Part of the Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons, and the Online and Distance Education Commons

The authors of this study explore the relationship between faculty training using Quality Matters ™ A standards and the online course quality as perceived by students. The independent variable is whether a faculty member has participated in Quality Matters training before teaching the online course surveyed. The dependent variables are student perceptions of online course quality from different aspects of the Quality Matters standards including learning objectives, outcome assessment, instructional materials, learner interaction, and course technology. A total of n = 122 undergraduate and graduate students were surveyed in the study. Subjects in the treatment group participated in the online courses taught by faculty members who had attended Quality Matters training, and those in the control group participated in the online courses taught by faculty members who had not attended Quality Matters training. Results from student t-tests suggest that faculty training significantly enhances learner interaction. The effects of faculty training on learning objectives, outcome assessments, and instructional materials are marginally significant. Yet