Under the auspices of the Academic Plan, we are launching a pilot project called Quality Matter Mentors. A collaborative, interdisciplinary committee called the Quality Matters Team will oversee this pilot. We invite expressions of interest from instructional faculty to participate as Quality Matters (QM) Mentors during their non-instructional duty time. This pilot is an opportunity for faculty at snəw̓eyəɬ leləm̓ Langara College to try out the Quality Matters program and rubric to determine whether it is a good fit for our institution. We invite you to be part of the evaluation process by participating in Quality Matters’ training and acting as a peer mentor, guiding the development of one or two colleagues’ online or mixed mode courses.
About Quality Matters
Quality Matters began with a small group of colleagues in the MarylandOnline consortium who were trying to solve a common problem among institutions: how do we measure and guarantee the quality of an online or mixed-mode course? They needed a way to ensure course quality — that courses would be equivalent — for their students, regardless of where the course originated. In the years that followed, more than 1500 colleges and universities throughout the world joined the QM community and used the Higher Education (HE) Rubric to improve course design. The Quality Matters program provides professional development, a set of research-based rubrics, and a course peer review process that work together to support faculty in improving the quality of online and blended courses. The Quality Matters Higher Education Rubric (Sixth Edition) consists of 8 general standards and 42 specific criteria that describe best practices in online and blended course design. The QM process is designed to be continuous, collegial, and collaborative. The rubric and associated annotations are based on best practices that promote student learning and instructional design principles that are part of good design. The rubric is supported by a thorough review of the literature and is updated every three years to reflect new techniques and technologies that have become available.
Selected mentors will:
- Participate in the pilot as part of their non-instructional duties
- Complete two Quality Matters courses:
- Applying the Quality Matters Rubric (10-12 hrs/week for 2 weeks)
- Higher Ed Peer Reviewer (10-11 hrs/week for 3 weeks)
- Make themselves available to mentor at least 2 colleagues over the course of 1 semester
- Attend Mentor meetings
- Keep statistics
- Help assess the success of the pilot and make recommendations for expanding the program
Eligibility
Eligible faculty must:
- Be instructional faculty with a current teaching workload
- Be regularized and have time to participate during their non-instructional time
- Have recent online teaching experience
- Have designed and developed an online or mixed-mode course
- Be familiar with instructional design principles
- Demonstrate a willingness and ability to work with peers
Timeline
- December 2 – Deadline for expressions of interest
- December 5 – 15 – Selection of 6 mentors
- December 16 – Selected mentors informed
- January 3 – April 28 – Mentors complete training
- May 1 – September 4 – Mentors provide support during NID time
- September 5 – September 29 – Mentors assess pilot and make recommendations
How to apply
Send a short expression of interest outlining your experience and why you should be chosen as a mentor along with a current CV to qmteam@langara.ca by December 2.
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