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1.
Quality is not cheap, and the increasing pressure or legislative requirement for institutions of higher education (IHEs) to: (i) set up their own quality management systems (QMSs) and (ii) submit to external quality review has led to increased costs for institutions and for the whole higher education system. These costs arise from increased use of resources, but more especially from the time spent by staff both within and without the institutions. It is important to achieve the quality benefits as economically as possible. (Increasingly, institutions are being urged to be efficient: it is important to ensure that the quality system itself is also efficient!) Internally, an institution must ensure that its own quality system is efficient. External aspects of efficiency include both the cost and effectiveness of any external quality agencies themselves, and also the activities required within institutions to meet the requirements of these agencies. If external efficiency is to be achieved, consideration must be given not only to the nature of such agencies but also to their number and (if multiple) their interaction. The same government pressure that begets external review is conducive to the establishment of multiple agencies to permit a large quantity of review. While the multiple‐agency approach has advantages, it also has disadvantages, not least the increased difficulty of achieving an efficient system. An efficient way of obtaining the benefits of a multiple‐agency system is for institutions to establish internal quality systems that include reviews of parts of the institution. These reviews, whether internally or externally initiated, should have external input. The external system should then comprise a single agency that is publicly accountable, that may be owned jointly by the institutions, that operates in audit mode, and that coordinates with the institutions' internal systems by explicitly checking and integrating the results of these reviews.  相似文献   

2.
Starting from the main objective of external quality assurance (EQA) procedures to assure and improve the quality of higher education institutions and its provisions, the paper examines expected impacts of EQA procedures on institutions from the perspectives of three European quality assurance agencies. First, the paper examines the expected impacts of different standard parts of a typical peer review procedure on higher education institutions and assesses when a procedure is most likely to have an effect on the institution. The second part presents the current practices of the three EQA agencies, AQU Catalunya (Spain), Evaluationsagentur Baden-Württemberg (evalag) (Germany) and the Finnish Education Evaluation Centre (Finland) on assessing the impact of their EQA procedures.  相似文献   

3.
Distance education, usually described in Australia as ‘external studies’ has a long history in Australian universities, although the situation since about 1965 has been marked by very considerable new development in all tertiary institutions. No longer is external study the very courageous innovation it was when the University of Queensland established a Department of Correspondence Studies in 1911; indeed it has become a very significant feature of Australian higher education generally. Reasons behind the introduction and expansion of external study extend beyond simply meeting the needs of people in rural areas, though these were important in the early stages. This article considers the wider policy issues affecting developments in Australian states, while also drawing attention to previously undocumented proposals in the nineteen thirties that established a base from which post‐World War II policy has been derived.  相似文献   

4.
Academics’ participation in quality assurance: does it reflect ownership?   总被引:1,自引:1,他引:0  
Academics’ support for quality assurance (QA) depends on several factors, including their sense of ownership, which seems to be influenced by academics’ participation in QA’s implementation. This paper aims to understand whether this participation is indeed contributing to academics’ ownership of QA. Findings from a survey of Portuguese academics’ on their participation in study programmes accreditation suggests that this may not be the case. Academics present a partial withdrawal towards effective participation in study programmes’ accreditation, especially regarding external assessment. Furthermore, they do not seem willing to enhance this participation nor are they very critical about it. Since academics’ sense of ownership is essential for the successful implementation of QA, these results may represent a challenge for both institutions and QA agencies.  相似文献   

5.
What is ‘quality’ and how should it be handled by a funding body? This article discusses the practical implications of concern for quality in the PCFC sector of higher education, the role of institutions and of external agencies other than the PCFC. It concludes by offering advice to the PCFC on its policies towards the preservation and enhancement of quality.  相似文献   

6.
Quality management (QM) in teaching and learning has strongly “infected” the higher education sector and spread around the world. It has almost everywhere become an integral part of higher education reforms. While existing research on QM mainly focuses on the national level from a macro-perspective, its introduction at the institutional level is only rarely analyzed. The present article addresses this research gap. Coming from the perspective of organization studies, it examines the factors that were crucial for the introduction of QM at higher education institutions in Germany. As the introduction of QM can be considered to be a process of organizational change, the article refers to Kurt Lewin’s seminal concept of “unfreezing” organizations as a theoretical starting point. Methodologically, a mixed methods approach is applied by combining qualitative data derived from interviews with institutional quality managers and quantitative data gathered from a nationwide survey. The results show that the introduction of QM is initiated by either internal or external processes. Furthermore, some institutions follow a rather voluntary approach of unfreezing, while others show modes of forced unfreezing. Consequently, the way how QM was introduced has important implications for its implementation.  相似文献   

7.
高等教育国际质量保证和认证的模式   总被引:2,自引:0,他引:2  
在高等教育国际化的今天,各国政府、团体或者学校都寻求一个广泛认可的高等教育质量保证和认证模式。本文对Dirk Van Damme提出的四种模式做了介绍和评价。即1从现有的国家质量保证和认证系统和机构中分离出来并加强它;2促进跨境质量保证和质量保证及认证的双边认可;3.在国际和全球层面制定质量保证和认证机构的后认证;4建立国际质量保证和认证机制。我们需要根据现实情况来参与高等教育国际质量保证和认证,保护高等教育各利益相关人的权益。完善自己的认证系统。  相似文献   

8.
This study examines the relationships between families and staff from community agencies and organizations in a poverty level urban neighborhood in the Northeast. A central concern of this study is to address how the existing relationships between these groups may affect urban educational restructuring efforts that encourage collaborations of families, schools, and community institutions to support the social and academic development of children. If community agencies and organizations are to engage in successful collaborations with inner city schools, it is critical that they be able to work with the children and families affiliated with these institutions. Findings from this study suggest that though these educational collaborations may yield support for children and their families, there are reasons to proceed cautiously which stem from the existing relationships between families and staff from community agencies and organizations. The relationships between these groups often rest on inherent inequalities. These inequalities stem from inequitable structural conditions which place a large population of urban residents at an economic disadvantage and compel them to seek services. Structural conditions, accompanied by public policies embedded in assumptions regarding which family members are deserving of support, subsequently has influenced who receives services. Mothers and their children typically are recipients of services. The inequalities that are inherent to these relationships, likewise, carry through to the roles that families and staff assume with each other in their daily associations.  相似文献   

9.
This article reports on the role and value of social reflexivity in collaborative research in contexts of extreme inequality. Social reflexivity mediates the enablements and constraints generated by the internal and external contextual conditions impinging on the research collaboration. It fosters the ability of participants in a collaborative project to align their interests and collectively extend their agency towards a common purpose. It influences the productivity and quality of learning outcomes of the research collaboration. The article is written by fourteen members of a larger research team, which comprised 18 individuals working within the academic development environment in eight South African universities. The overarching research project investigated the participation of academics in professional development activities, and how contextual, i.e. structural and cultural, and agential conditions, influence this participation. For this sub-study on the experience of the collaboration by fourteen of the researchers, we wrote reflective pieces on our own experience of participating in the project towards the end of the third year of its duration. We discuss the structural and cultural conditions external to and internal to the project, and how the social reflexivity of the participants mediated these conditions. We conclude with the observation that policy injunctions and support from funding agencies for collaborative research, as well as support from participants’ home institutions are necessary for the flourishing of collaborative research, but that the commitment by individual participants to participate, learn and share, is also necessary.  相似文献   

10.
In 2012, Taiwan implemented a dual-track quality assurance system comprising accreditation and self-accreditation in higher education institutions. Self-accrediting institutions can accredit their programs without requiring approval from external quality assurance agencies. In contrast to other countries, the Ministry of Education of Taiwan authorized self-accrediting institutions to develop their own evaluation standards. This study investigated the institution-based accreditation standards and their implications on institutional internal quality assurance. Content analysis revealed that 37 % of the indicators of self-accreditation were new and not used as review indicators in the original accreditation track. Two frequently added indicators were featured indicators and levels of internationalization. The results also indicated that institutions tend to structure their internal quality assurance systems uniquely. Three types of approaches for developing institution-based standards were identified: bottom-up, hybrid, and innovative approaches. Self-accreditation has benefited institutions committed to educational quality and pursuing excellence by enabling them to employ a fitness-for-purpose approach. The diversity of higher education and educational policy changes constitute new challenges to higher education. Balancing between accountability and autonomy is critical for all stakeholders of higher education.  相似文献   

11.
Joint degree programs have gained popularity in East Asia, due to the growth of transnational higher education in the region since 2000. However, the external quality assurance (QA) and accreditation of joint degree programs is a challenge for QA agencies, as it normally involves the engagement of several institutions and multiple national accreditation procedures. The purpose of this study is to explore current QA approaches to joint degree programs in Europe and East Asia from the perspectives of QA agencies. There are four major findings from the study. First, East Asian countries tend to stipulate national regulations for a joint degree program. Second, an external QA mechanism for joint degree programs has not yet been developed in East Asian nations. Third, the adoption of international accreditation as the popular approach for joint degree programs in business fields in Asia raises the serious issue of national jurisdiction over higher education. Fourth, the European Consortium for Education's (ECA) single accreditation mode is highly recommended by QA agencies.  相似文献   

12.
The article considers the process of creating quality improvement in higher education institutions from the point of view of current organisational theory and social-science modelling techniques. The author considers the higher education institution as a functioning complex of rules, norms and other organisational features and reviews the social mechanisms and processes through which agencies can stimulate quality improvement. The article provides a few examples of how these social processes might be modelled using social simulation techniques, including agent-based models, discrete event simulation and other modelling techniques developed for representing complex social processes of coordination and cooperation. A better representation of universities as complexes of organisations will support more effective quality improvement by higher education leaders and external agencies.  相似文献   

13.
The question of accreditation has been quite controversial in higher education. Some consider accreditation as a necessary “evil” while others reject it outright. It is a process designed to promote quality assurance and improvement in institutions and programs, yet one mired in various issues. While accreditation is controversial in a number of respects, the major focus of accrediting bodies should be the review of applied professional programs at both undergraduate and graduate levels that are grounded in professional standards and licensure. Basic science programs such as movement, exercise, and sport science should be excluded from accreditation review and subject only to external review by experts within the field of kinesiology. Furthermore, amongst other factors, the association of kinesiology programs with agencies that promote the accreditation of programs that lack professional standards, certifi cation, or licensure should be rejected. Accreditation is here to stay, but how well it serves the academy remains debatable.  相似文献   

14.
This paper discusses the Cambodian government's attempt to promote civic and moral values in Cambodia schools through the subject “Civics and Morals”. The paper argues that the tensions and challenges associated with civic and moral education are linked to a fundamental difference between the traditional view of education in Cambodia, and the modern view of education promoted by the Cambodian government and external donor agencies. It is further argued that policymakers need to promote the effective teaching and learning of civic and moral values with the support of the local community and religious institutions in Cambodia.  相似文献   

15.
The following article is based on an analysis of selected examples from the approximately 2500 main articles that have been published in the International Review of Education (IRE) since its inception in 1931 until the fall of 2001. The scope of the topic is education within developing countries and the promotion of such education by industrialised countries and development agencies. After an introduction on the growth of the concern over education and development over seven decades of the journal, three themes are looked at in some more detail: (1) The discussion on nationalism versus internationalism in education, a theme that bears clear relevance to the field "Education and Development" and has been with the journal from its inception but on which one finds more emphasis in the earlier volumes. (2) The language of instruction in developing countries. This theme has also been with the journal from its inception and it is still much debated. (3) The effects of external aid on the education sector in developing countries. Though massive economic aid in the form of grants or loans to the education sector in developing countries is of more recent nature external influence on the education sector has been there since colonial times.  相似文献   

16.
伴随系统规模的扩张,如何驱动高校迈向预定和有利的多样化成为各国面临的普遍议题。国外一般从高等教育系统或院校外部层面理解高校多样化,并从政府与市场两个维度解析其驱动因素。从院校分化的观念、分化进程中院校假设和环境因素的作用范畴等层面来看,两种观点存在一定共性和冲突,这反映出相关研究的片面和院校分化现象的动态化、持续性和多维性。借鉴国外研究经验,当前高等教育普及化进程要求高等教育部门尽早启动院校结构布局规划,应树立正确的分类发展观,平衡院校分化中政府与市场的作用力,处理好系统分化与规模扩张的关系,增进高校外部环境和内部办学要素的多样性。  相似文献   

17.
The introduction of the 1988 Education Reform Act in Britain marks the beginning of the most substantial changes to the system of State education since the 1944 Education Act. Many have argued that the rationale for these changes rests on the introduction of the principles of ‘market forces’ and represents an attempt to create an internal and external educational market. Already some research has begun to examine the ideology behind some of the measures introduced by the Act such as the National Curriculum and the likely effects of the testing and assessment which accompanies it on issues of ‘race’, gender and class. However, as yet, little work has focused on another measure introduced by the Act which threatens ‘equal opportunities’, that is local management of schools (LMS). It is my argument that central to all these measures is an ideology that sees education as performing a certain function, State schools as certain types of institutions and teachers and pupils as certain types of people. Indeed, just as it is often argued that the National Curriculum rests on an assumption of a specific type of educational knowledge and a certain type of educational practice, so it is my contention that local management assumes a specific model of pupil, school, governor, teacher and parent. Both the ideology behind the 1988 Education Reform Act and the measures flowing from it seek to create a market in education. It is this tenet in the recent reforms which theatens the continuance of ‘equal opportunities’. The creation of this educational market aims to replace the notions of quality of opportunity which in one form or another have represented the British post‐war educational consensus with the rhetoric of choice, standards and differentiation which have been the hallmark of British domestic social policy since 1979.  相似文献   

18.
Quality models for online and blended learning (OBL) have mainly been developed in higher education. The literature indicates that these models are often conceptualised from the providers’ perspective. What is important for the quality of OBL from the students’ perspective has recently received increased attention in the literature. Consensus among stakeholders about students’ quality needs is useful to support dialogue between professionals to strategically adopt OBL and to ensure that the needs of students are met. This study aims to validate a quality instrument for OBL, taking a set of 74 quality indicators and analysing them in terms of seven success factors (credibility, accessibility, transparency, flexibility, interactivity, personalisation, productivity). The Delphi method was selected as most suited. Participants from adult education were asked to indicate on a 7-point Likert scale to what extent the indicators add to OBL quality to meet students’ needs. After four Delphi rounds, the participants agreed on definitions of success factors and 30 indicators. The results are useful for institutions, ministries of education and external quality assessment agencies to assess the quality of OBL and can support institutions to implement improvement actions to ensure that the needs of students are met.  相似文献   

19.
State higher education agencies in the US are in a propitious position to improve the educational environment for students who transfer from one institution to another within a state. This paper reports on the results of a nationwide survey on the assessment of the transfer function by state higher education agencies. Using a benchmarking methodology, the paper suggests some 'best practices' of state higher education agencies in the organisation and use of transfer student information systems. The paper has relevance for institutional personnel and public policy makers since the number of transfer-oriented institutions and the number of transfer students are increasing across the globe.  相似文献   

20.
How can universities ensure that strategic aims to integrate research and teaching through engaging students in research-based experiences be effectively realised within institutions? This paper reports on the findings of a qualitative study exploring academics’ perceptions of the challenges and barriers to implementing undergraduate research. Academics were asked about perceived constraints and enablements, how they defined undergraduate research, the forms of undergraduate research used, and they were encouraged to provide examples. Perceived constraints included particular institutional policies and structures, academics’ mindsets and lack of skills and questions of time and money. It was found that different definitions of undergraduate research lead to different practices and varying opportunities for further development. This paper presents different forms of engagement in undergraduate research allied to these different definitions and it draws on interviewees’ ideas about what has been enabling in their context to suggest possible strategies for institutions to move forward.  相似文献   

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