What are the features of high-quality online courses in higher education? In this scoping review, we explore peer-reviewed scholarship related to the features of online learning in postsecondary contexts. We searched ERIC (EBSCO), Education Research Complete, and SocINDEX with Fulltext to retrieve peer-reviewed literature from 2010-2022 pertaining…

Student satisfaction is a key performance indicator in evaluating any degree program's performance. In light of the vast difference between online and traditional degree programs, factors that may significantly affect student satisfaction and thus contribute to the success of online degree programs still need to be explored. Previous literature on…

Online courses often include interface designs that do not support a positive learner experience. Literature shows a variety of heuristics to detect issues of online courses. While heuristic-based inspection of usability is a dominant method for evaluating digital systems, these methods cannot be easily transferred to online courses. To close this…

This study explored the impact of integrating ChatGPT into asynchronous online discussions. The analysis encompassed students' log data from Canvas and their perspectives on using ChatGPT. Results revealed a significant enhancement in overall discussion participation when ChatGPT is encouraged, emphasizing its potential as a catalyst for…

The role of teachers is an important element of online project-based learning courses. Based on the Community of Inquiry framework, this study examined how students' perceptions of teaching presence, through social presence and cognitive presence, were related to their evaluations of online project-based learning. A 16-week online project-based…

Nursing education is transitioning from traditional teaching to competency-based education. Additionally, more nursing courses and programs are now offered online. Scholarly writing is a powerful strategy to teach effective communication and critical thinking, both core competencies for safe and effective nursing practice. However, teaching…

This study examined the relationship of intentional faculty professional development, intentional online course design, and informal course reviews to the results of official interinstitutional peer review within higher education institutions. Quality Matters[superscript TM] (QM) provided the setting for this exploration of the relationship of…

This study investigates the validity and instructional value of a rubric developed to evaluate the quality of online courses offered at a midsized public university. This rubric is adapted from an online course quality rubric widely used in higher education, the Quality Matters rubric. We first examine the reliability and preliminary construct…

This study investigated a set of online reading courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels in a university's college of education. The courses were thought to integrate culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP), and the study's intent was to determine the extent to which they actually did so. The goals of the study were to determine whether CRP was…

This article examines the impact of course modality on student evaluation of courses and professors. Data were collected through the "Student Perception of Instruction" end of course rating form at the University of Central Florida (UCF), which contains nine items and maintains student anonymity. The findings indicate that while course…

The concept of "instructional quality" is central to the design and evaluation of massive open online courses (MOOCs). As MOOCs from the field of business and management are gaining importance both in academia and professional learning, questions on how to determine and improve the quality of these offerings arise. In this paper, we…

The last decade has brought far-reaching changes in higher education, leading institutions to shift some or all instruction online. This shift to distance learning has contributed to a more significant need for active learning: changing students from passive knowledge consumers into proactive knowledge producers using interactive teaching…

Quality Matters (QM) is one of the most widely adopted sets of standards for best practices in online courses to promote student learning. In this study, we examined student perceptions of the impact of QM-certified courses on students' learning and engagement. Fifty graduate students enrolled in online courses completed a survey developed based…

A great deal of research exists in the use of multimedia communications in online classrooms as a means of furthering student engagement. However, little research exists that examines the perceptions of students when such technologies are used. Additionally, it is unclear that students are likely to engage in the use of such technologies when…

Mid-semester formative evaluations of college teaching are a promising, low-cost solution to providing online instructors with in-the-moment feedback to improve their online teaching practices. However, existing instruments suffer from issues of validity and bias, and fail to align with evidence-based strategies. This paper presented and…