Quality Matters Spotlight: Yanyun Yang

The Office of Digital Learning congratulates Dr. Yanyun Yang for the high-quality certification of her online course EDF 6937: Advanced Structural Equation Modeling. Yang earned her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Arizona State University and is an associate professor with the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in Anne’s College. She participated in the FSU Online Quality Initiative, where online courses undergo a rigorous peer-review process based on the nationally recognized Quality Matters rubric. In the following Q&A, Yang shares her insights about the certification process. 

How do you think the Quality Matters (QM) review process has improved your course?
The most beneficial aspect from the QM review process is the creation of the course map aligning course and/or module learning objectives, instructional materials, and assessments. Sharing the course map with students at the beginning of the semester gives them a sense of what this course is about, what they should expect to see in each module, and how their learning will progress and be assessed.

What did you value most about the instructional design support you received from your ODL faculty liaison?
The team gave me a clear set of information and timeline, guiding me through the QM review process.

What did you value most about the accessibility support you received from your ODL course design specialist?
The ODL course design team identified areas of the course that were not accessible – mostly equations, figures, and tables – and brainstormed ways to fix the accessibility issues. The pre-review of the course using QM rubrics is valuable!

If you were to encourage a peer to participate in the QM review process, how would you communicate its value?
I would emphasize the benefit of receiving feedback from a team with expertise in instructional design and developing a course layout that enhances instructor-content-student interaction.

Would you be willing to share any positive feedback you received from your students about your certified course? 
(Note: This course has been offered in a hybrid mode with 80% asynchronously online and 20% in-person. The following is example feedback from students.)

• “I like the combination of online and in-person instructional mode. The online lecture works very well to help me comprehend the learning material, and I can watch the video multiple times. The in-person part really addresses my questions I have during watching the online lecture.”
• “I really appreciate having videos to refer to whenever I need to refresh my understanding of concepts. The spacing and number of assignments were appropriate.”
• “The self-checks and revisions are very helpful for being able to learn from your mistakes.”

For information about online course design and the FSU Online Quality Initiative, visit odl.fsu.edu/quality.