OSCQR – Standard #5

Course includes links to relevant campus policies on plagiarism, computer use, filing grievances, accommodating disabilities, etc.

Review These Explanations

Learners should be able to connect to their campus through their online courses, and that includes connecting to learner services, policies, and procedural guidelines.

Policies need to be communicated to online learners, with course links to associated learner services offices at the institution. Links should bring the learner to:

The policy, in clear language.
Guidelines on the policy, including how the policy is enforced.
Contact information for policy related offices and personnel.
Where to go for additional resources.

This information can be added to the course syllabus, and introduced by the instructor in the course welcome, or course information documents.

Refresh Your Course with These Ideas

Provide extensive links to campus policies in the course syllabus.
Create an additional handout with this information for learners to print on demand, or a FAQ that can guide learners to the appropriate resources should they need more guidance.
Model the adherence to all campus policies within your course, including plagiarism, academic integrity, and support for learners with disabilities.
Give a short quiz that covers pertinent campus policy information, and design the course flow so that learners are unable to proceed unless they score a passing grade on the quiz.

Explore More Refreshing Ideas from the Teaching Online Pedagogical Repository (TOPR) at the University of Central Florida (UCF)

These Pedagogical Practices from TOPR explore the purpose and benefits of creating a syllabus quiz or course contract assignment to ensure that learners have reviewed essential course documents and policies

Use Syllabus Quiz to Familiarize Learners with Course Policies and Expectations

In the online environment, it is important to provide clear expectations, policies, and grading expectations and to ensure that learners are familiar with these policies and expectations (California State University, Chico, 2014). You may have a very detailed syllabus. However, learners may not carefully read all of these details. By creating a syllabus quiz with questions specific to your course policies, expectations, and routine, you will provide support by helping learners become familiar with these important items. (Read more …)

Create a Course Contract Assignment to Help Learners Understand Course Policies

It is very important to design an online course in a way that supports learners to get started on the right foot (Chico, 2009). When a learner starts an online course, they read the essential course information (syllabus, course expectations, instructor introduction) and learn about the course policies and expectations. Otherwise, miscommunications can happen due to a lack of understanding of the essential course information. To address this, one strategy is to create a Course Contract Assignment for learners to complete during the first week. (Read more …)

Explore Related Resources

Floyd, D. L. and Casey-Powell, D. (2004), New roles for student support services in distance learning. New Directions for Community Colleges, 2004: 55–64.

Share What You Know

OSCQR has been developed by a community of online practitioners interested in quality course design. There are numerous opportunities for community members to offer suggestions, donate resources, and help with future development.

Discuss this standard in the comments section at the bottom of this page.

Contribute your own ideas or refresh resources by filling out the OSCQR Examples Contribution Form.

One Reply to “OSCQR – Standard #5”

annette campbell says:

November 19, 2018 at 4:43 am

I am never able to quote a source properly,I am always missing a full stop or a comma etc.Why does tis have to be so difficult?If you put the source down and the date,or the name of the book and the author,that should be enough.Why do student ,after searching for all the information you ask,still have to ensure that the authors name have to be followed by a full stop or a comma.Why are we a slave to MLA or APA. This is just another form of enslavement for an already stressful means of educating oneself.(online class is already stressful,why make it more burdensome)