The basis for quality online teaching at GVSU has been established with the Grand Valley State University Online/Hybrid Course Peer Review Rubric. This site outlines seven aspects of quality online/hybrid courses that prove useful for not only peer review but the course design process itself. Follow the links below for additional resources to support course planning in each of the seven areas (in addition to a bonus section for support of online educators).

GVSU Course Delivery Definitions:

• In-Person — All meeting times are in-person and listed in Banner and on your course schedule.

• Hybrid – In this delivery method, students do some portion of the course face to face with the entire class and the rest online – these online meetings may have synchronous dates and times or be asynchronous. Specific dates for the face-to-face portion and any synchronous online portions of the course will be listed in Banner and on your course schedule.

• Online - All Asynchronous – In this delivery method, there are no set course meeting times. Deadlines and assignments with due dates are set by the instructor, but students can complete the work in ways that fit their schedules. No meeting days or times will be listed in Banner or on your course schedule.

• Online (All Synchronous) – In this delivery method, all course meetings occur during set times when students and instructor are expected to meet online together. This is quite similar to a face-to-face class except students and instructor will interact remotely instead of in person. You will see the set course meeting times listed in Banner and on your course schedule.

• Multiple Deliver Method – Multiple Delivery courses give students the ability to choose to attend some or all class sessions either in-person or online. The option of course formats available to students will vary from course to course, but may include some of the following options: In-person class sessions; Attend online class sessions synchronously; View recorded class sessions asynchronously; or some combination of the three previous options. In Banner, students will see two types of Multiple Delivery courses: Fixed or Flexible. These classes can be easily found by searching MDFX (fixed courses) or MDFL (flexible courses) under the attribute search box.
  • Fixed Courses: Students sign up for a single course format for the full term
  • Flexible Courses: Students can choose which course format to attend, class session to class session.

Getting Started 

Online Course Design and Organization

General

• Award-Winning Faculty Online Teaching Practices: Elements of Award-Winning Courses by Swapna Kumar, Florence Martin, Kiran Budhrani & Albert Ritzhaupt (2019). Online Learning 23(4).
• Asynchronous and Synchronous e-Learning 
• Blended Course Design: A Synthesis of Best Practices by Patricia McGee & Abby Reis (2012).  Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 16(4)
• Inclusive Teaching Online: Evidence-Based Strategies to Support Student Success in Higher Education by Katherine McAlvarage and Nadia Jaramillo Cherrez (2025). An open-access book from Oregon State University.
• Rapid Transition to Online Learning
• Teaching Online Resources - a comprehensive GoogleDoc from UNC-Charlotte with disciplinary guides, online content repositories, and more 
• The role of temporal patterns in students’ behavior for predicting course performance: A comparison of two blended learning courses by Anouschka Van Leeuwen, Nynke Bos, Heleen Van Ravenswaaij & Jurgen Van Oostenrijk (2019). British Journal of Educational Technology, 50(2).

Hybrid Courses

• Creating a Hybrid College Course: Instructional Design Notes and Recommendations for Beginners by Gordon Hensley (2005).  Journal of Online Learning and Teaching 1(2).
• GVSU Online/Hybrid Course Peer Review Rubric
• Hybrid Teaching Workbook by College of DuPage. PDF Document outlining Hybrid Learning and Teaching.
• Managing Large Enrollment Courses in Hybrid Instruction Mode by Pooja Khanna (2016). Higher Learning Research Communications, 6(4).
• Mentor Teacher Training: A Hybrid Model to Promote Partnering in Candidate Development by Amy L. Childre & Ginny L. Van Rie (2015).  Rural Special Education Quarterly, 34(1), 10-16.

Multiple Delivery Method Courses 

• Sample Lesson Plans from San Francisco State University. Note they use the term "hyflex" in lieu of "multiple delivery method." 
• Sample Lesson Plan from Columbia University. Note they use the term "hyflex" in lieu of "multiple delivery method." 

If you are looking for more in-depth resources around course design, visit our Remote Teaching Professional Development Options page. 

Active Learning

Course Expectations

Faculty/Student Interaction

Life as an Online Educator

Prompt Feedback

Reciprocity & Cooperation Among Students