Abstract
In this paper we consider the question of how quality assurance can have a real, positive impact on the quality of teaching and learning at universities, considering the realities of different systems—the system of control and the system of quality culture—in using the example of two universities: the KNITU-KAI in Russia and the TU Dresden in Germany. The study involved 40 lecturers of technical courses and 120 third-year students of technical courses from both universities. The authors put forward a working hypothesis that quality assurance has a positive effect on the quality of teaching and learning if it carries out its informational, motivational and administrative functions. The results have shown that the aforementioned functions are not fulfilled by both universities and a special organizational culture is not the only condition that must be met for effective evaluation efforts. In order to fulfill motivational, informational and administrative functions, it is important as well that the quality assurance system is transparent and that all participants see that the surveyed data and results lead to measures for quality development. It is equally important that all university members participate in the process of quality assurance.
Highlights
1.1 Actualizing the ProblemFor the time being, European higher education exists in the context of the Bologna process
Publications in the field of quality evaluation in higher education institutions abound in both recommendations aimed at improving national higher education quality assurance systems on the basis of benchmarking (Note 2) and in skepticism about their implementation being capable of leading to increased international trust for the quality of teaching and learning in the short term
During the study of the influence exerted by external and internal quality assurance systems on teaching quality, from the perspective of Russian lecturers and students, we revealed that in Russian higher education institutions, the general idea lecturers have about quality of teaching is rather steady
Summary
1.1 Actualizing the ProblemFor the time being, European higher education exists in the context of the Bologna process. The quality of teaching and learning at higher education institutions is one of the key focuses which results in the establishment of national quality assurance systems in European countries. Publications in the field of quality evaluation in higher education institutions abound in both recommendations aimed at improving national higher education quality assurance systems on the basis of benchmarking (Note 2) and in skepticism about their implementation being capable of leading to increased international trust for the quality of teaching and learning in the short term. We are in agreement with Harvey (2010) and Westerheijden, Hulpiau and Waeytens (2006), who believe that, during the last twenty years, in quality evaluation, researchers have been avoiding exploring the inner nature of higher education quality and it has been only in some recent works that emphasis has shifted from www.ccsenet.org/hes.
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