The problem with which this study is concerned is to determine the status of academic program evaluation in Texas' senior colleges and universities. The purpose of the study is to determine current procedures, timelines, participants, and use of results of academic program evaluation in the surveyed institutions. The presidents of the seventy-three senior colleges and universities in Texas were contacted for permission to conduct the study. Fifty-four presidents gave their permission and supplied designated contact individuals, forty-six of whom responded for a 62 per cent response rate. The twentyitem survey instrument, which was designed to fulfill the purpose of the study, was evaluated by experts in the field of academic program evaluation at the senior institutional level. All data are reported by frequency, percentage, and rank ordering because these data indicate frequency of use and degree of importance.

Submitted in partial fulfillment for the requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Education in the Department of Educational Psychology in the Faculty of Education at the University of Zululand, 2006. / This thesis explores the responses of higher education to the national imperative to implement Recognition of Prior Learning. It makes use of a mixed methods mode of research to explore this phenomenon at three sites of higher education delivery in KwaZulu-Natal. The research investigates how these three institutions have responded to the imperative at an institutional level, in terms of policy development, organisational structures and philosophical approach. It also looks at academic staff perceptions of RPL policy and implementation and its successfulness in terms of the integration of RPL into the curriculum, the capacity of the curriculum to facilitate the assessment of RPL and the extent to which it has been implemented within the higher education system. It identifies the articulation of national policy on RPL as one of the factors that impacts on successful implementation. In so doing, barriers to the successful implementation of RPL are also identified and explored. These barriers include epistemological, material and systemic barriers. However, it also seeks to elicit the benefits that higher education sees in implementing RPL, both in terms of fulfilling the goals of higher education and in terms of the benefits for the national economic imperatives and the skills development initiative. Ultimately, the research attempts to establish the extent to which RPL has been institutionalised within the institutions in terms of a set of indicators as identified by the researcher. / University of Zululand

<p>The South African government plays a direct and active role in facilitation the development of a skilled workforce. The effective mobilisation, development and utilisation of South Africa's human resource capacity are critical for the success of the economy, institution building and the transformation process. In this context, the development of a system of Recognition of Prior Learning is one of the government's significant initiatives. This research examined whether the policy documents of the universities in the Western Cape comply with the requirements of the National Government Recognition of Prior Learning policy.</p>

The purpose of this case study was to explore the quality enhancement plan (QEP) process and its influence on student learning of critical thinking and the institutional environment from the perspective of key stakeholders at two community colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (the Commission). Key stakeholders were defined as faculty, staff, and administrators who had direct and continuous involvement with the development and/or implementation of the QEP. This was accomplished through document reviews and analysis of interviews. The study was guided by intertwined quality assurance systems accountability, accreditation, and assessment, and six of Deming’s (1986) total quality management principles. These principles are: (1) customer, (2) training and development, (3) teamwork, (4) measurement, (5) improvement, and (6) leadership (Bosner, 1992; Deming, 1986; Marchese, 1991; Sallis, 2002). / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

<p>The South African government plays a direct and active role in facilitation the development of a skilled workforce. The effective mobilisation, development and utilisation of South Africa's human resource capacity are critical for the success of the economy, institution building and the transformation process. In this context, the development of a system of Recognition of Prior Learning is one of the government's significant initiatives. This research examined whether the policy documents of the universities in the Western Cape comply with the requirements of the National Government Recognition of Prior Learning policy.</p>

This research is an attempt to determine the extent to which the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) in higher education promotes social transformation. Through analysing the case study of the University of the Western Cape (UWC) RPL programme, some conclusions on this matter were drawn. This research, a qualitative study, analyses key official documents, institutional reports, learning portfolios - produced by RPL candidates wherin they narrated their autobiographical learning histories - extensively. In addition, qualitative data were incorporated into this study to assist in the construction of the context within which RPL is being offered ...

This study was concerned with characteristics of the process of reaffirmation of accreditation in the Southern region among institutions that completed reaffirmation under the revised _Criteria for Accreditation_ and those that completed reaffirmation under the former _Standards of the College Delegate Assembly._ The institutions that had completed reaffirmation under the new _Criteria_ were identified. A matching group of equivalent institutions which had last completed reaffirmation under the _Standards_ was created. Each group contained 66 institutions. Data were collected using the records of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Four areas were identified in which the implementation of the _Criteria_ might affect the process of reaffirmation of accreditation: (a) institutional organization for the self-study, (b) visiting committee composition, (c) number of recommendations by visiting committees, and (d) substance of recommendations by visiting committees. A series of nine hypotheses were tested to assess these effects. The process of reaffirmation of accreditation does not appear to have been substantially affected by the implementation of the new _Criteria for Accreditation._ Institutional organization for the self-study appears unaffected by the implementation of the Criteria for most institutions. There appears, however, to be evidence that the _Criteria_ have effected change for a minority of institutions. The implementation of the _Criteria for Accreditation_ does not appear to have influenced either the size or the composition of visiting committees of peers. The implementation of the _Criteria for Accreditation_ has not increased the average number of recommendations by visiting committees of peers, but there appears to be evidence that it has created a minimum core of recommendations common to many institutions. The addition of the criterion on institutional effectiveness apparently has created a new and proportionately overrepresented focus for visiting committee recommendations.

This research is an attempt to determine the extent to which the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) in higher education promotes social transformation. Through analysing the case study of the University of the Western Cape (UWC) RPL programme, some conclusions on this matter were drawn. This research, a qualitative study, analyses key official documents, institutional reports, learning portfolios - produced by RPL candidates wherin they narrated their autobiographical learning histories - extensively. In addition, qualitative data were incorporated into this study to assist in the construction of the context within which RPL is being offered ...

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of the NQF on higher education institutions focussing specifically on access, teaching and learning. The study aimed to answer the following research questions: What was the impact of the NQF on increasing access to higher education? In particular how did the RPL process facilitate access into the University of Pretoria? Secondly, how did the NQF influence the processes of teaching and learning at this particular institution? And finally, why did the NQF have differential impacts on different faculties within the same higher education institution? To gain the end-users’ perspective, a case study of the University of Pretoria was conducted. Data was gathered using interviews with ten senior members of staff at the university working in nine different departments, and student records indicating admissions through RPL into the University of Pretoria as well as relevant institutional documents. The findings suggest that the impact of the NQF on access, teaching and learning differed across departments, resulting in a partial implementation of the policy. This was facilitated by factors inherent in the policy itself and factors inherent to the institution. The influence of external factors such as professional bodies on teaching and learning practices of end-users at the University of Pretoria posed a major challenge against NQF implementation. The motivations leading to NQF implementation are not directly linked to the NQF policy per se, although they resulted in portraying the extent of change to access, teaching and learning along a continuum that distinguished between departments that ‘blindly complied’, that selectively adapted and those that strategically avoided implementation of the policy. Indications for further research are that a wider look at the impact of the NQF on access, teaching and learning in higher education is less revealing than a more focussed investigation. Future research should zoom-in on individual departments within higher education institutions to reveal the deeper and more nuanced impact of the NQF. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie studie is om die impak van die NKR (NQF) op veral toegang, onderrig en leer in hoër onderwysinstellings te ondersoek. Die studie poog om die volgende navorsingsvrae te beantwoord: Watter impak het die NKR op toenemende toegang tot hoër onderwys? Hoe fasiliteer die EVL-proses ("RPL process") toegang tot die Universiteit van Pretoria? Hoe beïnvloed die NKR die onderrig- en leerproses aan hierdie spesifieke instelling? Ten slotte, waarom het die NKR 'n differensiële invloed op verskillende fakulteite binne dieselfde hoër onderwysinstelling? Ten einde die uiteindelike gebruiker se perspektief te bepaal, is 'n gevallestudie aan die Universiteit van Pretoria uitgevoer. Data is ingesamel uit onderhoude met tien senior personeellede wat in nege verskillende departemente werk, studenterekords aangaande toelating tot die Universiteit van Pretoria deur EVL, en ook relevante institutêre dokumente. Die bevindinge impliseer dat die impak van die NKR op toegang, onderrig en leer van departement tot departement verskil en dat dit lei tot 'n gedeeltelike implementering van die beleid. Dié verskil is aangehelp deur faktore wat inherent is aan die beleid, maar ook faktore inherent aan die instelling. Die invloed wat eksterne faktore soos professionele liggame op die onderrig- en leerpraktyke van finale gebruikers aan die Universiteit van Pretoria het, is 'n groot struikelblok vir die implementering van die NKR. Motiverings wat lei tot die implementering van die NKR is nie noodwendig aan die NKR-beleid gekoppel nie, alhoewel dit daartoe gelei het dat die mate van verandering in toegang, onderrig en leer op 'n kontinuum aangedui is. Hierdie kontinuum onderskei tussen departemente wat die beleid "blindelings navolg", ander wat dit selektief aanpas en nog ander wat die implementering van die beleid strategies vermy. Aanduidings vir verdere navorsing is dat 'n breë ondersoek van die NKR se impak op toegang, onderrig en leer in hoër onderwys minder beduidend is as 'n meer spesifieke ondersoek. Toekomstige navorsing behoort te fokus op individuele departemente binne hoër onderwysinstellings ten einde 'n indringender en meer genuanseerde impak van die NKR te bepaal.