Consistency in online navigation and structure

Interviewed faculty were supportive of increasing the consistency of the experience of the online component of courses, and many saw the HOQAS standards as contributing towards this end. Some faculty members designing based on the HOQAS learning management system template reported student feedback as being positive in most cases, with students saying that navigation was clearer and easier to understand. This was especially true if a student had multiple courses that were based on the template. A few faculty members, however, expressed concern that the HOQAS template by default was overly structured or complex, especially for courses that had less reliance on the learning management system (i.e. hybrid or face-to-face courses).

Some faculty members expressed frustration that the application of the standards was not mandatory; they felt that faculty members in charge of courses should be accountable for the alignment of the course to some sort of standards, even if they weren’t necessarily the HOQAS or QM standards. As noted in the findings on the incentive model above, faculty members were not mandated to participate in the review process, nor were there any repercussions for being non-compliant with standards.