Online Course Quality Standards
USU Online is Utah’s #1 Online University by U.S. News & World Report. In fact, USU is the only university in Utah to make it among the top 100 in the nation. We achieve this by having high quality online course standards that follow industry best practices. We strive to have well designed courses that include interaction and go beyond simply downloading documents or watching recorded lectures.
The following best practices have proven to be essential in creating and managing well designed courses that facilitate student and instructor success. For additional information on these topics, please contact the Online Design team.
Online Design Standards
- The course is structured into intuitive modules that adhere to a generally consistent framework.
- The course design aligns with the course scope and description as listed in the USU catalog.
- The course navigation is easy to understand and helps students move effectively through the course.
- A course schedule with due dates for required activities is readily available.
- The module release schedule allows students to see at least the current week and the subsequent week.
- A welcome message from the instructor provides students with an overview of the course and creates a welcoming, inclusive environment.
- The course addresses information necessary for online student success, including resources, guidelines, rules, and expectations.
- Information is provided about the student support resources that are relevant to the course, including links and directions for accessing services.
- The course lists high-level learning outcomes that align with the course description, online format, and selected IDEA objectives.
- Each module includes module-specific learning outcomes.
- Course and module outcomes are measurable, observable, and assessed in the course design.
- Graded activities and assessments directly measure the learning outcomes.
- Learning outcomes require students to apply discipline-specific knowledge and skills to relevant, authentic, or real-world applications.
- The course provides regular opportunities, through both formative and summative assessment, for students to demonstrate their learning and receive feedback.
- All required activities have clear and appropriately detailed instructions.
- The course includes appropriately detailed grading rubrics for most activities.
- Assessments are varied and provide opportunities for students to apply their learning in authentic contexts, including real-world situations, simulations, case-studies, or other discipline-specific context.
- Auto-graded assessments use built-in feedback to provide timely and personalized guidance.
- Students who are not making satisfactory progress are given opportunities for remediation and learning support.
- Activities provide opportunities for student choice, supporting belonging and connection.
- Students are allowed to submit feedback and ideas, outside of the IDEA student survey, for improving the course.
- Instructional materials and learning activities are aligned with course and module learning outcomes.
- Instructional materials and activities provide opportunities for experiential learning through practice, exploration, problem-solving, or application.
- All primary instructional multimedia is specifically selected and/or designed for the online student audience. (No in-person recordings for primary content).
- A purposeful variety of instructional materials and activities are used to support the course outcomes.
- Where utilized, audio and video quality is clear and professional.
- Online video lectures or presentations are provided in segments of no longer than 20 minutes.
- Instructional materials include real-world applications, simulations, and/or current industry practice.
- Materials and activities prepare students for assessments by providing clear guidelines, practice opportunities, and examples of expected performance.
- Student-to-content interaction is more than just information consumption. It allows for application, creation, personalization, and transformative engagement.
- The course design fosters regular and substantive interaction between the instructor(s) and students.
- Students have opportunities to actively engage with course content through recall, reflection, practice, application, problem-solving, or other appropriate learning activities.
- Appropriate tools or applications are used for their intended purposes.
- When generative AI tools are used, their use supports the learning outcomes, and students receive guidance on using the tools and critically evaluating their outputs.
- Activities, student progress, and grades are tracked and communicated through Canvas.
- All applications are USU approved, with USU-approved integrations (where integration is possible), and used in ways that comply with data privacy and security policies.
- Links to course resources (in and out of Canvas) are functional.
- Student work completed through tools outside of Canvas is graded within Canvas.
- Technologies used are mobile friendly and cross-platform compatible to the extent possible.
- Task-specific technology tutorials are provided for tools students are likely to be unfamiliar with.
- Course files are posted in accessible formats.
- Course videos are accurately captioned.
- Images that provide information are posted with descriptive alternative text.
- Content that is typed into Canvas follows accessibility practices (heading tags for text headers, descriptive links, appropriate use of tables, etc.)
- Sufficient contrast exists between background colors and foreground elements, such as text.
- The course does not contain any files, pages, videos, or images that are not used by students.
- The course includes clear policies on academic integrity, such as guidelines on acceptable AI use, plagiarism avoidance, citation standards, and consequences for academic dishonesty.
- Consequences outlined for academic integrity violations follow standard university policies and procedures.
- If proctored exams are required, proctoring requirements are communicated in the syllabus.
- Computer-graded online exams use question and answer shuffling and/or randomization to help guard against academic integrity violations.
- Online exams delivered without proctoring are available during specific time frames and are time-limited to help prevent academic integrity violations.
Online Teaching Standards
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The instructor makes the necessary preparations to teach the class before the course begins.
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The instructor communicates and meets expectations for class communication, student behavior, academic integrity, and other relevant matters.
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The instructor reaches out regularly and proactively through announcements and/or Canvas inbox messages.
- The instructor proficiently uses applicable course technology tools.
- The instructor responds to student emails and questions in a timely manner (within 24 hours).
- The instructor participates regularly in the class discussions.
- The instructor holds regular office hours and encourages students to attend.
- The instructor invites constructive feedback from students.
- The instructor fosters an environment of respect and belonging for students.
- The instructor reaches out individually to students who miss deadlines or appear to be struggling.
- The instructor sends out reminders about deadlines and upcoming assignments.
- The instructor provides support and answers basic support questions about the technology used in the course.
- The instructor connects course content to real-world applications and current practices to make learning meaningful and relevant.
- The instructor provides timely feedback on assignments and assessments.
- The instructor provides constructive feedback.
- The instructor uses a supportive, encouraging voice in their feedback.
- The instructor provides timely feedback to students on any academic integrity issues that arise.
- If academic integrity enforcement tools are used, the instructor views the reports and reaches out to applicable students.
- The instructor follows university and syllabus policies to enforce consequences for academic integrity violations.