Demands by higher education stakeholders in the late 1980s to early 1990s, led the higher education sector to focus on issues of effectiveness, accountability and efficiency. This was as true in the West Indies as elsewhere in the world. The University of the West Indies (UWI) reviewed its governance structure and established an academic quality assurance mechanism to respond to these challenges. More than a decade has passed since the implementation of this major initiative, and quality has since formed an integral part of the UWI’s strategic plans since 1997. Concerns have continually been raised however about the quality of the service provided. This is the focus of this study. This topic was explored and evaluated through the use of three units of analysis using a qualitative case study of the Mona campus. The methods used to gather data were essentially qualitative, using interviews, focus groups, and documentary research. The theoretical orientation was grounded in the quality literature, drawing on both the industrial literature as well as that in higher education. My findings paved the way for judgments which indicated that various quality procedures are employed in different parts of the UWI, Mona Campus. Some of these procedures do not seem to have produced the overall quality culture of excellence which was intended. Out of the information and commentaries produced by the respondents a unified quality framework has been produced that pays attention to effective procedures, processes, and systems. These criteria were assembled in a model to inform practice at the UWI and enhance the overall transformation process of the 2007-2012 Strategic Plan.

Whilst a significant body of research exists related to quality assurance in UK higher education (HE), few questions appear to have been raised about the commonplace practice of validation or approval of degree courses. Overall, current research tends to focus on complications arising from the procedural effects of the process, rather than exploring ways that staff dealt with the demands of these systems. This study examined staff experiences of course approval within Allied Health Profession degree courses in a UK university. The research focused on how governance structures surrounding the regulation of health professionals and universities shaped the practice(s) of approval, alongside ways in which this experience affected staff. Influenced by the work of theorists in critical and social theory traditions, this indepth study adopted narrative inquiry. Purposive sampling was used to locate twelve participants and included academics, manager-academics, staff who worked in professional bodies and within teams supporting quality in HE. In order to examine the issues related to the approval process, data was collected through interview conversations, participants’ drawings and prose, along with documentary analysis. This research revealed the narrative of approval as complex and akin to a journey involving a series of challenges, contradictions and multiplicity of stakeholders. Interpretation of the data illustrated that those participating were both constituted by, and contributed to the nature of approval. In other words, rather than being docile recipients’ of policy, it was apparent that staff appeared to take various approaches to thinking, acting and relating. A sense of adopting a position (termed here as positional identities) emerged and influenced not only participants’ journey through the approval process, but also that of others, as well as the shape and nature of courses being approved. Four positional identities were identified, namely: the Governance Trustee, Professional Guardian, Enabling Strategist and Boundary Broker. Each of these positions was subsequently explored through an exploratory conceptual map of positional identity. The emergent map stimulated the re-assessment of current conditions. Consequently, future possibilities in which approval scenarios may evolve are presented. Considering how policy changes within HE have promoted increasingly performative practices, and the ways in which participants in approval events have presented them ‘selves’, it is likely that the positional identities adopted by staff here may have resonance for academics across the sector, and that this study will inform wider debates about policy and validation of courses within HE in general.

Thesis (D. Phil.(Marketing and Management Sciences))--University of Pretoria, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references.

The subject of quality has been a pervasive issue on the agenda in higher education around the world for more than a decade. A greater focus on quality in higher education resulted from a range of competing factors, among the most prominent were: political control over higher education (exerted particularly by national governments), the growth in the number of students in higher education (including general changes in the student population and their expectations) and financial control on the part of national governments (frequently related to the previous two factors). Quality monitoring has become a mechanism for governments worldwide to tackle these competing factors. However, at the same time, it can be argued that it was frequently employed to disguise the dominant focus on accountability in higher education rather than on enhancement. Many of the quality assurance models and systems applied to higher education originated in the business and manufacturing sectors. They have often been found unsuitable or only partially suitable for the higher education sector, because they largely disregarded the nature of higher education and its employees, in particular the academics. It may be argued that the quality movement has driven higher education more towards greater uniformity, which may be detrimental to what was understood as the “real” quality in higher education. For instance, innovation was regarded as an important aspect of academic work. Nevertheless, the present quality development drive seems to be working against the nature of academic work. Given this background, it is alarming that the academic voice seems to have had little impact to date on the development of quality systems in higher education. Therefore, the present thesis attempted to investigate the academic voice concerning higher education quality. Overall, this thesis had two main objectives. First, based on the analysis of stories of academics and higher education leaders, the thesis endeavoured to construct a framework of significant quality issues for the potential use in future policy development in higher education in the two countries investigated in this research (the Czech Republic and England), and prospectively in other higher education systems around the world. In particular, it aimed to introduce more human-centred measures into the area of higher education quality. Second, in terms of developing a methodology, the thesis attempted to illustrate the way in which a critical event narrative inquiry study of heterogeneous and complex environments, such as higher education, could be undertaken. Employing such a critical event narrative inquiry approach, the researcher endeavoured to highlight important aspects of higher education quality, which have been largely overlooked in the area, and thus assist the improvement of the practice of quality development in higher education. The study utilised face-to-face interviews with academics and higher education leaders concerning their perceptions of the issue of higher education quality. The researcher anticipated that eliciting of “critical events” through interviews with individuals involved in the area of quality in higher education (academics and higher education leaders) would uncover some important aspects in higher education quality which would not be revealed using other more traditional empirical methods of inquiry, particularly quantitative research methods. To investigate the area of higher education quality, the researcher elected to look into the English and Czech higher education systems. The choice of the English higher education system was influenced by the knowledge that England, and more generally the UK, was among the first countries in the world, and certainly the first in Europe, to introduce a formal quality assurance system into higher education. Australia followed this trend soon after it was introduced in the UK. The researcher elected the Czech higher education system, as a culturally different educational system, distinctive from the Anglo-Saxon educational tradition, and which is uniquely placed on the divide between Western and Eastern Europe. In this respect, the critical event narrative inquiry method was proposed as a suitable method for the investigation of significant aspects of cultural difference. Employing the critical event narrative inquiry method, the researcher uncovered a number of significant issues. Some of these issues were identified by English and Czech academics and higher education leaders as not featuring strongly in their countries’ current higher education quality enhancement practices, and yet they were regarded as important by the academics. Some of the issues uncovered in this research, on the other hand, were highlighted as impacting negatively on the quality enhancement processes in their respective higher education systems. There were a number of issues which were identified as common to both the English and Czech higher education systems. These issues might have been an indication of potential wider relevance of such trends among a broader range of higher education systems worldwide. This thesis proposed a framework for a human-centred approach to quality enhancement in higher education based on issues which were common to both English and Czech higher education systems. This framework featured: • Regard for the academic voice in higher education quality policy development; • Attention to human-centred aspects of higher education quality; • Need for a collegial approach and reflection on the purposes of quality evaluation processes; • Equal value afforded to teaching and research; and • Focus on innovation and change. There were also some culture-specific issues uncovered, particularly in relation to the Czech higher education system. These culture-specific issues may be relevant to certain common trends and features in other higher education systems in Central and Eastern European regions. In this respect, the thesis proposed a framework for a human-centred approach to quality enhancement with regard to culture-specific issues. The framework focused specifically on Czech higher education and may be of potential relevance to other Central and Eastern European higher education systems. This framework included: • The significance of transparency in educational processes; • The need for a fundamental change in the style of pedagogy in higher education institutions; to focus more on thinking processes and reasoning; • The need for a more systematic move towards a student-centred approach across the whole higher education system; • The need to address the factor of pressure on Czech academics to publish mainly in English in order to receive international recognition; and • The need for education of Czech academic staff to enable a broader and better understanding of the concept of higher education quality in the context of the Czech higher education system. Investigation of the academic voice in English higher education did not reveal any culture-specific issues. In other words, the English academics and higher education leaders did not identify any issues in higher education quality that were distinctively different from the general issues highlighted also by Czech academics and higher education leaders. Some of the issues pointed out in the English context occurred on a more advanced level due to the different historical, political and socio-economic context of the UK higher education. It appears that quality in higher education is here to stay. As such, it is essential for the future of higher education that quality enhancement be based on education-focused approaches. Overall, this thesis proposed a human-centred approach to quality enhancement as one way of attaining educational focus.

Chinese higher education (HE) has been through a process of profound restructuring, decentralisation, introduction of market incentives, university mergers, internationalisation, and enlarging student enrolment in the past two decades. Along with the expansion of Chinese HE, the issue of quality has become a concern and has attracted a lot of attention in the Chinese HE sector. Developing quality assurance (QA) systems has been given priority in the agenda of most Chinese higher education institutions (HEIs). The nationwide implementation of quality evaluation since 2002 is the main means used by the Chinese government to address the potential quality decline and to realise a macro level control of quality over Chinese HEIs. This study is conducted against the background of the prevailing quality culture, and focuses on student learning rather than the widely adopted top-down scrutiny of teaching as the main component of QA schemes. The purpose of this study is to explore how student learning experiences can be integrated into the QA systems in Chinese HEIs for continuous quality improvement. A qualitative case study approach is adopted in this study. Document analysis, focus groups, and in-depth interviews are used to achieve a comprehensive qualitative inquiry into student learning experiences, HEIs’ QA practice, and the integration of student learning experiences into QA system. Through this study, we find that Chinese universities generally use regulations, teaching inspection/evaluation, and student feedback as the main approaches to manage their QA practice. There is great emphasis on the institutional management and teaching management, but little attention given to what students are actually doing. The analysis of the key issues in student learning experiences, the concept of quality learning, and the analysis of the objectives, control, areas, procedures and uses in the current Chinese QA systems suggest a discrepancy between student quality learning and what the current Chinese QA assures. The findings of this study imply that the current top-down QA has great limitations in addressing key issues in student learning and accordingly plays a limited role in generating educational quality. As the conclusion of this study, a learning-focused QA is proposed to offer insights into integrating student learning generically into the QA process for the purpose of the continuous improvement of HE quality.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:53:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DallianeVPA_DISSERT.pdf: 1391094 bytes, checksum: 0a2c3c9e3f5f091c5852dbdf71e9a6a8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-11-22 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / This thesis aims at analyzing from the perspective of the manager the importance of the use of quality management tools and concepts in Federal Universities. It was motivated by the following research problem: do Federal University managers consider it to be relevant the quality management in their institution? Therefore, we sought to gather evidence for a satisfactory approach that addresses the complexity of the topic researched: quality, higher education and quality management systems. We chose to adopt an applied study, the exploratory-descriptive research as to the objective and the quantitative and qualitative research as to the approach to the problem. The object of study is composed by the Planning Provosts of Federal Universities listed in the University Ranking Sheet - (RUF) in 2013. We chose to restrict the sample listing only the provosts of the 20 best-placed universities in the ranking of the Federal Universities. The research instrument was composed of 26 questions, of which 6 questions were designed to identify the profile of the manager, 16 questions of perception (manifested variables) on the importance of quality management in the University, where the managers assigned values (answers) to the affirmatives (that address the main topic of this thesis) based on a Likert scale of 5 points, and 4 open and optional questions, in order to identify general management practices used. It was used for statistical analysis (data analysis) descriptive and factorial statistics. The responses collected through the questionnaire portray the managers? perception regarding the importance of quality management in their institutions. Sixteen variables were addressed, the results of factor analysis of importance were "Important" and "Very Important", where the variable (V2) was "Important" and all others "Very important." With this information, it is possible to prioritize some areas that deserve immediate action. As it was observed that some variables are "Very important" for the vast majority of managers, others did not show the same result as example (V2, V10, V11). It is concluded that the manager?s perception of quality management in his or her institution is relevant, but the same importance is not given to quality programs implemented in other segments of the economy, and that, despite the advancements offered by SINAES, the model does not evaluate the institution in a global way. Thus, with the results, it is expected to contribute to the advancement of the subject, trying to arouse interest from the managers of Federal Universities in the subject, emphasizing the importance of quality management systems as a necessary tool to raise the institutional quality / import?ncia do uso de ferramentas e conceitos da Gest?o da qualidade nas Universidades Federais, que foi motivado pelo seguinte problema de pesquisa: os gestores das Universidades Federais consideram relevante a gest?o da qualidade na sua institui??o? Para tanto, buscou-se reunir elementos para uma abordagem satisfat?ria que contemple a complexidade da tem?tica pesquisada: qualidade, ensino superior e sistemas de gest?o da qualidade. Optou-se por adotar um estudo aplicado, a pesquisa explorat?rio-descritiva quanto ao objetivo e a pesquisa quali-quanti quanto ? abordagem do problema. O objeto de estudo ? composto pelos Pr?-reitores de Planejamento das Universidades Federais, relacionadas no Ranking Universit?rio Folha (RUF) no ano de 2013. Optou-se por restringir a amostra relacionando apenas os pr?-reitores das 20 Universidades Federais mais bem colocadas no Ranking. O instrumento de pesquisa foi composto de 26 quest?es, das quais 6 quest?es destinadas a identifica??o do perfil do gestor, 16 quest?es de percep??o (vari?veis manifestas) sobre a import?ncia da gest?o da qualidade na Universidade, em que os gestores atribu?ram valores (respostas) para as afirmativas (que abordam a tem?tica central dessa disserta??o) compostas com base na escala Likert de 5 pontos, e 4 quest?es abertas e opcional, com objetivo de identificar de forma geral as pr?ticas de gest?o utilizadas. Utilizou-se como m?todo estat?stico (an?lise de dados), a estat?stica descritiva e fatorial. As respostas coletadas por meio do question?rio retrata a percep??o que os gestores tem em rela??o a import?ncia da gest?o da qualidade em suas Institui??es. Foram abordadas 16 vari?veis, os resultados da an?lise fatorial da import?ncia, foram ―Importante‖ e ―Muito importante‖, onde a vari?vel (V2) foi ―Importante‖ e todas as outras, ―Muito importante‖. Em posse dessas informa??es ? poss?vel priorizar algumas ?reas que merecem medidas imediatas. Assim como foi poss?vel observar que algumas vari?veis s?o ―Muito importante‖ para a grande maioria dos gestores, outras n?o apresentaram o mesmo resultado como exemplo (V2, V10, V11).Conclui-se que na percep??o do gestor ? gest?o da qualidade na sua institui??o ? relevante, contudo a mesma import?ncia n?o ? dada aos programas de qualidade implantados em outros segmentos da economia, e que apesar dos avan?os proporcionados pelo SINAES, o modelo n?o avalia a Institui??o de uma forma global. Assim, de posse dos resultados, espera-se contribuir com o avan?o do tema, tentando despertar o interesse dos gestores das Universidades Federais pelo assunto, ressaltando a import?ncia dos sistemas de gest?o da qualidade como instrumento necess?rio para elevar a qualidade institucional

M. Tech. (Business Administration, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology / This study is an attempt to conceptualise and enhance the quality management of the short course offerings at the Vaal University of Technology (VUT). The Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) conducted its first cycle of institutional audit exercises from 2004 – 2009 at private and public universities in South Africa. This study follows on the HEQC audit panel’s report, with reference to VUTs offering of short courses (SCs). The HEQC informed the institution that the quality assurance system of SCs is not on par with the requirements of the HEQC. Therefore, it does not meet the minimum standards for an effective quality management system for SCs. It is imperative for the institution to conceptualise the quality management of SCs and to develop a system that ensures ongoing improvement. This study addresses this gap by conceptualising the quality management of SCs on national level in higher education. The study draws on good practices on national level that can inform the refinement of the existing quality assurance system for SCs at VUT. The empirical study was conducted with public institutions of higher learning in South Africa. Quantitative data were collected from dedicated SCs and/or quality assurance or quality management offices at all 23 public institutions of higher learning. Five universities were identified as institutions with good practice, based on quantitative information that was gathered, analysed and interpreted during this study. The study revealed that it is imperative for higher education institutions to develop quality assurance systems that are based on cyclical processes of ongoing improvement, such as the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act), PIRI (Plan-Implement- Review-Improve) and ADRI (Approach-Deployment-Results-Improvement) models. A key assumption of the research is that quality assurance for SCs at VUT should be aligned with the institution’s quality assurance system. The study highlights the value of the principles of Total Quality Management, the notion of continuous improvement, self-evaluation and external monitoring. Recommendations in this study suggest that VUT should conduct further institutional benchmarking exercises with the five institutions that received commendations and full delegations, in order to develop a conceptual model for understanding and enhancing its SC offerings.

Závěrečná diplomová práce se zabývá problematikou Evaluace řízení vzdělávacího na vysoké škole. Cílem diplomové práce je zmapování současného stavu problematiky řízení vysokých školách z odborné literatury světových i domácích autorů a zejména z šetření provedeného okých školách. Práce je zaměřena na zjištění současného stavu evaluace kvality vzdělávacího procesu. Práce přináší přehled doporučovaného obsahu, kterému by měla být věnována pozornost při zpracování plánu na řízení evaluace kvality vzdělávacího procesu a měla by tak pomoci manažerům škol a sloužit jako praktický návod při vlastním zpracování části literární rešerše jsou teoreticky shrnuty požadavky, které jsou potřebné vybranému tématu. Výsledkem vlastní práce je analýza dokumentů týkajících se řízení kvality na vybraných vysokých školách a analýza vlastního šetření.

The first cycle of quality assurance (QA) was conceptualised and developed between 2001 and 2004 as reflected in the policy documents of the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC). The HEQC as the national QA agency was created as the permanent sub-committee of the Council on Higher Education (CHE) to take care of the QA responsibility in 2001. The national QA agency had to operate within the divisions created in higher education under apartheid, which often created perceptions based on prejudice about the distribution of quality. The South African higher education landscape has been exposed to the first cycle of the Higher Education Quality Committee QA cycle during which conducted 34 institutional audits, accredited approximately 5000 new programmes, subjected 85 programmes to national reviews, trained approximately 550 institutional auditors and 1500 programme evaluators and conducted many workshops and training opportunities for higher education institutions (HEIs). The main aim posed by this study was to determine the response of HEIs to the recommendations in the HEQC audit reports. The sub-questions of the research are (i) What process was followed to develop the quality improvement plan? (ii) Who were the role-players in the development of the quality improvement plan? (iii) What influenced their actions in the development of the quality improvement plan? (iv) What value did the quality improvement plan development have for the institution? (v) How does the quality improvement plan fit into the comprehensive quality management system of the institution? To answer the research questions, interviews were carried out on six participants. The findings were that the primary research question has been addressed conclusively by the three institutions through the experience of participants. The responses indicate how they have embraced improvement at the respective institutions which in turn have grown as a result of the HEQC audit process. The conclusion was an in depth response to the recommendations in the audit reports, illustrating ownership of quality improvement plan processes within the institutions. From the results of the secondary research questions it is concluded that the participants’ responses provided the richness of the quality improvement plan process in the audit process. The responses reflected and confirmed the processes followed in developing the quality improvement plans and the role and influence of role- players in the quality improvement plan process. The responses reflected the value of this process and revealed how it had been incorporated into the comprehensive annual planning processes of the institutions. The study concludes that the participating institutions responded differently and effectively to the recommendations in the HEQC audit reports, with the improvement reflected in the manner and approach institutions displayed when responding to recommendations, reflecting systematic processes. Copyright / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / unrestricted

Presently all over the world, there is a great concern among teachers, parents, organisations, community leaders and higher education lecturers about the problems that beset teaching and learning particularly in the teaching programmes, for example, for under-qualified teachers studying at a distance. Most distance education (DE) programmes are concerned with education of adults and it seems fairly obvious that the research plans should be informed by the theories and research about learning in higher education institutions. In terms of teacher education, such studies could, inter alia, focus on teacher development, curriculum planning, learner support programmes, communication and evaluation of DE. DE itself refers to a field of education that focuses on teaching methods and technology with the aim of delivering teaching, often on an individual basis, to learners who are not physically present in a traditional educational setting such as a classroom. Distance learning is becoming an increasingly popular way of studying, and most universities now provide courses using this mode of teaching and learning. Today’s learners, though, are demanding high quality, consumer-focused and flexible courses and learning resources, and active learner support. This means that providers of DE need to reconsider key issues about learner support systems, to ensure that this is delivered appropriately and effectively. This study focuses on learner support in DE education for under-qualified teachers. The concept, learner support, can be traced far back to Vygotsky’s concept of the zone of proximal development, which refers to a learners’ optimal developmental potential if assistance that is timely and appropriate is provided by another person (Vygotsky, 1978). The appeal of the concept of the zone of proximal development lies in the fact that it directs attention to the need for maximum support in the learning process, and does so in a way that emphasises that good teaching is necessarily responsive to the state of understanding achieved by particular learners. Learner support systems may include the resources that the learner can access in order to engage in the learning process, for example, libraries or the resources that relate to the mediation of the communication process such as the media or technology. This study acknowledges that there are different kinds of learner support structures, but argues that there are critical or main components of support services which are registration support, learner support services, contact sessions, technological support and feedback strategies. Therefore, this study focuses on the role played by these five learner support structures as used in the programmes of DE under-qualified teachers at The University of South Africa (UNISA). Supported by empirical data, this study seeks to argue that instructional designers and tutors in the programmes of under-qualified teachers studying through DE need to ensure quality learning support as learning environments are increasingly designed according to the principles of resource-based and independent learning. In a sustainable learning environment, support must be designed according to principles that ensure that learners progress from teacher-directed activity to self-regulated activity. The challenge to deliver a high-quality learner support system, and for tutors and administrators to assume a central educational role in developing effective distance learning environments, the need for teaching and research is increasingly emphasised in research literature. Finally, it is hoped that this piece of work will help to promote more discussion and debate about the use of learner support programmes in DE institutions in particular, and in teaching and learning in general. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Didactics)