HDI Course Meets Quality Matter Standards

Posted April 7, 2021 by Academic and Institutional Technology
Tags: Department News

HDI Course Meets Quality Matter Standards

On March 14, 2021, HDI 624: Refugee & Forced Migration Issues earned the Quality Matters (QM) Certification Mark following a rigorous review process. The QM Certification Mark is the internationally recognized symbol of online and blended course design quality and represents Wheaton College’s ongoing commitment to creating learning environments that provide students with a clear pathway to success.

The certification is the result of Wheaton’s dedication to continuous improvement, including innovative work done by those involved. The course is now listed on the QM directory of certified courses.

Shari Lendy, Instructional Developer for Academic and Scholarly Technology, said, “Not only did we pass (the certification), but with the help of Kent Annan and the HDI group, we scored a 100!”  Chief Information and Campus Services Officer, Wendy Woodward, shared, “This is fantastic! To have a Wheaton developed online course be certified by Quality Matters course shows that it can be done. It’s exciting to have HDI lead by developing their course in accordance with these best practices.”  Provost Karen Lee agreed and added, “This is an excellent indicator of quality for our online academic curriculum.”  Kent Annan, Director of Humanitarian and Disaster Leadership said he was “very grateful to partner with Steve (Park) and Shari (Lendy) on this,” and added thanks to Shari for all her hard, insightful work leading and guiding the review process.  He went on to say it was “helpful for us to improve this course that we had created, and also to learn for making our other HDL courses better – in ways that can also hopefully contribute college wide.”

Congratulations to HDI for this great achievement!

If you are interested in having a course reviewed by Quality Matters, please reach out to the AIT Service Desk to get the process started.

The QM Official Review provided independent validation of the quality, learner-focused course design found in HDI 624: Refugee & Forced Migration Issues. Reviews are conducted by QM-Certified Reviewers and use the Quality Matters Rubric and associated Standards, which are based on research and best practices. A course earns the QM Certification Mark once it meets QM Rubric Standards at the 85% threshold or better and meets all Essential Standards. 

About Quality Matters

Quality Matters (QM) is the global organization leading quality assurance in online and innovative digital teaching and learning environments. It provides a scalable quality assurance system for online and blended learning used within and across organizations. When you see QM Certification Marks on courses or programs, it means they have met QM Course Design Standards or QM Program Review Criteria in a rigorous review process.

If you have any questions, please contact us at ait.service.desk@wheaton.edu or call 630.752.4357 (HELP).