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Peer Online Course Review (POCR)

This is the Distance Education Committee’s plan to institute a course review at Palomar College. This process will improve our online classes and allow them to have a special badge that elevates them among courses in the state.

We have met with the CVC and created a plan to locally review Palomar faculty courses. The CVC expert also suggested three courses to put through the plan this summer and submit to the CVC. Not only will this test our plan but will allow us to apply to make Palomar a POCR-certified college with the state.

Our Local POCR Process:

Step 1: Start with Training!

  • Ensure you have Completed POET 
  • Review the @ONE Course titled:  “Course Design Resources.”  This course walks you through how to use the CVC Rubric to review a course with examples and best practices. This is a very helpful guide!
  • Accept the invite to join the Local POCR Team course.
  • Attend POCR drop-in help sessions on Zoom.
    • The dates and times will be in the class calendar. You will have the opportunity to meet with Amy Caterina and Linda Morrow and ask them questions about getting started with POCR.
  • Create your course master shell
    • Request that the name of the shell is:  MasterShell_CourseC-ID_LastName (Example: MasterShell_MATH110_Bell)
    • Copy the course to be reviewed into this shell

Step 2: Conduct a Self-Assessment 

  • Complete a self-assessment of your course using the CVC Rubric. Rubric file name should follow this structure:
    • Reviewee First initial last name_ Course_Self_semesteryear_CVCRubric.pdf
    • Example:  kfalcone_HE100_Self_F21_CVCRubric.pdf
  • Complete the Acknowledgement of Training and Self-Assessment Completion Form 
    • This acknowledges that you have completed steps 1 and 2 and are ready to move forward in the POCR process.

Step 3: Join A Faculty Review Cohort

  • The POCR team will review your Acknowledgement of Training and Self-Assessment Completion Form and will put you in a team of three faculty.
  • Add your faculty peer reviewers to your master shell course.
  • You and your faculty cohort will review each other’s courses using the CVC Rubric, thus each faculty member will receive two CVC Rubric peer reviews (you will be submitting the two reviews to the POCR team in Step 5).  Peer review rubric file name should follow this structure:
    • Reviewee First initial last name_ Course_reviewer first initial last name_semesteryear_CVCRubric.pdf
    • Example:  kfalcone_HE100_acaterina_F21_CVCRubric.pdf
  • Upon completion of all peer reviews, schedule a meeting to meet with your colleagues to discuss your course reviews and allow time to ask questions and review each other’s feedback.  This is a great opportunity to ask for guidance from your peers if there are elements scored as “incomplete” and you are not sure how to move them to aligned or exemplary.

Step 4: Revise Course

  • Make changes to your course to bring your course into alignment with the CVC Rubric.  All elements must at least be “Aligned” and faculty should be reaching for “Exemplary.”
  • Track suggested changes from your peers and changes you made to your course using the POCR Review Change Matrix (you will be submitting ONE change matrix to the POCR team in Step 5).   Make a copy and change the name of the Matrix for your Cohort. 
  • The Change Matrix file name should follow this structure:
    • Reviewee CohortNumber_Lastnames_CourseNumber_semesteryear_POCR_RCM
    • Example:  Cohort1_Caterina125_Morrow120_Hiro100_F21_POCR_RCM

Step 5: Become a Local and State POCR Certified Course

  • Submit the Final POCR Review Form where you will upload the POCR Review Change Matrix and your two CVC Peer Reviews.
  • The Lead POCR Reviewer will communicate directly with the faculty member to request access to the course and communicate if there are any questions or concerns about the course. 
  • Submit the Final POCR Review Form where you will upload the POCR Review Change Matrix and your two CVC Peer Reviews.
  • The Lead POCR Team will communicate directly with the faculty member to request access to the course and communicate if there are any questions or concerns about the course. 
  • A Palomar College Lead POCR Team member will review the peer reviews, review the change matrix, and conduct a final review of your course to certify it as a local POCR reviewed course.  
  • After approval by the Lead POCR Team, the faculty member will be provided with the instructions to submit the course to the state to be verified and badged as a State POCR Certified Course this will entail adding the state POCR leads to the course as a course observer.

Interested in knowing more about the POCR process? Fill out the Peer Online Course Review (POCR) Interest Form!

Thinking about becoming a POCR Reviewer? Sign up here!

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Submitted by the DE Committee POCR Subcommittee of Amy Caterina, Linda Morrow, Kelly Falcone and Erin Hiro.

For more information, contact Professors Amy Caterina at acaterina@palomar.edu or Linda Morrow at lmorrow@palomar.edu.