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<title>Perform Quality Assurance (QA)</title>
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<h2 data-heading-variant="h1semibold"><strong>Why should QA matter to you?</strong></h2>
<p>Quality assurance (QA) is a foundational concept to course design and development. Through QA, we can help to ensure that students will receive a high-quality learning experience with reduced errors and technical issues. Courses with minimal problems reflect well on the instructors, programs, institutions, and industries they are a part of. While we cannot prevent all mishaps, we can mitigate issues through a rigorous QA process.</p>
<p>While Instructional Designers (IDs) have various procedures by which to QA courses, there is a limit to what they can accomplish in QA. Notably, IDs tend to lack the subject matter expertise required to ensure that course content is both accurate and up-to-date. Therefore, as the instructor, you should perform your own QA of your course and help ensure that students have a positive, rewarding, and industry-relevant experience while achieving the learning outcomes of the course.</p>
<h2 data-heading-variant="h2semibold"><strong>How to Conduct QA for Your Course</strong></h2>
<p>The <strong>ASU Online (ASUO) Course Design Standards </strong>are criteria used to ensure quality and consistency for all ASUO courses. Design and facilitation elements and best practices have been condensed into twenty-five (25) specific, measurable standards.</p>
<p>Committing to one set of design standards for all ASU courses helps us to uphold the ASU Charter in serving learners by creating a consistent digital learning environment that values their success. Therefore, you are strongly encouraged to use these standards as a tool to evaluate your courses in your own QA.<strong><br></strong></p>
<h3>Process Recommendation</h3>
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<p>Familiarize yourself with the <a class="inline_disabled" href="https://edl.asu.edu/design-standards" target="_blank">ASUO Course Design Standards</a>.</p>
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<p>Review your entire course through the lens of each standard. If desired, you can create a copy of the <a class="inline_disabled" href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1aVjZZzU4-hQ_lorh6CY9KYd0xcLQbt4nJYaGpuYrrQc/copy" target="_blank">QA Collaborate sheet</a> to help you track which standards your course does or does not meet.</p>
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<p><strong>Note</strong>: The QA Collaborate sheet was created to be used during the initial course design and development for ASUO courses, and it was intended to be filled out jointly by both the faculty and the ID. When you complete your own review before each session, you are not required to do it together with your ID, but you are encouraged to reach out to your ID with any questions you have about the standards.</p>
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<p>Standards that your course does not meet are opportunities for improvement. If you are teaching an ASUO course, you are encouraged to reach out to your ID if you would like assistance with improving your course.</p>
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<p>Pay special attention to the accuracy, alignment, and industry-relevance of all of your course content and assessments. Specific items you should review may include (but are not limited to):</p>
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<p>Student task lists and distribution of course work</p>
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<p>Media, readings, and other supplemental materials</p>
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<p>Project or assignment directions</p>
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<p>Practice and graded assessment questions and feedback</p>
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<p>Assessments settings</p>
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<p>Learning objectives for each module (and how these are assessed in culminating assignments, such as exams, quizzes, and projects)</p>
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<p>When you discover errors, broken items, or other issues, please address them as quickly as possible to reduce the impact on your students. If you are teaching an ASUO course, you are encouraged to reach out to your ID if you would like assistance with improving your course.</p>
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<h3 data-heading-variant="h2semibold">How to Review Your Course if You are Short on Time</h3>
<p>Depending on when you start, there might not be enough time for you to complete a thorough QA of the entire course prior to session launch. However, even if you are unable to complete a full QA before students get access, there are strategies you can use to catch issues before students encounter them.</p>
<p>These strategies can help to ensure a positive course experience not only for the students but also for the course team, as errors can lead to increased volume in student questions, confusion, and grading issues.</p>
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<p>Complete review of a given module <strong>at least </strong>two to three (2-3) weeks ahead of when students are scheduled to go through it.</p>
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<p><span>Keep in mind that our student body is across the lifespan, so many students work part-time or are full-time working professionals, and many need to work ahead in their courses to help accommodate their busy lives. Completing your review for a given module only one (1) week before students are scheduled to go through that material will likely not be sufficient, so it is recommended to stay a few weeks ahead.</span></p>
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<p>Prioritize graded assessments over practice assessments.</p>
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<p><span>If problems are found on a graded assessment, this could require regrading for the entire class, and the course team may receive higher volumes of communication from students until this is completed. This can also negatively impact the students' view of their instructors. In contrast, practice assessments do not affect students' grades directly, so any problems found on a practice item can be updated more easily than graded assessments while a course is running. Thus, it is more efficient to prioritize graded items in your QA.</span></p>
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<p><span><strong>Note</strong>:<strong> </strong></span>This does <strong>not</strong> mean that practice assessments should be ignored, only that it is best to review graded assessments first if you are running short on time.</p>
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