An Examination of the Relationship Between Online Course Design Standards and Student Educational Experiences

Abstract

This study investigated the perception of student learning experiences in Quality Matters (QM) certified courses. The purpose of this study was to determine what impact, if any, online course design training had on instructor teaching in the online classroom. The research study used Quality Matters (QM) certified courses as the basis for examining the instructor’s use and application of the Quality Matters (QM) training they received. The Community of Inquiry (COI) framework was used to examine the perceptions of the students’ online learning experience. The research design utilized a correlational non-experimental quantitative design. Participants included undergraduate students in the fully online RN to BSN program at a mid-size university in the southeast United States in spring 2019. For analysis, descriptive statistics and the correlation test Kendall tau_b were used to determine the existence of teaching, social, and cognitive presence as well as any significant relationships between teaching, social, and cognitive presence. Results indicated a high level of existence of teaching, social, and cognitive presence in Quality Matters (QM) certified courses. There was also discovered to be a significant correlation between teaching, social, and cognitive presence in Quality Matters (QM) certified courses. The researcher provides several recommendations for future research to extend this study. A larger sample across multiple institutions and disciplines would allow for more generalizability.