Engineering Education Quality Assurance

Abstract

This chapter presents a review of the historical, philosophical, political, and social background of Quality Assurance of higher education, in general, and engineering education, in particular. Such a review can help us appreciate how the Quality Assurance movement got to where it is today and the tensions that are inherent in it, as well as provide guidance for its future development. Suggestions for advancing Quality Assurance in Engineering Education are provided at the end of the chapter. Introduction and Definition of Terms At the UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education in the Twenty-first Century: Vision and Action, “Quality Assurance, accreditation, and the recognition of qualifications were identified as fundamental concerns for higher education” (Lopez-Segrera 2007, p. xlvi). Evidence that Quality Assurance and accreditation are growing into worldwide, higher education phenomena include the formation of the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) (Woodhouse 2007), the creation of the INQAAHE Guidelines of Good Practice in Quality Assurance, and the planned offering of an INQAAHE developed Graduate Certificate in Quality Assurance by the University of Melbourne. In addition, the Quality Assurance movement is clearly spreading to engineering education worldwide with the adoption of the Washington Accords 1989, Sydney Accords 2001, and Dublin Accords 2002 (International Engineering Alliance 2007). And, it is clear from the range of countries, organizations, institutions, and authors represented in this book as well as the wealth of other recent publications; the vast variety of resources on sites such as Internet Resources for Higher P.J. Gray (*) Faculty Enhancement Center, United States Naval Academy, 589 McNair Road, 10M, Annapolis, MD 21402, USA e-mail: pgray@usna.edu The Background of Quality Assurance in Higher Education and Engineering Education Peter J. Gray, Arun Patil, and Gary Codner A.S. Patil and P.J. Gray (eds.), Engineering Education Quality Assurance: A Global Perspective, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-0555-0_1, © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009 4 P.J. Gray et al. BookID 182649_ChapID 1_Proof# 1 24/08/2009 BookID 182649_ChapID 1_Proof# 1 24/08/2009 Education Outcomes Assessment (North Carolina State University 2009); and even Google searches (12/26/08 at 1600 BST: 2,130,000 for Quality Assurance higher education in 0.28 s), that for better or worse Quality Assurance, accreditation, and the recognition of qualifications are truly the defining issues for higher education in the twenty-first century. It is important to know how higher education Quality Assurance (QA), in general, and QA in engineering education, in particular, got to this point so that we can understand current conditions and thoughtfully guide the way forward. Quality Assurance encompasses some very complex concepts with multiple implicit and explicit meanings. Its various manifestations have had and increasingly will have profound implications for higher education professionals globally, nationally, institutionally, and individually. The impact will also be felt by various other higher education stakeholders including current and prospective students, parents and the general public, employers, and governmental and other Quality Assurance agencies including legislatures responsible for funding and overseeing higher education. Definitions related to Quality Assurance that provide the context not only for the rest of this chapter but also for the other chapters in this book are discussed next. Then the various historical, philosophical, political, and social underpinnings of the Quality Assurance movement are the focus of the following section. Suggestions for advancing Quality Assurance in Engineering Education are the focus of the last section of the chapter.