2.1 Introduction to the OSCQR Rubric

This chapter introduces the SUNY Course Quality Review (OSCQR) rubric as a guided checklist for online course design. The OSCQR rubric provides a comprehensive framework for evaluating and improving the quality of online courses based on research-based best practices. This rubric is widely used by higher education institutions to ensure the quality of online courses they offer.

2.1.1 What is the SUNY Online Course Quality Review (OSCQR)?

The SUNY Online Course Quality Review (OSCQR) Rubric is an openly licensed course review tool developed by SUNY Online in collaboration with SUNY campuses. It is designed to ensure that online and blended courses are learner-centered, which provides inclusive learning experiences that prioritize learners’ needs, goals, and preferences to engage learners and promote and foster their learning. This tool aims to help faculty regularly review and improve their online courses to reflect best practices. This rubric was developed based on several education theories and models, including the community of Inquiry model, seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education, the adult learner, bloom’s taxonomy, and how people learn and map to the open SUNY fundamental competencies for online teaching.

2.1.2 Why OSCQR?

The rubric provides standards for high-quality online courses, which are easy for faculty to follow when designing a new online course or redesigning existing ones. Faculty can use the rubric to self-assess their courses and make improvements.

The OSCQR rubric is widely used in higher education institutions for two main reasons.

1. All the 50 standards in the rubric address online course design. As long as one online course meets all the standards, this course is considered as high-quality and engaging.
2. This rubric is designed to support online course development and improvements at different stages. Faculty can always refer to this rubric, regardless of whether they design a new course or redesign an existing one. The rubric does not include a rating system. Instead of evaluating one course, it helps faculty identify areas for improvement and provide best practices.

The OSCQR rubric includes six sections that describe essential elements of course design as shown in Figure 2-1.

2.2 Introduction to RSI

The content in this part is mainly based on resources provided by OSCQR websites and WCET (WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies) which is the leading organization in the practice, policy, & advocacy of digital learning in higher education.

2.2.1 What is RSI?

RSI-WCET provides a detailed explanation of the policy about regular & substantive interaction (RSI). To determine institutional eligibility for federal financial aid, Congress differentiated distance education from correspondence education which provides limited interactions between instructors and students. RSI compliance is the legal federal requirement that distinguishes distance education and correspondence courses. In 2021, the Department of Education provided a more robust definition of distance education with specific RSI requirements. In one online course, “substantive” interaction should include at least two of the following:

1. “Providing direct instruction which should be live, synchronous instruction where both the instructor and students are online and in communication at the same time. So, asynchronous lecture videos are not considered as direct instructions (WCET, 11/8/2022);”
2. “Assessing or providing feedback on a student’s coursework;”
3. “Providing information or responding to questions about the content of a course or competency;”
4. “Facilitating a group discussion regarding the content of a course or competency; or”
5. “Other instructional activities approved by the institution’s or program’s accrediting agency.”

“Regular” interaction should include both:

• Substantive interactions with students should be predictable and scheduled, for instance, scheduled office hours;
• Instructors should promptly and proactively engage in RSI upon request by students, or based on monitoring student engagement and performance in courses.

2.2.2 Why Should We Implement RSI?

According to WCET (2023), RSI compliance mattered to faculty because no one wants to be the reason that their college are not reaccredited. But implementing RSI is not just to meet federal requirements. RSI benefits faculty and students and improves the quality of online courses. RSI could benefit faculty by providing five clear forms of interactions that faculty can implement in one online course. RSI benefits online students by ensuring that one course is learner-centered and includes regular and substantive interactions between faculty and students. These interactions would help students engage in online courses without feeling isolated.

Additionally, RSI supports alignment with evidence-based practices based on the neuroscience of learning. According to CAST (2018), the plasticity of the brain suggests that frequent and formative feedback on students’ performance can strengthen the connections within our learning brains.

2.3 Details about OSCQR Rubric

Figure 2-1 Sections of OSCQR Rubric

2.3.1 Section 1: Overview and Information

Section 1 includes standards for course overview and important information that should be provided to online learners. To meet the standards in this section, faculty should provide clear and welcoming instructions to help learners effectively navigate the course, understand expectations, and access the necessary support and resources for a successful online learning experience. All the standards help faculty ensure clear, comprehensive, and easily accessible information about the course structure, expectations, policies, and resources right from the start.

The OSCQR section of overview and Information provides a whole list of all the standards. Faculty can click on each standard to access varied resources, including but not limited to:

• explanations of one standard in paragraphs,
• explanations of one standard in a YouTube video,
•  how one  standard supports RSI,
• general suggestions for how to meet this standard,
• examples,
• related resources

2.3.2 Section 2: Technology and Tools

Section 2 includes standards for effective integration of technology and tools in online courses. Standards within this section ensure that learners have the necessary technical skills and support to engage in designed courses. This section emphasizes clear communication of required skills, timely scaffolding of skill development, easy access to frequently used tools, inclusion of privacy policy links, and adherence to accessibility standards. To meet the requirements of this section, faculty can provide cleaner instructions related to technology and tools that they want their learners to use in the course, reduce technical barriers, and create inclusive and transparent learning environments.

The section of Technology and Tools provides a whole list of all the standards. Faculty can click on each standard to access varied resources.

2.3.3 Section 3: Design and Layout

Section 3 includes standards for ensuring clarity, readability, and accessibility of online courses. A quality online courses should be visually engaging, easy to navigate, and provide an inclusive learning environment where learners focus on the content and activities rather than struggling to find information or understand structure. By following the standards in this section, faculty could make sure their online courses are well-designed and leading to better engagement, retention, and learning outcomes.

The section of Design and Layout provides a whole list of all the standards. Faculty can click on each standard to access varied resources.

2.3.4 Section 4: Content and Activities

Section 4 includes standards for ensuring diverse and accessible course content and activities to create engaging learning experiences. All the standards in this section help faculty foster an inclusive and interactive learning environment. To meet the standards, faculty could present content in terms of lecture videos, audio files, online resources, readings including journal articles and book chapters, and so on. Faculty could facilitate discussion activities, group projects, group presentations, and other types of activities in which students can apply their knowledge, demonstrate skills, and develop critical thinking, scientific thinking, essential expertise in their discipline, and problem-solving skills.

The OSCQR section of Content and Activities/ provides a whole list of all the standards. Faculty can click on each standard to access varied resources.

2.3.5 Section 5: Interaction

Section 5 includes standards for establishing clear expectations for RSI and interactions between students and students and for building a sense of class community, and offering opportunities for interactions between students and collaboration among the students. To meet the standards, faculty can design dedicated discussion forums, ice-breaking activities, planned office hours, and group discussions or group presentations.

The section of Interaction provides a whole list of all the standards. Faculty can click on each standard to access varied resources.

2.3.6 Section 6: Assessment and Feedback

Section 6 includes standards for ensuring frequent and appropriate diverse types of assessments, self-assessment, peer assessment, authentic assessments, assessment criteria (rubrics, exemplary work), and effective feedback practices. To meet the standards faculty can provide clear grading policies, well-designed and up-to-date gradebook, authentic assessment in terms of case studies or semester-long projects, and frequent and constructive feedback. To continuously improve course design, one standard suggests that faculty could include course evaluation survey so that students can provide feedback on their experience in one online course and suggestions for improvements.

The section of Assessment & Feedback provides a whole list of all the standards. Faculty can click on each standard to access varied resources.

2.4 Ensuring RSI

Regular and substantive interaction does not clearly define the types of activities that should be used to address its requirements. It is a lawful statement that can be loosely interpreted and can cause confusion when it comes to selecting appropriate activities and interactions. So, how can we incorporate RSI into course design?

2.4.1 Following OSCQR standards

One effective way to implement RSI is to follow the 7 RSI standards in the OSCQR rubric. OSCQR standards 2, 3, 29, 38, 39, 41, and 43 are called Regular and Substantive (RSI) standards, which directly address the regular and substantive interaction (RSI) requirements.

The following seven standards are provided below. You can click each standard to see more explanations on the OSCQR website.

Seven RSI Standards

2. Standard #2 – Course provides an overall orientation or overview, as well as module-level overviews to make course content, activities, assignments, due dates, interactions, and assessments, predictable and easy to navigate/find.
3. Standard #3 –  Course includes a course information area and syllabus that make course expectations clear and findable.
4. Standard #29 – Course offers access to a variety of engaging resources to present content, support learning and collaboration, and facilitate regular and substantive interaction with the instructor.
5. Standard #38 – Regular and substantive instructor-to-student expectations, and predictable/scheduled interactions and feedback. are present, appropriate for the course length and structure, and are easy to find.
6. Standard #39 – Expectations for all course interactions (instructor to student, student to student, student to instructor) are clearly stated and modeled in all course interaction/communication channels.
7. Standard #41 – Course provides activities intended to build a sense of class community, support open communication, promote regular and substantive interaction, and establish trust (e.g., ice-breaking activities, Course Bulletin Board, planned Office Hours, and dedicated discussion forums).
8. Standard #43 – Course provides learners with opportunities in course interactions to share resources and inject knowledge from diverse sources of information with guidance and/or standards from the instructor.

OSCQR Standards that Support RSI

OSCQR Standards 1, 6, 9, 10, 19, 30, 31, 40, 44-47, can be leveraged to support and articulate RSI.

Examples of RSI Compliance

Here are a few specific examples of how to account for what is considered RSI or not considered RSI with examples.

Note:  Remember, it is not considered to be RSI if there is no interaction involved, or interactions are not substantive or regular.

Additional Resources

• Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI) Examples. The examples are obtained from the related OSCQR website.
• WCET (n.d). Regular and Substantive Interaction

References

CAST (2018). UDL and the learning brain. Wakefield, MA: Author. Retrieved from http://www.cast.org/products-services/resources/2018/udl-learning-brain-neuroscience

WCET. (2023, February 28). Where’s the beef? Having fun teaching and ensuring regular and substantive interaction. WCET. https://wcet.wiche.edu/frontiers/2023/02/28/wheres-the-beef-having-fun-teaching-and-ensuring-rsi/

WCET (2022, November 8). Regular and substantive interaction update: Where do we go from here? WCET. https://wcet.wiche.edu/frontiers/2022/11/08/regular-substantive-interaction-update-where-do-we-go/