Introduction
Online Course Evaluation Rubrics or Checklists
Peer Evaluation of Online Courses
Administrative Evaluation of Online Courses
Other Articles or Resource Links
Online Research

The evaluation of online courses involves many of the same criteria applied to traditional classroom courses but also necessitates the use of new criteria more directly based on the online environment. The course evaluation materials below offer a range of rubrics and guidelines for help in developing effective practices for evaluating online courses.

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Quality Matters Rubric Standards 2008-2010.
A rubric with assigned point values for the components of an online course.
http://qminstitute.org/home/Public%20Library/About%20QM/RubricStandards2008-2010.pdf

Quality Online Course Initiative Rubric and Checklist (Illinois Online Network).
Offers two versions of a rubric for online courses: a comprehensive rubric with room for comments and a shortened version with only a checklist.
http://www.ion.uillinois.edu/initiatives/qoci/rubric.asp

Central Michigan University Quality Assurance Checklist.
A checklist for faculty to review and evaluate their online courses for structure, syllabus, course content and usability, learning community, and assessment.
http://www.cel.cmich.edu/cid/quality-checklist.html

Online Course Evaluation Project (OCEP), Monterey Institute for Technology and Education.
Provides links to criteria-based evaluation tools and examples of recently reviewed courses.
http://www.montereyinstitute.org/pdf/OCEP%20Evaluation%20Categories.pdf

Online Course Development Guide and Rubric (University of Southern Mississippi Learning Enhancement Center).
Provides a rubric and self-assessment tool for instructors based on best practices.
http://ablendedmaricopa.pbworks.com/f/LEC_Online_course+rubric.pdf

Online Course Development Guidelines and Rubric (Michigan Community College Association Virtual Learning Collaborative).
Guidelines and a rubric intended to assist institutions with developing online courses of quality.
http://www.mccvlc.org/~staff/content.cfm?ID=108

Criteria for Evaluating the Quality of Online Courses (Clayton R. Wright, Grant MacEwan College, Edmonton, Alberta).
Guidelines for course developers or those evaluating the effectiveness of online courses.
http://elearning.typepad.com/thelearnedman/ID/evaluatingcourses.pdf

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Online Course Assessment Tool (OCAT) and Peer Assessment Process (Western Carolina University).
A checklist designed to provide constructive peer feedback on the design and instruction of online courses.
http://www.wcu.edu/WebFiles/PDFs/facultycenter_OCAT_v2.0_25apr07.pdf

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Best Practices for Administrative Evaluation of Online Faculty (Thomas J. Tobin, Southern Illinois University).
Presents principles of effective online instruction and instruments for measuring them so that administrators may make informed judgments when assessing online courses.
http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/summer72/tobin72.html

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Michigan State University Virtual University Design and Technology (VuDAT).
Provides over 100 articles to guide online course developers, a blog, examples that showcase specific tools or techniques, and links to other resources.
http://vudat.msu.edu/

Illinois Online Network.
Offers links to many categories of information on online courses and the online environment.
http://illinois.online.uillinois.edu/resources/tutorials/

“Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education,” AAHE Bulletin, March 1987.
Arthur W. Chickering and Zelda Gamson’s seminal article setting out guidelines for good practice in undergraduate education.
http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/7princip.htm

“Implementing the Seven Principles: Technology as Lever,” AAHE Bulletin, October 1996.
The influential article by Arthur W. Chickering and Stephen C. Ehrmann applying Chickering and Gamson’s seven principles of best practice in undergraduate education to the use of technology in teaching.
http://www.tltgroup.org/programs/seven.html

“Seven Principles of Effective Teaching: A Practical Lens for Evaluating Online Courses,” by Charles Graham, Kursat Cagiltay, Byung-Ro Lim, Joni Craner, and Thomas M. Duffy (Indiana University).
This article provides “lessons learned” from four case studies of online courses evaluated using Chickering and Gamson’s seven principles. Offers practical suggestions for the effective application of each principle to online teaching.
http://technologysource.org/article/seven_principles_of_effective_teaching/

10 Principles of Effective Online Teaching: Best Practices in Distance Education.
A free report when you sign up for Faculty Focus, a free e-newsletter for higher education faculty published three times per week by Magna Publications.
http://www.facultyfocus.com/free-report/principles-of-effective-online-teaching-best-practices-in-distance-education

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Virtual Center for Online Learning Research.
A consortium dedicated to research and development in online education. Publishes Journal of Interactive Online Learning, a free peer reviewed online journal.
http://www.ncolr.org/#

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