Dr. Christine Mark Achieves CEHD Exemplary Distance Educator

Clinical Assistant Professor Dr. Christine Mark has achieved the CEHD Exemplary Distance Educator title after meeting the highest standards required by Quality Matters. Under the Quality Matters guidelines, Dr. Mark can now design additional online courses that will create an online driven learning experience for online students.

Dr. Mark participated in the Summer Institute for the Advancement of Quality Online Education, which prepares educators to address design details that are often overlooked in online courses. It provided structured interaction with several different departments and educators involved the online learning community at Texas A&M.

“Online learning is prevalent in higher education and will become even more so in the future,” said Dr. Mark. “Faculty training is a critical component for changing standard perspectives so that an institution’s learners are provided a sound, value-driven product that meets their needs.”

The Quality Matters rubric utilizes a consistent course structure that supports methods for different types of learners. Everything is connected including learning objectives, activities, and assessments, which ultimately benefits the learners, Dr. Mark said.

In addition to the Summer Institute, Dr. Mark took two additional courses to fine tune her skills. She spent time redesigning her courses in order to find better ways to convey her content to students.

“I learned that course design has to be intentional, a concept I had not really thought about in detail,” Dr. Mark said. “If a course is poorly designed learners may become frustrated trying to figure out what needs to be done rather than spending quality time engaged in the learning process.”