On this episode, Katie is joined by Dr. Bethany Simunich, the Director of Online Pedagogy and Research at Kent State University. She has many years of experience as both a face-to-face and online instructor, and has also held positions in educational technology, instructional design, and faculty development. Aligning with her interests in quality assurance in online education, Bethany has worked with Quality Matters for many years, including as a Senior Research Colleague, Master Reviewer, and workshop Facilitator, and also serves on the Quality Matters Academic Advisory Council. Currently, she is co-State Lead for the QM Ohio Consortium, as well as a QMC and Course Review Manager for Kent State. Bethany enjoys presenting workshops and seminars at universities and conferences on instructional design, online teaching, and conducting DL-focused research. Her professional and research interests include presence in the online classroom, peer evaluation of online teaching and design, and online student and instructor satisfaction and self-efficacy.  Segment 1: Researching Online Learning [00:00-16:49] In this first segment, Bethany shares about some of her current research interesting in the field of online teaching and learning. Segment 2: Research and Assessment [16:50-34:25] In segment two, Bethany discusses the relationship she sees between research and assessment. In this segment, the following resources are mentioned: Linder, K., & Dello Stritto, M. E. (2017). Research preparation and engagement of instructional designers in U.S. higher education. Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University Ecampus Research Unit. Quality Matters To learn more about Quality Matters, check out the following RIA episode: RIA # 144: Dr. Kay Shattuck on Being a Research Director To share feedback about this podcast episode, ask questions that could be featured in a future episode, or to share research-related resources, contact the “Research in Action” podcast: Twitter: @RIA_podcast or #RIA_podcast Email: riapodcast@oregonstate.edu Voicemail: 541-737-1111 If you listen to the podcast via iTunes, please consider leaving us a review. The views expressed by guests on the Research in Action podcast do not necessarily represent the views of Oregon State University Ecampus or Oregon State University.