Quality assurance practices: The perspectives of teachers and quality assurers in selected rural Tanzanian community secondary schools

This study explores the integration of localized Quality Assurance (QA) practices within rural education systems, focusing on their impact on educational outcomes and the perceptions of stakeholders, including school leaders, teachers, parents, and local authorities. Employing a qualitative case study approach, the research investigates how context-specific QA practices, adapted to the unique needs of rural schools, influence student engagement, academic performance, and overall school effectiveness. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, focus groups, document analysis, and field observations across several rural schools in [insert region]. The findings suggest that localized QA practices, such as tailoring curricula to local cultural, social, and economic contexts, significantly improve student participation and learning outcomes. However, challenges such as limited resources, teacher training, and infrastructure were identified as barriers to the successful implementation of these practices. Despite these challenges, the integration of localized QA approaches was widely supported by stakeholders, who noted improved educational engagement and a stronger connection between students and their learning material. The study concludes that adapting QA frameworks to local contexts can enhance the relevance and effectiveness of education in rural settings, with policy recommendations for greater resource allocation, teacher professional development, and ongoing evaluation of localized approaches

The purpose of this research endeavour is to explore the current trends of quality assurance practices in the public and private universities of Pakistan. This study is based on the primary data from a doctoral thesis titled a comparative study of the quality assurance (QA) practices in public and private universities and online data of these universities in 2019 to extract improvement in quality assurance practices. Last ten years QA practices have been reviewed thematically and new trends have been variegated through empirical analysis from online data. Higher Education Commission Pakistan has provided a detailed manual for quality assurance and its enhancement to the universities quality assurance cells (QECS). The characteristics of these cells have been examined to identify the improvement in QA practices and also the universities which are more dexterous in implementing these features will be acknowledged.

High-level disinfection (HLD) of GI endoscopes is readily achieved when published guidelines are observed. Contamination is linked to breakdowns in accepted procedure. However, there is no recognized method of verifying adequacy of endoscope reprocessing in routine practice and no data regarding current quality assurance (QA) practice. Prior reports have demonstrated a wide variation in routine clinical practice of GI endoscopy HLD. The goal of this study was to determine current practice at regional endoscopy centers with regard to endoscope cleaning and HLD, maintenance, and QA practice. An anonymous multiple-choice questionnaire was mailed to 367 SGNA members in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, Maryland, and District of Columbia and completed by 230 (63%). The majority of responders were hospital-based and 59% of the units performed over 3000 procedures per year. After use the endoscope was hand-carried or transported in a dry container (97%) to a separate cleaning room (85%) for HLD by technicians (40%). Wide variations existed in manual step procedures including use of disposable (50%) brushes and number of times channel brushed: once (21%), twice (35%), or three to five times (37%). Soaking duration in disinfectant (70% gluteraldehyde) was for <10 min (8%), 10-20 min (35%), 20-30 min (38%), 30-40 min (7%), and >40 min (3%). Sixty-seven percent had an active unit infection control (IC) service and 98% had a QA program. Monitoring of cleaning effectiveness was by visual inspection (50%) and culturing endoscopes (17%). Culture was done weekly (1%) and <biannually (6.5%) and performed by swabing the endoscope end (5%) or rinsing the biopsy channel (8%). If culture positive, most would remove the instrument from clinical use and reevaluate the protocol and personnel for technique lapses. Two respondents were aware of a procedure-related infection. Wide practice variations were noted in manual cleaning and in soaking time during automated HLD in this community. Fewer variations were noted in cleaning personnel and training, location and methods of cleaning, and presence of IC services and QA programs. Endoscope culturing was infrequently done and positive cultures were rare. While most units claim to have ongoing QA programs, few use objective criteria to monitor effective disinfection or lapses in technique. Iatrogenic infection is uncommonly recognized following GI endoscope procedures.

Achieving exemplary quality standards on delivered projects is essential for the State DOTs as this presents a direct reflection of the agency’s performance. A study conducted by DBIA shows that transportation is the fastest-growing design-build sector in the United States, with a 600% increase in the number of projects completed since 2002. The owner and the design-builder share the liability of performance in design-build projects. As a result, owner is concerned over the loss of direct control on managing quality. Additionally, DOT staffing levels have been on the decline due to barriers in hiring. In light of these developments, new challenges have emerged when it comes to managing quality assurance on delivered projects. The main objective of this study is to provide a synthesis of quality assurance (QA) practices in different state DOTs for alternative delivery projects. Our research methodology involves a two-step process. We performed a thorough content analysis on the latest quality management guidelines suggested by the FHWA and analyzed the variations in the current state-of-practice of a spectrum of DOTs across the country. To get a deeper understanding of critical issues and answers to specific questions, we conducted structured interviews of industry experts. Results indicate that more and more responsibilities of quality assurance are being transferred to design-builder teams. While the roles concerning quality control are fairly similar across all DOTs, a wide variation is observed in the quality acceptance roles. The main contribution of this research is identification of important challenges in quality assurance along with innovative approaches to overcome them.

Quality assurance practices are input, process, and output systems that are put in place by school administrators in order to ensure academic standards. It is on this premise that this study examined quality assurance practices as determinants of academic staff effectiveness. The study population consists of 6,577 academic staff in South-west Nigerian Polytechnics. Stratified and random sampling techniques were used to select 327 academic staff. An adapted instrument titled “Quality Assurance Practices Questionnaire’’ (QAPQ) and “Academic Staff Effectiveness Questionnaire’’ (ASEQ) were used to collect relevant data. Data collected were analysed using percentage and correlation methods. Findings indicate several quality assurance practices, which include quality assurance in the recruitment of lecturers, staff supervision, capacity building, and library services. Also, the study revealed a significant relationship between quality assurance practices and academic staff effectiveness. Specifically, it was found that ensuring quality assurance in the recruitment of lecturers is a determinant of academic staff effectiveness. Similarly, quality assurance in library services is a key determinant of academic staff effectiveness. Based on the findings of the study, it can be said that quality assurance practices had a great influence on academic staff effectiveness as revealed in the study and that the predominantly used quality assurance practice among Polytechnics management in South-west Nigerian Polytechnics was library services. The study recommends that management of polytechnics should sustain the optimal utilization of quality assurance practices, to boost institutional effectiveness.

The focus of this study is to explore the institutional pressures and their influence on the use of quality assurance (QA) practices in the higher education institution (HEIs) of a developing country. The findings show that the use of QA practices was the result of three institutional pressures, i.e, coercive, mimetic, and normative pressures. The findings reveal the gradual changes in the nature and intensity of institutional pressure. The changes in institutions QA practices arose due to coercive pressures, including the preferences of stakeholders and regulatory bodies including the University Grants Commission (UGC), Bangladesh Accreditation Council (BAC) aimed at improving the academic standards including academic content and academic programs, curriculum review, research, and establishment of formal QA framework. While mimetic pressures were attributed to the high competition and the resultant uncertainty within the HEI, the normative pressures emerged due to the influence of top management support and training. Moreover, results reveal the effects of QA practices on the effectiveness of the case in terms of increased satisfaction of stakeholders, public image, employability, improved internal and external processes, and stakeholders' confidence. The study contributes to the quality management literature and developing country literature by providing knowledge about institutional pressures and their subsequent impact on QA practices in HEI within a developing country.

COVID-19 has spawned a critical shift in the landscape of higher education (HE) worldwide, entailing transformations of practices across the field, in which quality assurance (QA) for HE has also evolved to both reflect and stay adaptive to the ‘new normal’ formed during and beyond the pandemic. Against the COVID-19 context, this paper retells some of the existing debates for Vietnamese QA and accreditation activities, as well as identifies emerging challenges in QA practices in the post-pandemic era. Theoretically, the paper contributes a conceptual tool to examine the QA of the Vietnamese HE system, embracing three dimensions of teaching and learning, inputs and outputs. This further underpins our inquiry for QA practices in the Vietnamese HE context which has been scaffolded and developed accordingly. Drawn from a critical review and analysis of emerging policies and existing literature, practical implications and projections for the directions of Vietnamese QA in the future will be provided. This paper presents a timely insight for the process of policy-making and the implementation process of QA in Vietnamese HE during a time of uncertainties and looks towards building resilience to future crises.

ABSTRACTFollowing the ideas of New Public Management, Quality Assurance (QA) practices have become a relevant concern for public organizations. In the Higher Education sector, QA policies have inspired different reforms, becoming a debated issue for universities’ leaders and policy-makers. This article analyzes the implementation of a newly defined committee for quality assurance (QAC) within Italian universities in order to identify if, as happened in other NPM reforms, it represents a further example of ‘implementation gap’; and to detect the key variables that promote a satisfactory QAC functioning. Based on both the analysis of the composition and the role of QAC in all the Italian public universities and significant case studies, we have identified some core variables that promote the implementation of an effective QAC and ultimately supports the overall QA policy.

Quality assurance is a world‐wide phenomenon that urges Higher Education institutions to be accountable and reflect value for money in all their activities. In the South African Higher Education system quality assurance practices and procedures differ. The present practices and initiatives directed towards quality improvement and assurance within the universities and technikons are examined. There is, in quality assurance activities, the complexity of mechanisms to assure quality, and the necessity of a holistic approach to quality assurance. Quality assurance in South African Higher Education is still in a developmental stage. Engaging in quality assurance activities requires acquaintance with the present state of the art of South African Higher Education quality assurance practices.

Background. Routine health information system (RHIS) quality assurance has become an important issue, not only because of its significance in promoting high standard of patient care, but also because of its impact on government budgets for the maintenance of health services. Routine health information system comprises healthcare data collection, compilation, storage, analysis, report generation, and dissemination on routine basis at the various healthcare settings. The data from RHIS give a representation of health status, health services, and health resources. The sources of RHIS data are normally individual health records, records of services delivered, and records of health resources. Using reliable information from routine health information systems is fundamental in the healthcare delivery system. Quality assurance practices are measures that are put in places to ensure the health data that are collected meet required quality standards. Routine health information system quality assurance practices ensure that data that are generated from the system are fit for use. This study considered quality assurance practices in the RHIS processes. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted in eight health facilities in Tarkwa Submunicipal health service in the western region of Ghana. The study involved routine quality assurance practices among the 90-health staff and management selected from facilities in Tarkwa Submunicipal who collect or use data routinely from 24th December, 2019, to 20th January, 2020. Results. Generally, Tarkwa Submunicipal health service appears to practice quality assurance during data collection, compilation, storage, analysis, and dissemination. The results show some achievement in quality control performance in report dissemination (77.6%), data analysis (68.0%), data compilation (67.4%), report compilation (66.3%), data storage (66.3%), and collection (61.1%). Conclusions. Even though Tarkwa Submunicipal health directorate engages some control measures to ensure data quality, there is the need to strengthen the process to achieve the targeted percentage of performance (90.0%). There was significant shortfall in quality assurance practices performance especially during data collection, with respect to the expected performance.

This study examined the influence of School Quality Assurance (SQA) practices on pupils’ academic performance in public primary schools in Moshi Municipality. It focused on key quality assurance components, including inspections, teacher evaluations, and curriculum implementation checks. The study adopted ISO 9000 Theory as its theoretical framework, recognising it as a global standard for quality management and assurance practices. A mixed-methods approach with a convergent design was employed, involving a sample of 260 respondents. Teachers were randomly selected, while headteachers and School Quality Assurance Officers (SQAOs) were purposively sampled. Data collection involved questionnaires with closed-ended questions for teachers and in-depth interviews with headteachers and SQAOs. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics with IBM SPSS v20, while qualitative data were analysed thematically. Findings revealed that over 83% of teachers reported that SQA practices—particularly through formal reports—had a moderate to significant positive impact on pupils’ academic performance. This impact was attributed to improved curriculum implementation, qualified teaching staff, and the use of appropriate instructional materials. However, several challenges hindered effective SQA implementation. These included inadequate instructional resources, limited motivation among SQAOs, time constraints during inspections, and teachers’ reluctance to implement recommended changes. The study concludes that while SQA practices contribute meaningfully to academic improvement, their impact is undermined by infrequent visits and systemic limitations. It recommends the development of a digital monitoring system, increased investment in SQAOs' professional development, and enhanced resourcing to support more effective and timely quality assurance processes.

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.

Break Down the Wall Between QA and IT

Kilovoltage intrafraction monitoring (KIM) is a real-time 3D tumor monitoring system for cancer radiotherapy. KIM uses the commonly available gantry-mounted x-ray imager as input, making this method potentially more widely available than dedicated real-time 3D tumor monitoring systems. KIM is being piloted in a clinical trial for prostate cancer patients treated with VMAT (NCT01742403). The purpose of this work was to develop clinical process and quality assurance (QA) practices for the clinical implementation of KIM. Informed by and adapting existing guideline documents from other real-time monitoring systems, KIM-specific QA practices were developed. The following five KIM-specific QA tests were included: (1) static localization accuracy, (2) dynamic localization accuracy, (3) treatment interruption accuracy, (4) latency measurement, and (5) clinical conditions accuracy. Tests (1)-(4) were performed using KIM to measure static and representative patient-derived prostate motion trajectories using a 3D programmable motion stage supporting an anthropomorphic phantom with implanted gold markers to represent the clinical treatment scenario. The threshold for system tolerable latency is <1 s. The tolerances for all other tests are that both the mean and standard deviation of the difference between the programmed trajectory and the measured data are <1 mm. The (5) clinical conditions accuracy test compared the KIM measured positions with those measured by kV/megavoltage (MV) triangulation from five treatment fractions acquired in a previous pilot study. For the (1) static localization, (2) dynamic localization, and (3) treatment interruption accuracy tests, the mean and standard deviation of the difference are <1.0 mm. (4) The measured latency is 350 ms. (5) For the tests with previously acquired patient data, the mean and standard deviation of the difference between KIM and kV/MV triangulation are <1.0 mm. Clinical process and QA practices for the safe clinical implementation of KIM, a novel real-time monitoring system using commonly available equipment, have been developed and implemented for prostate cancer VMAT.

Background: The production of herbal medicines is increasingly significant in global healthcare, yet it faces challenges related to quality assurance (QA) practices. Issues such as contamination, adulteration, and inconsistent regulations hinder the credibility of these products in the market. Objective: This study aims to assess the current QA practices in the production of herbal medicines, identifying challenges and proposing improvements to enhance safety and efficacy Approach: A mixed-methods research design was employed, combining qualitative and quantitative approaches. Qualitative data were gathered through case studies and interviews with industry experts, regulatory authorities, and manufacturers, while quantitative data were collected via structured surveys and laboratory testing of samples. The study involved 57 manufacturers and analyzed 30 samples, focusing on adherence to established quality standards Result: The findings revealed that 70% of medium-scale operations met quality standards, but small-scale units faced significant financial constraints, with 60% lacking funds for necessary QA upgrades. The study highlighted the need for scale-specific interventions to improve QA practices and market trust. Conclusion: The research underscores the importance of regulatory harmonization, technological adoption, and resource support to ensure the safety and efficacy of herbal medicines, ultimately benefiting the 80% of the global population that relies on these products.