scholarly journals Evaluation of a Higher Education institute’s Quality Framework performance during COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul O'Leary ◽  
Derek O'Byrne

COVID-19 provided a challenge to the continuing high quality operation of higher education. Quality frameworks, which were created long before national lockdowns or social distancing were tested in a manner that had not been foreseen on their creation. This work examines the performance of the framework in our institute to see if it was sufficiently robust to offer our students a quality education experience and to reassure the public in terms of the standard of our graduates. Engagement with the student body is described in detail from decision-making to evaluation at the end of the academic year of their experience on their programme of study.

2012 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-62
Author(s):  
Juliana Latifi

Albania’s higher education development is very dynamic. Higher education in Albania is being characterized by a massive expansion process and by competition between both the public and private education sectors. The number of higher education institutions has grown fivefold during the last eight years. There are currently thirteen (13) public and forty six (46) private institutions. This article is aimed at the research of analysing the legal framework for higher education quality state standards. This analysis will address three important issues: 1. What is the legal framework for higher education quality state standards? 2. How is the quality assured in higher education institutions? 3. To what extent are Albanian quality standards compared to the European ones? This study is based on an analysis of the domestic and European legislation, interviews with fifteen (15) key persons that are divided into three groups: officials of the Ministry of Education and Science/Public Agency for the Accreditation of Higher Education, officials of the public Higher Education Institution, and officials of private Higher Education in Albania including reports and policy documents. The conclusions of this research article will help in understanding the role of the higher education quality state standards and will contribute to the improvement of the quality legal framework in the country. Key words: standard, quality, legal framework, quality standards, higher education.


Author(s):  
Ángela Corengia ◽  
Juan Carlos Del Bello ◽  
María Pita Carranza ◽  
Cecilia Adrogué

The purpose of this research is to analyze the origin, evolution, performance and trends of higher education quality assurance systems in the following European countries: Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom and France. It also studies the performance and impact of the organizations that join the European Quality Assurance Agencies together. The main sources of data collection were in situ semi-structured interviews to members of these agencies. It was found that in higher education institutions there is a strong trend towards the development of ‘internal quality assurance systems' in response to the public policies known as 'quality audits'. This overview about what is taking place in Europe may provide innovative instruments that could be considered for higher education quality evaluation and accreditation in Latin-American countries: quality audits, disciplinary agencies, evaluation of the quality assurance agencies, among others.


Author(s):  
Francesc Pedró García

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. 


2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Irma MESIRIDZE ◽  
Nino TVALTCHRELIDZE

The Bologna Process, Information and Communication Technology, and market forces have brought manyinnovations and great changes to higher education systems throughout Europe. Reforms in higher educationhave taken a new direction, towards making higher education students more autonomous. However, manycountries have not really adopted this innovative way of teaching and still maintain an old ‘transmission’ stylewhich often entails teachers trying to pour knowledge into the minds of their students. Promoting autonomouslearning (the ability of students to manage their own learning) in higher education is crucial both for theindividual and society, as the idea of an academic student comprises critical reflective thinking and theimportance of becoming an independent learner. This article will discuss the importance of promotingautonomous learning throughout self, peer and co-assessment for higher education quality enhancement. Thepaper will examine the case of International Black Sea University’s MA students enrolled in the Higher EducationManagement program. The analyses of a survey will be used to discuss the significance of autonomous learningfor students and their readiness for self, peer and co-assessment.


Author(s):  
Francis Ansah

The traditional tension between external and internal quality assurance implementation in higher education appears to be declining, based on a rethinking of the relationship between the two concepts. Although there are quality assurance agencies that still consider external and internal quality assurance as separate entities, most quality assurance agencies now regard the two concepts as complementary. In this paper, a case is put that the present rethinking of external and internal quality assurance in most higher education settings is guided by pragmatism, but not explicitly acknowledged in the literature. For a better appreciation of pragmatists’ influence on the current understanding of the relationship between external and internal quality assurance in higher education, this paper provides a further pragmatist conceptualisation of the two concepts to enhance stakeholders’ appreciation of employing a pragmatist approach to quality assurance practices in higher education. The conceptualisation is done through a pragmatist analysis of selected international accounts on higher education quality assurance. The paper concludes that pragmatism helps to understand external and internal quality assurance as nested concepts with reciprocities of accountability and improvement roles, and influences which call for alignment of perspectives through negotiations and settlements in order to focus on their practical relevance for implementation in higher education. La tension traditionnelle entre l’implémentation de systèmes d’assurance qualité interne et externe dans l’enseignement supérieur semble s’affaiblir grâce à la reconsidération de la relation entre ces deux concepts. Bien qu’il existe des agences d’assurance qualité qui continuent à considérer les assurances qualité interne et externe comme deux entités distinctes, la plupart des agences considèrent désormais qu’elles sont complémentaires. Cet article soutient que la nouvelle manière de penser les assurances qualité interne et externe dans l’enseignement supérieur est guidée par un souci de pragmatisme mais est encore peu reconnue dans la littérature. Pour mieux apprécier l’influence des pragmatistes sur la compréhension actuelle de la relation entre les assurances qualité interne et externe, cet article offre une conceptualisation pragmatique approfondie de ces deux concepts dans le but d’augmenter l’appréciation des parties prenantes pour l’utilisation d’une telle approche. La conceptualisation proposée provient d’une analyse pragmatique d’un choix d’expériences internationales en matière d’assurance qualité pour l’enseignement supérieur. En conclusion, cet article affirme que le pragmatisme aide à comprendre les assurances qualité interne et externe comme des concepts imbriqués qui ont des rôles réciproques en ce qui concerne la responsabilisation du système et son amélioration. Ces rôles ainsi que l’influence exercée par ces deux types d’assurance qualité requièrent des négociations et accords, pour s’accorder sur les perspectives et pouvoir ensuite se concentrer pleinement sur la pertinence pratique de leur implémentation dans les systèmes d’enseignement supérieur. 


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