Exploring Chinese Faculty Perceptions of Quality Standards for Online Education

Abstract

This chapter explores how U.S. quality indicators for online education are perceived by Chinese online faculty. Thirty-one quality indicators from the U.S. literature were analyzed to develop a survey that was administered to 400 Chinese online faculty and their teaching assistants at a Chinese institution. The results indicate that U.S. quality indicators for online education are perceived by Chinese faculty as relevant and valuable. Based on responses to this survey, however, the U.S. based standards do not fully capture the essence of quality for online education because these indicators focus more on inputs rather than outcomes. The findings underscore the importance of the local settings in determining the characteristics of online education quality. Chinese scholars and administrators should not blindly adopt quality standards from other countries but use them as tools to help Chinese universities develop their own standards to improve quality of their online education programs.