Course QuAD Program

 

The WSUSOM Course QuAD Program is a 4-phase, standards-driven, evidence-based, tech-facilitated collaborative approach to quality assurance in course instructional design. The program is a robust implementation aimed at enhancing the quality of UME course design throughout the WSUSOM medical curriculum that works on the leading end of the course development cycle to ensure that courses are designed 1) according to a standardized process aligned with common industry standards; and 2) in conjunction with course evaluation practices/processes established by the WSUSOM Office of Assessment, Accreditation, and Continuous Quality Improvement (OAACQI.) QuAD leverages the framework's proven efficacy in medical education and its alignment with our institutional goals to provide superior education to our students and develop the physicians needed by our particular community of patients in the metropolitan Detroit area and beyond. QuAD (pronounced as “quad”) at WSUSOM is a custom implementation that addresses the WSUSOM need for a process that creates a 1) syllabus repository that also 2) feeds the curriculum inventory AND 3) gathers and organizes course information in the syllabus that aids in the course design QA review.

Process Phases (4 = QuAD)

  1. QA Process Onboarding
    Establishing a baseline understanding of the program and all of its component processes, tools, and resources.
  2. Course Design Training
    Providing comprehensive training for faculty and staff on the QuAD process plus course design standards and best practices.
  3. Course Design/Review
    Faculty work with OLT instructional design staff to create/revise courses to meet QuAD eval standards (see QuAD Playbook). Conducting design reviews concurrent with the course design process and providing feedback for continuous improvement. Status dashboards can be developed for real time monitoring similar to what’s been developed for NPTP at WSUSOM. (See interactive NPTP Dash.)
  4. Ongoing Support and Evaluation
    Offering continuous support to faculty and evaluating the impact of the QuAD implementation on student outcomes and satisfaction.

Benefits for Undergraduate Medical Education

Implementing QuAD at WSU School of Medicine is geared to provide several benefits:

  1. Improved Learning Outcomes
    Research indicates that courses designed using a standardized quality assurance framework lead to better student performance, outcomes, and satisfaction​​.
  2. Standardized Quality
    Ensures all courses meet high-quality standards, providing a consistent, fully-aligned learning experience for all students​​.
  3. Faculty Development
    Provides faculty with professional development opportunities, enhancing their teaching practices and course design skills​​.
  4. Accessibility
    Promotes the design of accessible courses, ensuring all students, including those with disabilities, have equitable access to education and learning experiences that maintain the same rigor​​.
  5. Syllabus: QA + CI Embedded ✨
    The standard syllabus gets tweaked to include all required elements PLUS all QA components PLUS all CI-related data fields in a simple web form that populates a database. This database then serves as both curriculum inventory AND digital syllabus repository. QA and CI are addressed at the same time with a single syllabus! (See “Data-Drive Syllabus Process”.)

Supporting Research