Development History

The WA Course Design Checklist and supporting resources are living documents that continue to change and improve as we dig deeper into the development process. The development process began with a review of multiple course design rubrics to identify common elements of quality online course design. The review included the 1^st and 5^th Edition Quality Matters rubrics, California State University's QOLT instrument, Illinois Central's QOCI rubric, and multiple course review tools created by our system colleges. We've been collecting feedback throughout all phases of the WA Checklist design process. The timeline below illustrates the WA Checklist design process.

Timeline illustrating the WA Checklist development process.

2017 - QM Coordinators Retreat -
2018 - WACC Presentation
2018 - Rubric Review
2018 - Version 1
2018-2019 - Student & Faculty Focus Groups
2019 - Version 2
2019 - ID Focus Groups
2019 - Version 3
2019 - WA Checklist Resources Shell
2021 - WA Checklist Guides
2022 - Equity Team Review
2022 - Version 4

The information below summarizes how the WA Checklist has progressed over time.

Version 1 was shared out in the fall of 2018 after a review of multiple course design rubrics.

Students and faculty from across the state were invited to give feedback on V1 of the WA Checklist through a series of in person focus group style interviews.
Version 1 was also piloted with a small group of faculty at Pierce College.

Version 2 was shared out in the summer of 2019 with revisions based on feedback gathered during the student and faculty focus groups and the faculty pilot at Pierce College.

Instructional designers from across the state were invited to give feedback on V2 of the WA Checklist through a series of online focus group style interviews.

Version 3 was shared out in the winter of 2019 with revisions based on feedback gathered during the instructional designer focus groups and additional discussions with selected experts in our system.

Version 3 was the first version to have a full set of informational “Guides” pages that provided context and explanation for each WA Checklist Standard and related Indicators. Additional V3 resources included a quick reference glossary of definitions, and a sortable sheet illustrating how the WA Checklist V 3 intersects with other important work being done in our system.
During the winter and spring of 2022 the WA Checklist (V3) and related resources underwent an equity focused review to identify content gaps and areas for improvement.
Version 3 was retired in the fall of 2022 and the supporting resources have moved to a new V3 course site.

Version 4 is the most current version of the WA Checklist. It was shared out in the summer of 2022 with revisions based on feedback gathered during the WA Checklist Equity Review and additional discussions with selected experts in our system.