DEVELOPING QUALITY ASSURANCE SYSTEM FOR COLLEGE ENGLISH CURRICULUM IN CHINESE VOCATIONAL UNIVERSITIES: A PDCA CYCLE MODEL APPROACH

ПРОФЕСІОНАЛІЗМ ВИКЛАДАЧІВ ВВНЗ ЯК СКЛАДОВА ВНУТРІШНЬОЇ СИСТЕМИ ГАРАНТУВАННЯ ЯКОСТІ ВИЩОЇ ВІЙСЬКОВІЙ ОСВІТИ

Over the last four decades, the field of education in mainland China has seen sustained and stable growth. However, the very essence of education has undergone significant changes. In the era spanning from the 1980s to the mid-1990s, the primary aim of education was to serve economic construction and modern development, with a clear emphasis on utilitarian and instrumental characteristics. By the late 1990s, there was a shift towards advocating for quality education that prioritizes the comprehensive development of individuals, gradually embracing the concept of holistic education across the Chinese mainland. College English courses, mandatory for all non-English major undergraduates at Chinese universities, stand as a pivotal component of general education. Amidst the extensive backdrop of educational reform and development in mainland China, college English curriculum have experienced profound changes. The “College English Curriculum Guidelines (2020)” recently released by the Ministry of Education highlights that college English courses possess both instrumental and humanistic dimensions. The instrumental aspect is demonstrated through enhancing students’ comprehensive abilities in listening, speaking, reading, writing, and translating English, while its humanistic core is rooted in a people-oriented approach that celebrates human values and emphasizes the cultivation of comprehensive qualities and overall development. This paper aims to explore the practical model of implementing holistic education within college English curriculum, adhering to the specific requirements of the 2020 guidelines, across four dimensions: curriculum system, instructional approaches, educational resources, and faculty strength.

This article reports on implementing an efficient quality assurance system in higher education in Côte d'Ivoire: Lessons learned from the quality assurance system in higher education in China. The quality assurance system in higher education is an important element in ensuring the quality of education. In this era of globalization, Cote d'Ivoire is part of a process of improving the quality of education with the aim of making it much more competitive. The introduction of quality assurance has emerged very recently in the education system, and much effort remains to be made to make it functional and efficient. The analysis of the results indicated that the quality assurance system in higher education in China is effective, and many implementation procedures are applied there. This is possible thanks to the presence of a strong policy, careful monitoring and other equally important factors. China's experience in quality assurance is an example of Cote d'Ivoire, which is still trying to implement a functional quality assurance system to provide quality education. Therefore, this study recommends that the Ivorian government establish an efficient quality assurance system and ensure the implementation of the decisions taken.

The number of mHealth apps has increased rapidly during recent years. Literature suggests a number of problems and barriers to the adoption of mHealth apps, including issues such as validity, usability, as well as data privacy and security. Continuous quality assessment and assurance systems might help to overcome these barriers. Aim of this scoping review was to collate literature on quality assessment tools and quality assurance systems for mHealth apps, compile the components of the tools, and derive overarching quality dimensions, which are potentially relevant for the continuous quality assessment of mHealth apps. Literature searches were performed in Medline, EMBASE and PsycInfo. Articles in English or German language were included if they contained information on development, application, or validation of generic concepts of quality assessment or quality assurance of mHealth apps. Screening and extraction were carried out by two researchers independently. Identified quality criteria and aspects were extracted and clustered into quality dimensions. A total of 70 publications met inclusion criteria. Included publications contain information on five quality assurance systems and further 24 quality assessment tools for mHealth apps. Of these 29 systems/tools, 8 were developed for the assessment of mHealth apps for specific diseases, 16 for assessing mHealth apps for all fields of health and another five are not restricted to health apps. Identified quality criteria and aspects were extracted and grouped into a total of 14 quality dimensions, namely "information and transparency", "validity and (added) value", "(medical) safety", "interoperability and compatibility", "actuality", "engagement", "data privacy and data security", "usability and design", "technology", "organizational aspects", "social aspects", "legal aspects", "equity and equality", and "cost(-effectiveness)". This scoping review provides a broad overview of existing quality assessment and assurance systems. Many of the tools included cover only a few dimensions and aspects and therefore do not allow for a comprehensive quality assessment or quality assurance. Our findings can contribute to the development of continuous quality assessment and assurance systems for mHealth apps. https://www.researchprotocols.org/2022/7/e36974/, International Registered Report Identifier, IRRID (DERR1-10.2196/36974).

Th e article discusses the features of the innovative type of social development and reveals the essence of an innovative society. The conditions of its formation. Particular attention is given to the quality of higher education. We study the system of higher educa- tion quality: quality of higher education building, the quality of the process of higher edu- cation and quality results of higher education. Different approaches to ensure the quality of higher education as a prerequisite for becoming an innovative society in Ukraine. Critical to the innovative development of higher education Ukraine should solve the problem of quality assurance. Its review should be carried out in the context of the Bologna Process, to which Ukraine was in 2005. Being a member of the Bologna process, Ukraine has committed to work to bring the quality of national education in line with Europeanм standa r d s and harmonization of legal and regulatory changes in higher education accord- ing to the standards and recommendations of the European higher education. The real change in the quality assurance of higher education institutions of higher education must take place with the implementation of the Law «On higher education», according to which the defined quality assurance system of higher education, which consists of: 1) system of universities as educational activities and quality of higher education (sys- tem of internal quality assurance); 2) a system of external quality assurance of higher education institutions and quality assurance; 3) quality assurance system of the National Agency for Quality Assurance in higher education institutions and independent assessment and quality assurance. Effective tool to ensure the quality of higher education in Ukraine serve European and national qualifications framework, including Qualifications Frame- work European Higher Education Area (2005), the European Qualifications Framework for lifelong learning (2003), the National Qualifications Framework (2011) and the imple- mentation of internal and external quality assurance in accordance with the standards and guidelines for quality Assurance in the European higher education area. Thus, innovative society marks a transition from a society based on industrial technologies to society, the basic content of which is innovation. It connects humanity with innovations its future fate, seeing them as the main source of social needs and the most important means of solving practical and spiritual problems. One of the most important conditions for innovative development of Ukrainian society is quality assurance, to ensure which requires imple- mentation of competency approach to the analysis of the quality of higher education, the implementation of complex tools of internal and external quality assurance in accordance with the standards and recommendations of the European Higher Education as a basis for the integration of the national system of quality assurance in the European system of as- sessment of learning outcomes of higher education applicants.

The article outlines the main trends in the education quality management at the pedagogical university which include the existence of clear prospects for development, the construction of an institutional model of the quality management in the system of education, the availability of the system for making management decisions, their relationship with the development strategy of the institution, the involvement of all structural units in the process of managing the education quality in higher education establishments. The institutional model of education quality management in Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatyuk National Pedagogical University has been grounded, which covers the development and improvement of quality maintenance procedures, the implementation of the main provisions and the program of measures to improve the quality of educational process and the quality of higher education corresponding to the ESG Standards and taking into account the methodological recommendations for the construction of the institutional structure of the internal system for ensuring the quality of educational process and the higher education quality in higher education establishments. Implementation of the policy of quality assurance in education and training process at TNPU (Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatyuk National Pedagogical University) includes planning of education quality (definition of strategy, policy, goals and requirements for the quality of higher education); development and updating of the normative and methodical basis for quality assurance in educational process; preparation of proposals, recommendations for improving the internal system of quality assurance; coordination of the work of structural units of the University on the quality of educational process and the quality of higher education; participation of student self-government bodies, external and internal stakeholders in these processes. It is proved that functioning of the institutional model of the system of quality management in educational process at TNPU (Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatyuk National Pedagogical University) is realized through the implementation of appropriate measures. Normative documents that regulate the structure, principles and procedures of the system of internal quality assurance at the university have been developed; students, employers, leading scholars and practitioners have been involved in participating in educational process and developing content, review and improvement of educational programs. An integrated system for monitoring the quality of educational process has been created, mechanisms for preventing and detecting academic plagiarism in the academic work of the teaching staff and students are being applied effectively. Today the university develops and improves the requirements for the system of quality assurance in education, focusing on the main goals of higher education; has a transparent mechanism for developing, monitoring and revising educational programs that contain specific goals focused on learning outcomes and competencies; adheres to clear rules for organizing the educational process; has the necessary resources to carry out educational process and support students; carries out effective quality management in educational process and higher education.

Program documents of the international, national and regional levels institutionalize the problem of ensuring the higher education quality at the level of one of the priority areas of ensuring social development. This significance of the issue of the higher education quality is due to its direct connection with both the increase in the level of competitiveness of higher education institutions and with the development of the human capital of the state. The vast majority of scientific research carried out in this direction is focused on solving purely theoretical issues of the functioning of the quality assurance system of higher education or issues of the quality assurance system of the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance. This concentration of scientific attention leaves unexplored the issues of the practice of functioning of the quality assurance system of higher education in general and the practice of quality assurance of educational activities at the university level. Within the framework of this publication, the research attention was focused on the issues of structuring the system of ensuring the quality of educational activities and the quality of higher education by institutions of higher education, and on determining the conditions for the effective use of the circular model of building the structure of the internal quality assurance system. The relevant issues were considered through the prism of public administration of the competitiveness of higher education institutions and the development of the human capital of the state. In accordance with the results previously obtained by the authors of this publication on actualization of the content of the system of internal quality assurance at five main levels (the level of the academic council of higher education institutions and its commissions; the level of the administration of higher education institutions; the level of units directly involved in the implementation of educational programs; the level of scientific and pedagogical workers involved in the implementation of educational programs; the level of support of procedures and practices for ensuring the quality of educational activities and the quality of higher education) was considered the potential of using the of circular model for building the structure of the system of internal quality assurance in higher education institution. The article contains a justification for the appropriateness of using a circular model of structuring the system of internal quality assurance of educational activities and the higher education quality by the administration of higher education institutions. The article draws attention to the advantages and disadvantages of the circular structuring model, as well as defines the conditions for its effective use. In addition, the article contains a generalization regarding the limitations of the competence of public administration subjects in formation of the internal quality assurance system.

The quality assurance of higher education in China is an issue of vital international interest. To improve the international reputation of the nation’s universities, steps must be taken to ensure a sustained focus on the quality assurance within its ranks. This paper is primarily focused on the quality assurance models operational in Chinese universities, the Big data challenges and the legal framework backing them. The paper also discusses the implementation of the models, the extent to which they meet international standards, and how they adhere to prevailing laws. The degree of success in attaining and maintaining quality and evaluation of quality improvement opportunities are also discussed. Some of the solutions recommended in this study are the participation of more teachers and students in quality management, more emphasis of Higher Education Institution (HEI) quality assurance on self-regulation and a learning-oriented approach and conducting sessions to collect anonymous feedback from students to reward staff with best practices. Some of the Quality Assurance practices/models adopted in Chinese Universities are the Ministry of Education (MOE) reviews; the Academic Degree Committee oversight; Higher Education Evaluation Center (HEEC) overview, University self-evaluation according to HEEC Indicators, and the Webometric Ranking Model.

Higher education quality assurance is aimed at quality education. Universities must systematically carry out the quality assurance process through the Higher Education Quality Assurance System and refer to the National Higher Education Standards. There are two quality assurance systems in higher education, namely; internal quality assurance and external quality assurance. The internal quality assurance system is a systemic activity of quality assurance of higher education by each university autonomously to control and improve the implementation of higher education in a planned and sustainable manner. Meanwhile, the external quality assurance system is an assessment activity carried out by outside units to determine the feasibility of universities. This study aims to fully describe two main things in the quality assurance system in higher education institutions, namely; internal quality assurance and external quality assurance. In obtaining this research data, a qualitative approach to the type of library research is used, by collecting data from books, journals and articles. Data analysis is carried out using content analysis. The results of the study found that: First, internal quality assurance includes: policies and procedures for quality assurance; approval, monitoring and periodic review of programs and awards; student assessment, quality assurance of teaching staff/lecturers; learning resources and student support; information systems; public information. Second, external quality assurance, namely: the use of procedures; process development; criteria for decisions; process in accordance with the purpose; reporting; follow-up procedures; periodic review of the implementation; and system-wide analysis

We describe the design and use of a daily quality assurance (QA) system for proton therapy. The QA system is designed to check the overall readiness of proton therapy system consistently within certain reference tolerances by a home‐made QA device (the QA device). The QA device is comprised of a commercially available QA device, rf‐Daily QA 3, a home‐made acrylic phantom, a set of acrylic compensators with various thicknesses, and a mechanical indexing jig. The indexing jig indexes the rf‐Daily QA 3, as well as the acrylic phantom, onto the patient treatment couch. Embedded fiducial markers in the acrylic phantom are used to check X‐ray image quality and positioning alignment accuracy of the imaging system. The rf‐Daily QA 3 is used to check proton beam output, range and symmetry with one single beam delivery. We developed in‐house software to calculate beam range and symmetry, based on various ion chambers' readings inside the rf‐Daily QA 3. With a single setup and one beam irradiation, the QA system is employed to check couch movement, laser alignment, image registration, and reference proton beam characteristics. The simplicity and robustness of this QA system allows for a total QA time of less than 20 minutes per room. The system has been in use at three proton therapy centers since June 2009.PACS numbers: 87.55.Qr, 87.53.Bn

The objective of the research is to determine the role of China in ensuring the priorities of higher education internationalization in Uzbekistan at the present stage of reforms carried out under President Shavkat Mirziyoyev since 2016. While preparing the paper, the authors used legislation and materials from official websites of Uzbek and Chinese state bodies, universities and other organizations, statistics from international organizations, and materials from news agencies. The paper discusses the current policy priorities of the internationalization of higher education in China; analyzes the state of higher education cooperation between Uzbekistan and China under the President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov (until 2016); studies the directions and results of the development of cooperation between Uzbekistan and China in higher education since 2016 under President Mirziyoev. The research reached the following conclusions. Current priorities of China's internationalization of higher education include: (1) involving foreign educational resources in teaching in China; (2) opening branches of Chinese universities abroad; (3) promoting the mobility of teachers and students. The second and third priorities are relevant to Tashkent, which since 2016 has been pursuing a policy of a “total” internationalization of higher education in Uzbekistan. Regarding the opening of branches of Chinese universities, the Ministry of Education of the PRC recommends choosing countries with large market demand, a high degree of openness and quality of higher education. The need to provide education for children of overseas offices of Chinese organizations and for Chinese people living abroad is also considered to be of importance. Mobility includes both sending researchers and students to study abroad and attracting talented foreign researchers and students to study and work in China. Uzbekistan, as a close neighbor of China in Central Asia, a participant in the Belt and Road Initiative, and a developing country, is subject to various mobility support programs funded by China. Until 2016, the main areas of cooperation between China and Uzbekistan in higher education were the study of Uzbek students in Chinese universities and the study of the Chinese language in Uzbekistan. Since 2016, despite the policy of openness of the new authorities of Uzbekistan and the sharp growth of economic ties between Tashkent and Beijing, higher education cooperation between the countries has received little development. This is evidenced by the absence of branches of Chinese universities in Uzbekistan, as well as extremely limited number of joint programs between Chinese and Uzbek universities, of mobility to China at the expense of the Uzbek El-Yurt Umidi Foundation, and of Chinese students studying in Uzbekistan.

Preliminary Research on the Construction of Education Quality Assurance System of the Open Universities

Quality assurance in higher education in China: Control, accountability and freedom

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the status of quality assurance and accreditation systems within higher education institutions in Yemen. The paper initially describes the stages of development and changes that have occurred in the field of quality and accreditation in Yemeni higher education. The paper shows that no formal mechanisms for quality assurance and accreditation processes have been fully developed within higher education institutions in Yemen. In addition, the discussion reveals that the continuing efforts exerted by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MHESR) to establish the quality assurance and accreditation systems in higher education institutions have resulted in increased awareness among university officials, academic staff and administrators about the quality concepts, quality standards and quality assurance system. The paper concludes by exploring the lessons learned about the changes in quality and accreditation nationally and institutionally. The conclusion may provide some opportunities for reflection by quality assurance experts and officials in universities and the MHESR for continuous development of quality assurance and accreditation systems at national and institutional levels.

Higher education institutions around the world have seen a surge in quality evaluations as a result of an increase in public sector accountability. Student learning is facilitated by high-quality teaching. The quality of teaching and learning at higher education institutions is being closely monitored. Academic quality in higher education has been the subject of new policy instruments introduced in many nations during the last decade. These include the UK, the US, and Australia. There was increasing pressure on UK's higher education system, for example, due to the growth of tertiary institutions and increased consumer expectations. The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAAHE) was established in 1997 to implement a dual system of quality assurance that included quality audits and quality assessments. As a result of the establishment of the Australian University Quality Agency in 2001 to monitor the quality of the country's higher education system, a quality assurance program was implemented, requiring universities to incorporate quality assurance and improvement planning into their annual published educational plans. And this is a review paper. For Chinese universities, quality assurance is a novel notion. The fast growth of Chinese tertiary institutions in the last 15 years has resulted in an increased focus on teaching quality. The number of students enrolled in China's higher education institutions has increased dramatically since 1999 as a result of increased enrolment.