Preparing Your Course for QM Certification: Four Standards

Course banner for Psyc 2. Photo of two outlined heads with faces with lightbulbs inside.

Psyc 2: Introductory Psychology

Course Description

PSYC 2 is a lower-division course that introduces students to the theory and research concerning psychological processess at the basic, individual, and social levels. The course is offered fully online and structured as a lecture-based course with interactive components, including videos, guided notes, and knowledge checks. Enrollment capacity is 123 students. PSYC 2 fulfills a General Education Area 4 (previously Area D) requirement and serves as a prerequisite for upper-division psychology courses within the major.

**Motivation for Preparing Your Course for QM Certification: 4 Standards Participation**

I chose to continue my participation in this FLC to finalize my redesign of my PSYC 2 course using the Quality Matters framework. During the last QM FLC, I focused on aligning course objectives, assessments, materials, and activities (GS 2–5). During this round, I focused on strengthening my course structure, technology use, and student support (GS 1, 6, 7, and 8). While many core elements of my course were already in place, this process helped me make those design decisions more explicit and visible to students. I am hopeful that these updates (described in more detail below) will benefit students by improving clarity and navigation, especially in an asynchronous course. My goal is for students to spend less time trying to interpret how the course works and more time engaging with the content and making connections across units.

Alignment or Engagement Changes Addressed in Course

During this FLC, I continued to refine my PSYC 2 course to strengthen alignment, transparency, and student support across multiple Quality Matters standards.

In my initial work, I focused on GS 2–5 by developing measurable Module Learning Objectives aligned with course outcomes, ensuring assessments measure those objectives, and clearly linking instructional materials and learning activities to each objective.

In this phase of the redesign, I focused on GS 1, GS 6, GS 7, and GS 8.

For GS 1 (Course Overview and Introduction), I revised my existing “Start Here” module to reflect my updated course structure of five instructional Units with weekly Modules. I updated the welcome video and overview materials to clearly explain how students should navigate the course and how weekly work builds across units.
For GS 6 (Course Technology), I documented all course technologies and aligned them with module learning objectives. I also began embedding knowledge check points directly into Panopto lecture videos to promote active engagement and reinforce key concepts during instruction.
For GS 7 (Learner Support), I updated my centralized “Need Help” page to provide clear access to technical support, academic resources, accessibility services, and student services.
For GS 8 (Accessibility and Usability), I began reviewing course materials to ensure accessibility, including captioning lecture videos and improving document formatting for readability and usability.

Evidence of Redesign

Examples of Redesign
Redesigned home page that contains linked buttons to each unit, including the "Start Here" module. Students also have access to a course calendar and requirements document that provides a quick snapshot of the semester.	An example of the embedded knowledge checkpoint built into Panopto as an additional tool for student learning and engagement.	Updated "Need Help" page with all potential resources students may benefit from.	Although my general accessibility score was high for my course, additional edits need to be made to improve document accessibility.

Plan for Pathway toward QM Certification

My plan is to continue refining my PSYC 2 course over the next academic year in preparation for QM certification. I have completed self-assessments for General Standards 1–7 and have also completed most of the work related to GS 8 (Accessibility and Usability), including captioning lecture videos and improving document formatting to support accessibility. My remaining work for GS 8 will focus on reviewing materials for consistency and ensuring that all accessibility features are fully implemented across the course.

Before submitting the course for QM review, I will teach the course at least one more time (scheduled for the fall semester). This will allow me to implement the most recent redesign changes, evaluate how students interact with the updated course structure (Units with nested Modules), and make any necessary refinements based on student experience and feedback. Following that iteration, I plan to complete an internal review with support from Online Course Services to confirm that all essential standards are fully met.

Faculty Bio
	Dr. Ciobha McKeown is an Assistant Professor of Psychology with a specialty in Behavior Analysis. Prior to joining Sacramento State, Ciobha developed a short-term, intensive early intervention program at University of Florida Health’s Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment. As such, Ciobha’s research is focused in improving the quality of care of neurodiverse children. She also is passionate about extending behavior analytic methodology to infants with an elevated likelihood of being diagnosed with a neurodevelopmental disability.