This study examines what is significant for high quality of jeans, and what processes and factors affects the intrinsic quality of the jeans. Based on this, compilations of reclaim statistics was made and interviews and quality testing was conducted to see if high quality requirements is key to both produce jeans of good quality and to reduce the number of complaints.Quality management is an important part of the day-to-day business of a company and should permeate the entire organization and all processes. In order to create jeans withhigh quality, quality testing is an important part of a quality management. Quality tests are made to ensure that the products meet the demands and expectations on its properties. Quality tests also play an important role in the compilation and analysis of customer reclaims. Despite the quality and quality tests, there is a risk that dissatisfiedcustomers reclaim products they are not happy with. To relate customer claims against the quality of tests is a good way to evaluate what the problem is, or if it even is a problem.The study showed that high quality could be the solution to ensure the production of jeans with high quality. However, the problem is complex and therefore, the solution to reduce claims and high quality products to be something else or part of the solution. That goes for any company to be familiar with the underlying quality dimensions and based on that analyze where the critical points are found in their product development and manufacturing process.For the company of this study, the authors consider that the solution does not lie in raising quality requirements, but rather that the sewing should be improved and more quality control over garment measurement lists should be made. Quality tests cannot prove a lack of quality material and thus the authors consider that much of the claims are due to good will. / Program: Textilingenjörsutbildningen

Skolinspektionens roll som granskande myndighet och granskningarnas effekter på skola, lärare och undervisning kan studeras från flera olika perspektiv. I denna studie ligger fokus på Skolinspektionens tematiska kvalitetsgranskningar. Med utgångspunkt i en Foucault-inspirerad diskursanalys undersöks vilka diskurser om lärare som konstrueras av Skolinspektionens tematiska kvalitetsgranskningar gällande undervisning i grundskolan mellan år 2014 - 2018? Dessutom diskuteras hur de framträdande diskurserna kan förstås utifrån dess kontext som en del av ett växande granskningssamhälle. Studiens resultat visar att det går att uppfatta tre framträdande diskurser – diskursen om lärarens förmåga, diskursen om lärarens kunskap och kompetens och diskursen om lärarens kollegiala samarbete. Samtliga dessa tre konstrueras som en konsekvens av den mer övergripande diskursen om den framgångsrika undervisningen. I studiens resultatdiskussion problematiseras dessa diskurser när de sätts i relation till det växande granskningssamhället, den marknadsstyrda skolan (genom New Public Management) och skollagens skrivning om utbildning på vetenskaplig grund. I studien argumenteras för att de diskurser som konstrueras i Skolinspektionens skrivningar samtliga bär spår av just dessa tre perspektiv som i studien kallas för diskursiva formationer. / The role of the Swedish Schools Inspectorate as an auditing authority and the effect of the audits on teachers, schools and teaching could be studied from various perspectives. In this study, the thematical quality audits from the Swedish Schools Inspectorate are in focus. Based on a Foucault-inspired discourse analysis, the discourses constructed in the thematical quality audits a regarding compulsory school during the years 2014-2018 are examined. Furthermore, the understanding of the constructed discourses is discussed relative to the audit community being their context. The result of the study shows that three main discourses could be seen as being constructed through the studied material. The discourse about the teacher skills, the discourse about the teacher knowledge and qualifications and the discourse about the teacher cooperativeness. All three are constructed as a consequence of the discourse about the successful teaching. In the study, the three discourses are also discussed relative to the growing audit community, the market-driven school (through New Public Management) and the scientific basis on which all education should be based according to the education act. The study argues that there are traces of these three perspectives in the discourses that are possible to view as constructed in the audits.

The policy and practice of RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning) remains a contested area in the higher education sector. While a growing body of research on RPL has become available, little is known about the quality assurance dimensions of this policy and its current expression in higher education practice. Accordingly, this study seeks to provide a comprehensive and detailed portrait of the manner in which RPL is implemented in the Faculty of Education at the University of Pretoria. The central question is does the RPL system that is in place at this institution meet national and international requirements for quality and quality assurance? If not, what are the reasons and how can the faculty improve its RPL practice? The research sub-questions addressed are the following: <ul> <li> What is the quality of the inputs used to design the RPL that is in place in the Faculty of Education at the University of Pretoria?</li> <li> How does the Faculty of Education at the University of Pretoria assess RPL candidates for their prior learning? </li> <li> What is the effect of the output of the RPL system on client satisfaction?</li></ul> A mixed methods research design was used for this study. A single Faculty (Education) was selected as the data collection site, to reveal the deeper and nuanced impact of the process of implementation of the RPL programme. A semi-structured interview schedule administered to the senior managers of the faculty was to elicit information on how the RPL system was conceptualised and designed. This process included the Dean (Faculty of Education); Head of Department (Curriculum Studies); Head of Department (Educational Management, Law and Policy Studies); Director (Centre for Evaluation and Assessment) and the Director (Centre for Joint Science, Mathematics and Technology Education). To determine whether there is a link between what the Quality Assurance Unit of the university promotes and application of such principles and procedures at service delivery level, an interview with the Director of the QA Unit was done. Other interviews involved students (undergraduates and postgraduates); the non-academic staff and lecturers within all the departments of the faculty, to determine whether they knew or were aware of RPL related activities in the faculty. An observation tool was constructed to examine the quality of the assessment process, which involved RPL learners, assessors, evidence facilitators, verifiers, moderators and RPL administrators. A questionnaire was administered to RPL learners involved in the assessment process to determine their satisfaction with the output of the RPL programme. Lecturers who participated in the RPL assessment process were interviewed to determine their experiences. Finally, an observational checklist was used to determine quality indicators at macro (administrative) and micro (academic) levels. The data was analysed using pattern matching, discrepancy, content and interpretational analyses methods. The research findings presented are in the form of a “thick” narrative on the quality of RPL implementation, that is, what the faculty should do to improve or strengthen the current system, and a portrayal of how the RPL programme truly operates. The findings indicate that a relatively good system of RPL provisioning is in place in the Faculty of Education, with a few areas of concern (weaknesses). The major problem is that this system is not benefiting the majority of people it was intended for. The system is “selective” and “exclusionary” in nature. There are clear procedures and processes for RPL assessment, which are adhered to strictly by faculty assessors. The RPL system that is currently in place is satisfactory to those who were assessed for prior learning during the period 2003-2006 and unsatisfactory at the level of the lecturers who participated in the assessment process. Most of them indicated that RPL is an add-on activity to their workloads, with very little incentives from management. To those who were not part of the assessment process, but were assumed to have received information from the faculty, the findings indicated that they knew very little about RPL and how it is being assessed in the faculty. From the client’s perspective, most (eighty four percent) said if they knew how this system operates in the faculty, they would want to be assessed for their prior learning. An extensive examination of the RPL practice in the Faculty of Education gave useful insights on the quality of RPL provisioning. Future research needs to concentrate on evaluations on how RPL is implemented in the other faculties of the university. Second to this, is to begin to provide answers as to what causes full-scale implementation of RPL problematic in the higher education sector, to provide empirical data to policy makers for decision-making purposes. Thirdly, to provide solutions towards the sustainability of the RPL system in the higher education sector, there is a need to do studies on the cost-effectiveness of RPL implementation. / Thesis (PhD (Assessment and Quality Assurance in Education and Training))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Curriculum Studies / PhD / unrestricted