Quality Assurance Agency For Higher Education Research Articles

TEACHING AND LEARNING QUALITY IN A HIGHER EDUCATION CONTEXT IN CHINA

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.

A look at university education in Ecuador: politics, quality and teaching

University education in Ecuador has experienced important advances in recent years, both in terms of educational policies and in quality and teaching. The country has implemented a National Higher Education System (SNES) that seeks to regulate and supervise higher education institutions, guaranteeing the quality and relevance of academic programs. Regarding educational quality, Ecuador has established the Higher Education Quality Assurance Agency (ACESS), in charge of evaluating and accrediting the quality of university institutions and programs. This has promoted continuous improvement and academic excellence in Ecuadorian universities. In addition, teacher training has been strengthened, with training programs and pedagogical updating, which has made it possible to improve the skills of university professors and promote research and innovation in teaching. In the field of educational policy, Ecuador has established a National Plan for the Development of the Higher Education System, which establishes goals and strategies to strengthen university education in the country. It has sought to promote inclusion, equity and quality in academic programs. However, despite the advances, there are still pending challenges. It is necessary to continue working on the relevance of academic programs, adapting them to the needs of the labor market and the development of the country. Likewise, it is necessary to strengthen the link between universities and the productive sector, promoting collaboration in research projects and the labor insertion of students.

ДОСВІД МІЖНАРОДНИХ АКРЕДИТАЦІЙ ОСВІТНІХ ПРОГРАМ В ЗАКЛАДАХ ВИЩОЇ ОСВІТИ УКРАЇНИ

The integration of Ukraine into the European educational space sets the country in front of the need for the development of international cooperation in the field of higher education, which determines the need for educational programs recognition offered by Ukrainian universities by foreign accreditation agencies and higher education quality assurance agencies. That is why, at present, the importance of international accreditations as a tool for external independent assessment of the quality of education is growing. This article is dedicated to the analysis of the conducting international accreditations experience in higher education institutions of Ukraine. The considered results of the international accreditation of educational programs as a procedure for establishing the accordance of the implemented educational programs quality or the activities of the higher education institution with international requirements and standards determined by one or another foreign organization. The concepts of accreditation and international accreditation are analyzed. The role of the Government in forming the prestige of Ukrainian higher education at the international level is assessed. Since 2019, a new national system of accreditation of higher education institutions was created in Ukraine. At the same time, international accreditation of educational programs acquires great importance, which gives a new competitive status to higher education in Ukraine and confirm of full compliance of the content and quality of education with European educational standards. It was found out which foreign accreditation agencies for quality assurance of higher education carried out the certification of educational programs in Ukrainian higher education institutions, and the experience of each of them was described. So, it was found that these were higher education quality assurance organizations of Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, Croatia, Great Britain and Kazakhstan. They conducted international accreditation of more than ten Ukrainian universities of state and private ownership forms and recognized their educational programs with international quality certificates. The leader in the number of such certificates in Ukraine is the Alfred Nobel University, which has already twice successfully passed the procedure of international accreditation of all bachelor's and master's educational programs. And three institutions of higher education received international institutional accreditation certificates, which allows the university the right to self-accreditation of educational programs and increases its rating and attractiveness among Ukrainians and foreigners.

A generic curriculum development model for the biomedical physics component of the educational and training programmes of the non-physics healthcare professions.

The objective of the study was the construction of a generic curriculum development model for the use of biomedical physics (BMP) educators teaching the non-physics healthcare professions (HCP) in Europe. A comprehensive, qualitative cross-sectional Europe-wide survey of the curricula delivered by BMP in Faculties of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS) was carried out. Curricular content was collected from faculty web-sites, curricular documents and textbooks. The survey data was supplemented with semi-structured interviews and direct observation during onsite visits. The number of faculties studied was 118 from 67 universities spread all over Europe, whilst the number of onsite visits/interviews was 15 (geographically distributed as follows: Eastern Europe 6, North Western Europe 5, and South Western Europe 4). EU legislation, recommendations by European national medical councils, educational benchmark statements by higher education quality assurance agencies, research journals concerning HCP education and other documents relevant to standards in clinical practice and undergraduate education were also analyzed. Best practices and BMP learning outcomes were elicited from the curricular materials, interviews and documentation and these were subsequently used to construct the curriculum development model. A structured, comprehensive BMP learning outcomes inventory was designed in the format required by the European Qualifications Framework (EQF). The structures of the inventory and curriculum development model make them ideally suited for use by BMP involved in European curriculum development initiatives for the HCP.

¿Quién le pone el cascabel al gato? Un análisis comparativo de las agencias de garantía de la calidad de la educación superior

Higher education quality assurance agencies have expanded around the world in a very short time as an attempt to professionalize the public regulation of processes of enormous complexity in a sector characterized by a proverbial autonomy of institutions. This contribution presents a comparative analysis of the reasons that have led to such an expansion, as well as the convergences and divergences that are emerging worldwide. Despite the contextual differences, in which the various configurations of agencies operate, the truth is that there are common problems that are practically universal, including the question of their independence and their relative inability to externally be accountable. Finally, the contribution sheds light on the main criticisms they receive, which relate primarily to the risk of regulatory capture by the higher education institutions themselves, which they are supposed to regulate.

From accreditation to ranking (functioning vs development)

The essence, strengths and weaknesses of the accreditation and ranking mechanisms for assessing the institutional capacity and performance of higher education institutions are analyzed and systematically compared in the article. Significant advantages of the ranking over accreditation are proved, as well as the subordination of the second one to the first one, given the leading role of higher education in ensuring and accelerating human progress that has a research-innovative and competitive character. The necessity of urgent introduction, as well as the main stages of practical implementation of the national general and sectoral ranking based on the methodology of the Shanghai ranking (ARWU), are substantiated. It is proposed to use a national ranking for modernization of the national network of higher education institutions. It is argued that accreditation and ranking are fundamentally different mechanisms for assessing education quality with significantly greater possibilities for ranking. Accreditation focuses on the thresholds (minimum) standards and requirements (conditions) and is not suitable for an objective comparative assessment of institutions (educational programmes), taking into account their level of excellence. The rank implies the ranking institutions in the order of their achievements, therefore, in terms of importance and significance, and can be used for relief modeling the landscape of the network of higher education institutions (not only in terms of their territorial or sectoral accumulation, but also in terms of competitiveness). Given this Ukraine with 289 successfully accredited institutions remains a white spot in Europe and the world according to interpretation of the Shanghai ranking of 2018. Unlike accreditation, which, due to limited capabilities, is unable to separate a mass low-order higher education from an innovative high-order higher education, the ranking mechanism reveals the first one as well as the second one. It was clarified that in contrast to providing motivation of obligation (performance) for developing culture of the minimum sufficient quality by accreditation, the ranking forms motivation of encouragement (creativity) for developing culture of the maximum possible quality. The culture of the maximum possible quality under the current conditions of the research and innovation type of progress and competition is a priority because it enhancing competitiveness. In addition, ranking implies the existence of a developed autonomy, able to respond promptly and effectively to the results of the ranking assessment. Autonomy, basically, is non-critical for accreditation. The results of the ranking can be successfully used for accreditation under the conditions of real autonomy, but the conclusions of accreditation for the ranking of institutions – no. Accreditation is inherently affected by a subjective factor, at the same time, ranking (for example, ARWU) can be constructed with the exclusion of a subjective component, with transferring ranking functions to independent artificial intelligence in the future. It has been shown that the research and innovation essence of higher education needs an appropriate valid mechanism of assessment of higher education institutions excellence, which is capable of permanently (for example, annually) to record level of institutions development in view of the ability to predict and project the future of society. Therefore, the trend of the rapid development and spread of international and national rankings is actual. It is argued that the creation of the national ranking of higher education institutions is an urgent objective and should be carried out in several stages: its legislative regulation, the determination of the system of objective indicators agreed by the leading Ukrainian universities (it is advisable to unite them into the leading Association of Ukrainian Universities), organizational and legal, financial support for administration of the ranking (e.g. the National Higher Education Quality Assurance Agency), the annual ranking of institutions and according to its results elaboration and implementation of measures to improve the network of higher education institutions in Ukraine, primarily to consolidate and integrate them.

Analysing complaints and grievances as a quality improvement tool in higher education

Complaints and grievances are useful quality assurance tools in the identification of shortcomings which impede quality of higher educational delivery. However, there is a dearth of studies that analysed complaints by stakeholders in the higher education sector in Zimbabwe. This study used documentary research to examine the origin, frequency and types of complaints lodged with the higher education quality assurance agency by staff, students and other higher education stakeholders. Records of all complaints received through written, electronic, verbal or telephonic means from 2011 and 2014 were reviewed, analysed and categorised. The results revealed an upward trend in the number of complaints from 2011 to 2014. Out of the 179 complaints received over the study period, 45% were from academic staff members, 38% from students, 7% from employers, 6% from the public, 1% from media houses and 3% were anonymous. The complaints related to high workloads (93%), large class sizes (60%), high administration expenses relative to teaching and research (49%), favouritism and corruption (44%) and poor quality of graduates (11%). The study informs higher education institutions on areas they need to concentrate on in order to improve quality and recommends institutions to develop and implement effective internal grievance management systems. Keywords: complaints, quality, higher education, academics, students

Bologna and Quality Assurance: Progress Made or Pulling the Wrong Cart?

ABSTRACT This contribution looks critically at the achievements regarding the Bologna action line ‘European cooperation in quality assurance’. Much has been realised but most of the visible achievements are at the supranational level: the development of the European Standards and Guidelines, the launch of the European Network of Quality Assurance Agencies, and the establishment of the Register of European Higher Education Quality Assurance Agencies. Despite these positive developments, we argue that there may have been too much stress on compliance to rigid procedures and mechanisms, at the cost of a focus on quality improvement and the student learning experience.

Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes? The Review of the Australian Universities Quality Agency

A review of the performance of the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA) was undertaken in 2005–2006. It was commissioned by AUQA and the review report was published in May 2006. This article explores whether the AUQA review can be regarded internationally as an exemplar and thus used with confidence by governments or other principals as a reliable means of measuring higher education quality assurance agency performance. It pays particular attention to the method of analysis employed by the review team. The article argues that the AUQA review was flawed, in this and other respects, to a degree which renders it inadequate as a global exemplar. Its conclusions must thus be treated with caution by higher education policy‐makers, departments of state, universities, businesses, students and other institutions in Australia and internationally.

A critical analysis of the INQAAHE Guidelines of Good Practice for higher education quality assurance agencies

The International Network of Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education’s Guidelines of Good Practice by higher education quality assurance agencies need substantial revision before they can be considered adequate by stakeholders in any national higher education system. Various revisions are proposed in this article. But the International Network of Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education also argues that adoption of its Guidelines of Good Practice has international significance in that the decisions about higher education quality made by agencies which comply with them can be accepted at face value universally. This conclusion, however, cannot be accepted until the Guidelines of Good Practice are amended to address the processes whereby each agency can become comfortable with the criteria and standards which the others impose in their respective jurisdictions. This article also maintains that, even if the Guidelines of Good Practice were technically perfect, agencies and/or governments ought to subject any proposals for their implementation to the discipline of rigorous risk management processes.