congruent with those developed and promulgated by nationwide higher education accreditation agencies in the U.S.
Highlights
Over the past decade the number and popularity of fully online U.S university courses and degree programs have risen sharply
This paper examines one type of institutional quality assurance practice, the use of a rubric to evaluate the content and activity of an online course, in each of two U.S institutions, University of Maryland University College (UMUC) and Troy University (TROY)
TROY makes use of the commercial learning management system Blackboard® to provide its array of fully online courses and programs
Summary
Over the past decade the number and popularity of fully online U.S university courses and degree programs have risen sharply. In the U.S, higher education policy, including federal government programs for student financial aid, is still grounded in a traditional approach based on young, full-time, largely residential students who accomplish the majority of their degree coursework face-to-face, on campus and during a four- or five-year period of time. This approach is incongruent with the new economic and workforce realities in the U.S, where working adults must attain and constantly update large and continually changing bodies of knowledge in order to remain competitive. This paper examines one type of institutional quality assurance practice, the use of a rubric to evaluate the content and activity of an online course, in each of two U.S institutions, UMUC and Troy University (TROY)
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