The Case for Lead Internal Verification: An Intrinsic Element of MCAST Quality Assurance Practices

Abstract

Several measures have been developed and implemented at the Malta College of Arts, Science, and Technology (MCAST) over the past few years as part of an overarching College Quality Framework in order to gauge and assure quality. Such processes, which include, amongst others, the documentation of processes in the form of standard operating procedures and internal audits within and across its providing institutions, are in line with National Quality Assurance Framework requirements stipulated by Malta’s National Commission for Further and Higher Education (NCFHE). The findings from various internal audits carried out by the Quality Assurance Department have indicated that a number of quality practices were predominant, in that several observations showcased the strengths of the internal verification process underpinning its credibility and validity in assuring the quality of programmes delivered and the assessment decisions taken. Several factors deemed necessary to the vocational essence of the various programmes offered by MCAST and the robustness of the assessment/internal verification process feeding into internal and external audits were also identified. Overview of internal verifiers’ work, crucial to assessment validity and innovation, is a theme which recurs across a wide range of literature. The discourse also inclines to such roles resolving the problems with consistency and enabling innovation. All findings consolidate the analysis of the roles of assessors/internal verifiers and lead internal verifiers, in which their maximization is strongly conveyed, as manifested in a number of good practices identified by the trends observed in the data gathered. Nonetheless, this analytical exercise has also highlighted some factors which would benefit from attention and improvement in assessment skills and competences, particularly as these areas are considered crucial to the vocational education and training being delivered by MCAST. Incorporation of the recommendations advocated by the findings would reflect the discourse which stems from the premise that internal verification yields greatest benefits when integrated within an explicit quality management framework. It serves to propel quality in relation to matters such as assessment, ensuring the validity and transferability of MCAST qualifications by adhering to the key indicators of a robust system, namely, manageability, sustainability, satisfaction, and consistency, to inspire and aspire to an innate quality culture.