Date Available

4-24-2017

Year of Publication

2017

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

College

Education

Department/School/Program

Educational Leadership Studies

First Advisor

Dr. Beth Rous

Abstract

The purpose of this exploratory, multi-phased iterative study was to explore the extent to which Kentucky Community and Technical College (KCTCS) faculty utilize quality standards during the design and continuous improvement of their online courses. The study also explored how leadership supports quality online instruction. More specifically, this study sought (a) to determine to what degree KCTCS quality assurance rubrics aligned with national quality standards, (b) to what degree did faculty use quality standards to design, develop, and improve courses, (c) to what role did KCTCS leadership play in ensuring course quality, (d) to examine the quality of KCTCS online courses, (e) to what degree did courses meet national quality indicators based on faculty self-ratings and researcher ratings, and (g) to examine if quality differed on faculty-self-rated courses based on faculty characteristics?

The results of this study indicated a lack of quality measures available to support faculty in reviewing and improving course quality in many KCTCS sites. Quality ratings indicate KCTCS online courses are high-quality and meet national quality standards. Leadership at the college level should develop and implement a quality review process to ensure courses not only meet current quality standards, but are continuously improving to meet future standards. System leadership should provide support and training to local colleges in the form of a system-wide quality rubric and guidelines for a quality assurance program.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.13023/ETD.2017.077

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