Prince George Community College has employed the QM rubric for several years now to review their courses. They follow the QM process to the letter so that their courses can have the "QM Seal of Approval". Some interesting facts from their presentation:
- FY 2008, reviewed 25 courses
- 25 courses =@ $11,000 (no chump change)
- $250/review chair, $150/reviewer (3 reviewers/course)
- 3 part time ("Duties as assigned") staff/faculty coordinating process
- 15-30% of their time at work dedicated to this process
- Dept Chair decides which courses to review
- Payment to reviewers for incentives
- (reviewing possibility of bonus to instructor/designers)
Biggest question is still out there: Does quality matters really matter? It's a tough question to answer. Data hasn't really been collected yet. Of course I would claim that the quality of a course could be improved by making it look more professional, but does that do anything to affect the learning outcomes? And if it does, is it worth @$440/course?
Naturally, there are other models. The DL Teach and Learning Group is currently looking into some of these. I'm looking forward to what they (we) find.
