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1. Approaches of Assessment
Over the past decade, quality and quality assurance clearly have
become key issues internationally for higher education (Kells
and van Vught, 1988; Kells, 1992; Anwyl, 1992; Craft, 1992 and
1994; Ilarman, 1 996b). Wherever you go, managers of higher
education systems and institutions today are concerned about
quality and how to put in place appropriate quality assurance
mechanisms, while ministers, bureaucrats, employers and business
interests are all increasingly concerned about the outputs of
higher education institutions and the suitability of graduates
to meet workplace needs.
Quality assurance is a new term that has come into the higher
education vocabulary over the past decade or so. While there are
many definitions of quality assurance in the literature (eg, see
Ball, 1985; Birnbaum, 1994; Lindsay, 1992; van Vught and
Westcrheijden, 1992), in essence, quality assurance refers to
systematic management and assessment procedures adopted to
ensure achievement of specified quality or improved quality, and
to enable key stakeholders to have confidence in the management
of quality and the outcomes achieved. Stakeholders are
individuals and groups who have a major interest in the higher
education institution or system and its achievements. Some
authors (eg Brcnnan, 1997) prefer use of the term quality
assessment instead of term quality assurance. However, while a
great deal of effort in quality assurance relates to quality
assessment, quality assurance in this paper is thought of as a
broader term which embraces not only assessment but also other
activities including, for example, follow-up efforts aimed lo
achieve improvement.
The main approaches to quality assurance management are
summarized in Table 1. This table sets out under separate
categories information on the agency or unit with responsibility
for the management of quality assurance at both national and
institutional levels; participation in reviews and other
activities; the main methodologies employed; the focus of
quality assurance activities; the purposes of such activities;
and reporting and/or follow-up activities.
TABLE:
Approaches to Quality
Assurance Management
A.
Responsible Agency/Unit
(a) National or System Level
• Unit or section within a Government
agency
• Separate
quality
assurance agency established
by Government
3
• Separate
quality
assurance agency
established by Government but with
considerable independence
• Agency established by a group or
association of higher education institutions
• Agency established
jointly
by Government and higher
education institutions
(b)
Institutional
Level
• Senior
University management
• Academic Board,
Academic Committee or Academic Senate
• Specialist
committee or board, set up by governing body,
senior management, or senior academic body
B.
Participation in Reviews and Other Activities
• Voluntary
• Compulsory
• Voluntary, with some measure of
pressure/persuasion
C.
Methodologies of Review and
Assessment
• Self study or self evaluation
• Peer review by panels of experts,
usually
including
the use of at least some
external panel
members and one or more
site
visits
• Analysis of
statistical
information and/or use of
performance indicators
• Surveys of students, graduates,
employers, professional bodies
• Testing the knowledge,
skills
and competencies of students
D.Focus
(a) National or System Level
• National reviews of disciplines- reviews
of research only
- Reviews of teaching only
- Reviews of both research and teaching
•
Institutional
evaluations - reviews of
teaching only
- reviews of
research only
- Reviews of
quality assurance
processes
- Comprehensive reviews
usually
including
leaching,
research, management, and
quality assurance
processes
• National evaluations of the
higher
education
system 3
(b)
Institutional Level
• Reviews of
departments, faculties and schools
• ' Reviews of
courses and programs
• Reviews of
particular institutional
functions, or administrative and service
units
E. Purposes
• Accountability
• Improvement and renewal
• Combination of purposes
E. Reporting
and
Follow-up
Activities
• Report provided
solely
to the
institution
or
unit
concerned
• Report provided to the
institution
or
unit
but also
published
or made
more widely available
• Formal reports provided to the Minister, Ministry, higher
education funding or coordinating agency, or at
institutional level to
Vice-Chancellor/Rector
•
Public
reporting
• Use of
ranking
and wide
publication
of the
results of such
ranking
• Performance funding
• Accreditation or
validation
• Improvement and renewal activities
Kef: Higher
Kilucaltan Quarterly,
0951-5224
Volume 52, No. 4, October 1998, pp 345-364 The Management ol'
Quality Assurance: A Review or International Practice
Grant Harman, University or Ncw England
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