Austin Community College (ACC) received its first nationally certified Quality Matters (QM) course, demonstrating the college’s ongoing commitment to quality online and hybrid learning.
The Philosophy 1301 course, taught by Associate Professor of Philosophy Azzurra Crispino, was certified in late fall.
“The QM course certification is validation of the hard work and efforts made by ACC faculty in support of student success,” says Erasmus Addae, associate vice president of distance education. “ACC remains committed to ensuring that its online courses and programs are of quality and fulfill its promise to online learners.”
All new ACC distance education courses are already designed and taken through an ACC internal review based on the QM review process. Existing courses are required to be redesigned and internally reviewed by fall 2020.
By using QM as the standard for online course design, ACC is able to have a set of nationally recognized uniform standards to provide students with the additional assurance that courses have been planned, developed, and designed with components to make their learning experience a success.
To become certified, Crispino participated in ACC’s Online Course Redesign Academy and worked with an instructional designer to internally certify her course.
“I realized I could better serve my students. So, I redesigned my course. It’s now broken down into units and lessons instead of by type of assignment,” says Crispino. “Each unit and lesson includes an introduction that lets students know what to expect.”
Two additional courses are currently undergoing a QM review for national certification.
For more information about ACC’s distance education, visit the Distance Education webpage.
Tags: Azzurra Crispino, Distance Education, distance learning, national certification, QM, Quality Matters
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