What Does It Mean to Have Our Courses Be Quality Matters Certified?
At the Kent State Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship, we strive to provide the best education possible to all of our students, whether they are earning a degree in person or online. To ensure that our online courses meet the same standards of education as our in-person courses, a majority of our online MBA program courses are Quality Matters Certified and the remainder are expected to be certified by Fall 2020.
What Is Quality Matters?
(QM) is an international, faculty-centric, nonprofit organization focused on improving the design and certifying the quality of online and hybrid courses. For an online or hybrid course to be a Quality Matters Certified Course, it must meet the QM standards and be proven to positively impact the online learning experience.
The Quality Matters Certification process includes both a peer review and a rubric review of the online course. The Official Review Team is comprised of QM-Certified Reviews, with one Master Reviewer serving as team chair.
Quality Matters Rubric
In addition to the review process, a course must meet the standards set by the Quality Matters Rubric. The Quality Matters Rubric contains 42 specific, annotated standards arranged under eight general standards. The general standards for higher education include:
- Course Overview and Introduction
- Learning Objectives (Competencies)
- Assessment and Measurement
- Instructional Materials
- Learning Activities and Learner Interaction
- Course Technology
- Learner Support
- Accessibility and Usability
In order to keep the entire process relevant, the Quality Matters Rubric regularly undergoes a revision process based on course review research, QM community feedback, and a review of the current research literature.
Quality Matters Certified Courses Offered at Kent State
At Kent State, we strive to design our courses with the students who will be taking them in mind. When a course is Quality Matters Certified, students can easily focus on the content of the online class itself, just like they could if they were taking the course in person.
The majority of core courses in Kent State’s Online MBA program have achieved Quality Matters Certification:
- ECON 62021 Global Conditions and Macroeconomic Policy
- FIN 66050 Law and Ethics
- ACCT 63038 Managerial Accounting for Decision Making
- MIS 64042 Globalization and Technology Strategy
- MIS 64185 Business Strategy
- MIS 64271 Human Resource Management
- MIS 64158 Leadership and Managerial Assessment
The remaining core courses for the online MBA are expected to be Quality Matters Certified prior to the start of the Fall 2020 semester.
Contact Kent State
To learn more about Kent State’s Online MBA program and Quality Matters Certified courses, contact us today.