QM Professional Development Testimonials

To help you in your Quality Assurance journey, we offer a range of professional development opportunities that will help you improve the quality of your online/hybrid courses. Our upcoming workshops/webinars are on the UCATT Events page (filter by Quality Matters). Some of these, such as the Applying the QM Rubric (APPQMR) workshop, cover the QM Rubric and process in-depth, requiring time and effort. Others, like the Quality Counts webinars, are hour-long, bite-sized overviews of QM Standards. You may wonder if extensive workshops like the APPQMR are worth the time commitment or how much you could get from an hour-long webinar. Still, overwhelmingly we have heard accounts of how beneficial these professional development events have been for participants. Please don’t take our word for it, though! Read on for testimonials directly from an APPQMR participant and Quality Counts webinar facilitator.

Samuel Gnaore: Applying the QM Rubric (APPQMR) Workshop Participant

Before taking the APPQMR workshop, I had no idea what building online/hybrid courses of quality implied. Being new to online/hybrid course designing, the APPQMR workshop scaffolding approach gave me the knowledge to understand and apply concepts related to online course design. Starting almost from scratch, the two-week APPQMR workshop granted me enough know-how to master foundational knowledge of online course design best practices. 

The APPQMR workshop was my first introduction to course design practices. I was introduced to the QM Higher Education Rubric and the Review process in this workshop. The workshop structure and resources made it easier for me (a novice) to quickly and easily grasp the gist of online course design best practices. For instance, my introduction to alignment during this workshop helped me understand how key course elements work together to promote student learning.

The workshop familiarized me with essential course design aspects, such as using Bloom’s taxonomy as a framework to build effective, appropriate, and measurable learning outcomes, but it went far beyond that. I also learned about complex elements of course design, such as checking the validity of assessments, the alignment of critical course components, and checking course design accessibility (tables, images, website, and content accessibility) so that the course is inclusive to learners with disabilities.

Finally, participating in the APPQMR workshop was a fantastic experience. As a Graduate student interested in online learning, the APPQMR workshop completely changed my perspective. It significantly contributed to my understanding of the online/hybrid course design process. After completing the workshop, I feel confident that I know what quality course design is and can effectively assess the quality of a course’s design.

Jaime Mejia Mayorga: Quality Counts Webinar Facilitator

As a facilitator, you are assigned to lead the webinar. That assignment might come with the idea that as the leader, you are the one to impart the knowledge. I agree with this stance; however, my experience facilitating the QC webinar reminded me of how powerful and enriching it is to share spaces with fellow instructors who are devoted and passionate about teaching. If I were to use just a few words to describe my experience facilitating that webinar, they would be collegiality, camaraderie, and reciprocity. 

Collegiality because I was in a space with respected and committed colleagues with whom I share a responsibility towards the student community at UA. 

Camaraderie because I felt safe and empowered to share my insights, opinions, best practices, and experiences. 

And reciprocity because the space allowed us to exchange and learn from each other and our experiences as instructors. 

I am grateful to UCATT and RIQA for the opportunity to lead such a space. I am even more grateful to know that in these spaces where I am supposed to show and give, I share such leadership and receive valuable ideas and practices from my colleagues.