APPENDIX 3: COURSE DESIGN RUBRIC (ESSENTIAL ITEMS)
COURSE DESIGN QUALITY ELEMENT AND
EXCEPTIONAL QUALITY CRITERIA |
Course Introduction & Overview |
Information about the purpose and structure of the course is easy to find and is clearly written (e.g. learning activities, deadlines, requirements, and so on). |
Learning Outcomes |
Learning outcomes are written in measurable terms |
Links between learning outcomes and students’ assessments I clearly written, explicitly stated, and provided to students in an intuitive location (e.g. with the assessments) |
Learning outcomes are provided, easy to locate, and clearly written from the students’ perspective |
Consistency exists between learning outcomes and module/unit goals and is clearly articulated |
Learning outcomes are at the appropriate learning level (designed for the level of the course and level of students in the course and are clearly written |
Student Assessment |
Instructor grading policies are clearly written and easy to find |
Grading rubrics are provided for all assessments, are clearly written, and models of “good work” are shown |
Instructions for assignment are clearly written, easily located, and contain sufficient detail to ensure student understanding. |
Instructional Materials |
Required materials for the course are listed and are easily accessible from various locations within the course (e.g. ISBNs and links) |
All materials contribute to achievement of course/unit outcomes |
Content Presentation/Structure |
Content is easily located and present in distinct and manageable segments (e.g. modules, weekly segments) |
Course navigation is intuitive, content flows in a logical progression (e.g. presented in a table of contents, modules in numerical order) |
All elements of the course design are consistent (i.e. font, graphics, icons, layout and organizational levels) and professional looking |
Student Interaction/Engagement |
Communication activities are deliberately designed to help build a sense of community |
Student-student and student-instructor interaction is required and instructions about how to engage in this are clearly stated and simple. |
Course Technology |
The majority of tools/media support student learning by engaging students with course content and guiding them to become an active learner |
Technology required for course is easily accessible from various locations and links or resources are provided |
All course technology is reliable |
All of the tools/technology that is incorporated is appropriate to the course outcomes (i.e. not just included for sake of inclusion) |
Student Support |
Accessible technologies are fully employed |
Design factors reflect universal accessibility considerations (e.g. AODA accessibility standards) |
Faculty Support |
Full technical assistance in course development is available |
Full pedagogical assistance in course development is available |
Communication and Feedback |
Learners can give formative and summative feedback to the instructor about design/content and their learning |
Legal/Procedural Issues |
Copyrights have been obtained for all external course materials, when applicable |
Scoring:
3 if design completely satisfies that element
2 if design mostly meets that element
1 if design somewhat meets that element
0 if design does not meet that element
Maximum points = 78
Taken from Quality Standards for the Delivery of High-Quality Online Courses, Report for the Council of Ontario Universities