The Quality Matters Higher Education Rubric (6th edition) is a set of 8 General Standards and 43 Specific Review Standards used to evaluate the design of online and blended courses. The Rubric is complete with annotations that explain the application of the Standards and the relationship among them.
UMBC faculty have access to the Self Review Tool in the Quality Matters Course Review Management System (CRMS) to conduct a review of an online or hybrid course. The Self Review Tool provides a list of each General Standard with links to detailed annotations that describe what the standard means and provides examples of evidence. During the Self Review, you may take notes along the way in the CRMS Tool for later reference. You may start and stop at any time in the Self Review process, completing it in stages vs. in one sitting. The Self Review is a reflective process to allow faculty to determine to help determine if their course has Met or Does Not Yet Meet a specific Quality Matters Standard.
After completing the Self Review, faculty may view, email, or download a PDF version of the final report. No one except you has access to the Self Review unless you choose to share the results. You may start and complete as many QM Self Reviews as you desire.
Show Me
Tell Me
- First, you must have a Quality Matters account. See → How do I create a Quality Matters account?
- If you've logged out, log back into your QM account.
- Click on the CRMS icon at the top of the page. Select Higher Education.
- At the next screen, click Start Self Review to initiate this process.
- Give your QM Self Review a descriptive title that includes identifying information. For example, use the Course ID, the term, and your last name: ENGL 101_Self Review_SU2020_Smith.
- TIP - If you plan on reviewing your course again after completing revisions, include additional information to identify which Self-Review came first (e.g., ENGL 101 QM Self-Review #1 SU2021).
- TIP - If you plan on reviewing your course again after completing revisions, include additional information to identify which Self-Review came first (e.g., ENGL 101 QM Self-Review #1 SU2021).
- Begin the process by reviewing each Standard in the context of your course. Identify evidence in the course that helps you determine if it Meets or Does Not Yet Meet a specific QM Standards. If the course Does Not Meet a Standard, use the Annotation language and examples to identify what steps you might take to move towards a decision of "Met."
- Click the annotation link to get more information about effective practice. Most annotations include information about the standard’s application to hybrid/blended courses.
- Click the annotation link to get more information about effective practice. Most annotations include information about the standard’s application to hybrid/blended courses.
- As you select Met or Not Met for each Standard, enter helpful notes for your reference. Provide as much detail as you can at this stage. For example, if you find a broken link in Module 2, specify where it is so you can find (and fix) the broken link quickly when you are ready to work in the course.
- You can start and stop your review at any time, so it is not necessary to complete it in one sitting. Regardless of how many times you start and stop, always "save" your Self Review after completing each General Standard.
- When you have completed the Self Review, the CRMS will generate the total score and the status will appear on the screen.
- You may email your self-review to a colleague or an instructional design specialist/technology by entering the person's email address and clicking EMAIL REVIEW. You may also obtain and download a PDF copy of the completed Self Review by selecting VIEW.
