This research explored stakeholder experiences of a quality enhancement project (QEP) in South African universities. Stakeholder views were considered regarding the impact of the policy shift embodied by the QEP on implementation strategies and the gains made since its inception in improving student retention and throughput. The study employed a multiple-qualitative case study research design involving four universities (one traditional, one university of technology, one comprehensive, one traditional merger) and purposive sampling. Data collection techniques involved document analysis, in-depth interviews with Deputy Vice Chancellors: Teaching and Learning, Directors: Teaching and Learning, quality assurance (QA) managers, quality enhancement (QE) coordinators, Council on Higher Education (CHE) officials and the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) QA experts and focus group interviews with student leaders. The theoretical framework for this study was drawn from Ball et al.’s (1992) theory on policy processes and it focuses on three contexts of policy processes: the contexts of influence, text production, and practice. The findings revealed multi-layered stakeholder perspectives of the QEP based on stakeholders’ situated contexts in the higher education sector. The CHE and DHET viewed the QEP as an instrument (intervention) to capacitate institutions through promotion of best practice initiatives and collective engagement, shared practice and “learning from each other”. The institutions, on the other hand, were divided on how they experienced the QEP as follows: i) as an essential and valuable process to address structural and transformational issues for institutional effectiveness and change, ii) as an ambitious, uncoordinated, expensive, and to a certain extent futile process for address teaching and learning issues across the sector, and iii) as a lens to evaluate progress in meeting institutional goals and creating graduate attributes. The students expressed feelings of frustration about their voices not being heard in policy and institutional decision-making processes. The findings also revealed the complexities surrounding the shift from quality assurance (QA) to quality enhancement (QE), differences in approach and practice resulting from a lack of common understanding of what policy is, the role played by the QEP and the different understandings amongst the stakeholders about its intentions. At the same time, the lack of a theory underpinning practice translated to different experiences and interpretations of the shift from QA to QE. Strategies employed were informed by individual institutional visions located in the DVC: Teaching and Learning portfolios and not in the collective university community of practice. The findings also revealed that borrowing educational policy from other countries and contexts can have adverse effects for policy implementation owing to differences in political, social, economic and cultural contexts and different institutional dynamics. Importantly also, the top-down approaches where policy makers design policy to fit their ‘mandate’ and ‘philosophy’ of policy resulted in a project mentality that was not useful. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Education Management and Policy Studies / PhD / Unrestricted

In this research I investigate the problem of education quality at the faculties of Social Sciences at four Georgian Public Universities. The findings of research are derived through interviewing of professors and document analysis of Georgian legislation concerning higher education and European-level frameworks supporting the enhancement of education quality. I deal with the problem of quality using the mixture of theories. I divided researched topics in three parts: Ideological, Institutional and personal-level. The majority of theoretical claims were disproved in the local context of Georgia. Education quality and knowledge production are multi-faceted problems at Georgian Public Universities, Faculties of Social Sciences and it mainly is related to the scarce state resources allocated to HEIs in general in Georgia.

This article is an account of how one small liberal arts university undertook a large scale curriculum integration and assessment project under the auspices of a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP). After a review of relevant literature, the integration and assessment process is outlined, and the assessment data is analyzed and discussed. The integration used a tiered approach, attempting to engage students with significant IL experiences first at the lower general education level, then subsequently at the upper level in their disciplinary context. Assessment tools include widely used standardized tests and surveys as well as locally developed rubrics and surveys. While the plan satisfied the reaccreditation requirements, this is a case study and not a template; many factors would make it difficult to generalize the assessment results. More useful to IL advocates and other institutions may be the overall approach of this QEP, which aimed to be thorough enough to align with regional and national standards yet flexible enough to meet local needs.

Focusing upon the intersections between community college faculty and assessment professionals (e.g., institutional researchers) in improving student learning outcomes, the purpose of this study was to describe, analyze, and interpret the experiences of these professionals as they planned for and conducted student learning outcomes assessment in developmental reading, writing, and study skills courses. This instrumental case study at one particular community college in Florida investigated the roles played by these individuals within the larger college effort to develop a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), an essential component of a regional accreditation review. The methodology included individual interviews, a focus group interview, a field observation, and analysis of documents related to assessment planning. There were several major findings: · Assessment professionals and faculty teaching developmental courses had similar professional development interests (e.g., teaching and learning, measurement). · While some faculty leaders assumed a facilitative role similar to that of an assessment professional, the reporting structure determined the appropriate action taken in response to the results of assessment. That is, assessment professionals interpreted results and recommended targets for improvement, while faculty and instructional administrators implemented and monitored instructional strategies. · The continuous transformation of the QEP organizational structure through research, strategy formulation, and implementation phases in an inclusive process enabled the college to put its best knowledge and measurement expertise into its five-year plan. · Developmental goals for students in addition to Florida-mandated exit exams included self-direction, affective development such as motivation, and success at the next level. · Faculty identified discipline-based workshops as promising vehicles for infusing instructional changes into courses, thus using the results of learning outcomes assessments more effectively.A chronological analysis further contributed to findings of the study. This researcher concluded that the College's eight-year history of developing general education outcomes and striving to improve the college preparatory program through longitudinal tracking of student success had incubated a powerful faculty learning community and an alliance with assessment professionals. This community of practice, when provided the right structure, leadership, and resources, enabled the College to create a Quality Enhancement Plan that faculty and staff members could be proud of.

The research question addressed in this research concerned the extent to which internally developed quality assurance processes are effective in the promotion and enhancement of quality in education and training programmes in business with special reference to adult literacy. The aim of the research was to explore the presence of and the need for a possible implementation of effective quality assurance processes in education and training in business. It also aimed at seeking for answers to the following questions: -- Do education and training programmes in business have effective quality assurance processes in place for the promotion and enhancement of quality? -- Do education and training programmes in business embrace best practice principles for continuous quality improvement? A literature review, interviews and questionnaires were the instruments employed for the collection of data. Through these research instruments, better insight into the concepts of ‘quality’ and ‘quality assurance’ was obtained. From the literature review, it emerged that the implementation of best practice principles borrowed from industry in education and training programmes can play a crucial role in continuous improvement. In contrast, it emerged from the empirical investigation results that no effective quality assurance processes are applied in education and training in business in South Africa. Business appeared not to be taking a holistic approach to quality assurance and management was found to be ignoring important aspects, such as human resources development, partnership and/or similar issues that need attention if quality is to be holistically promoted and enhanced. In conclusion, a few recommendations that could contribute to quality promotion and enhancement in education and training were made. These were the implementation of a market-related remuneration strategy or competency-based pay, a retention strategy, a quality assurance training programme, Total Quality Management, a Balanced Scorecard, recognition and incentive scheme, a performance appraisal system and the involvement of line managers and union representatives in the management of education and training programmes in business. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

The Ten Mile Region Sub-watershed study area in the northwest hills of Salisbury and Sharon, Connecticut have been impacted by excessive nitrate fertilization for decades. The sub watershed lakes and in particular Mudge Pond (classified as mesotrophic) is considered degraded by The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. The DEP has concluded that large farming operations near Mudge Pond and its environs were contributing nutrient rich fertilizers in the sub-watershed. An ecological greenway model will be applied to direct the conceptual design. A network of greenway corridors offers a best management plan for the Ten Mile Region Sub-watershed and could enhance both the water quality and biological diversity while offering limited recreation to residents and visitors. The BMP network of greenways was adopted following extensive discussions with <u>local planners, biologists and land owners.</u> / Master of Landscape Architecture

The aim of this work is to increase the accuracy of the transcription of text documents. This work is mainly focused on texts printed on degraded materials such as newspapers or old books. To solve this problem, the current method and problems associated with text recognition are analyzed. Based on the acquired knowledge, the implemented method based on GAN network architecture is chosen. Experiments are a performer on these networks in order to find their appropriate size and their learning parameters. Subsequently, testing is performed to compare different learning methods and compare their results. Both training and testing is a performer on an artificial data set. Using implemented trained networks increases the transcription accuracy from 65.61 % for the raw damaged text lines to 93.23 % for lines processed by this network.

From April to June 2016 a new and exclusively virtual teaching format – the international STEM1 Summer School – was provided at the University of Mining and Technology in Freiberg. The paper presents the approach, didactical design, and results of evaluation. The international STEM Summer School was developed and tested within the project „Holistic International STEMs - Learning with case studies and real-life industry experiences“. The aim was to better prepare STEM students for challenges in the current professional world that are characterized by in-ternationalization and digitalization. The project offers some ideas on how to teach the currently re-quired skills and competencies by industry in higher education. The conceptualization of the project was made possible with funding from the Donors\' Association for the Promotion of Humanities and Sciences in Germany2. The exclusively virtual collaboration is due to the different geographical distances and locations of the participating students, which generates specific challenges. On the one hand, technical conditions at the particular places of residence have an impact on virtual collaboration. On the other hand, cultural, lingual, and occupational differences, as well as the differing media literacy, play an important role. In addition, the setting of objectives and provision of incentives is decisive for the shared virtual work. The results of the first round of the international STEM Summer School indicate possible solution strategies based on the three areas of media use, interaction, and task orientation. During the Summer School, students from ten different countries solved real-life job case studies in small interdisciplinary teams. The exchange took place with the help of various e-learning tools like the virtual classroom, wiki, forum and e-portfolio. The participants were mentored by national and international industry partners, STEM professors, and e-tutors. After nine weeks work in intercultural teams they presented their results and learning outcomes during a web conference. The following article focusses on the evaluation results as well as selected insights and challenges.

Abstract Higher education is facing a range of major challenges during the twenty-first century. Personalised, flexible and open learning are considered among the driving forces, thus, issues of quality must be urgently addressed. This qualitative, multiple-case-study research with single and cross-case analysis focuses on benchmarking e-learning in higher education. The results of this study include providing conceptual lenses with which to see, discuss and perceive the complexity of benchmarking e-learning in higher education in extended, stretched and boundless learning environments. It has become obvious through the research that there is a need for new frames of reference for quality in e-learning. The choice of theoretical foundations for benchmarking e-learning will impact the consequences of accomplishing and selecting benchmarks. This research provides directions and recommendations for the future regarding how to accomplish benchmarking e-learning in extended learning environments in which students can study, work and live independently of time and space with global resources at their disposal in lifelong learning environments. The greatest challenge identified in this study for integrating benchmarking e-learning into general quality assurance is the fact that the required changes related to and demanded for e-learning are not fully understood. The research shows that benchmarking as a method will have a significant impact on ordinary quality assurance in higher education. This doctoral dissertation revealed challenges to integrate external quality audits and internally driven benchmarking. The studies have likewise revealed the need for methodological changes by quality assurance bodies and authorities carrying out audit and accreditation for integrating e-learning into quality assurance, as well as the need to fully understand the complexity and the special characteristics of e-learning. Probably, the challenge lies not with the system, success factors or benchmarks but in the lack of knowledge and experience of e-learning systems amongst those charged with implementation. The concept benchlearning was introduced as part of benchmarking exercises. / Tiivistelmä Yliopistokoulutus on tällä vuosisadalla suurien haasteiden edessä. Yksilöllinen, joustava ja avoin opetus ovat tärkeimpiä kehitystä ajavia voimia. Tässä ympäristössä opetuksen laatuvaatimukset ovat tärkeitä. Tämä laadullinen monitapaustutkimus keskittyy e-lerningin benchmarkkaukseen yliopistoissa. Tutkimuksen tulokset tarjoavat käsitteellisiä linssejä, joiden avulla voidaan keskustella ja ymmärtää e-lerningin benchmarkkauksen kompleksisuutta avoimessa oppimisympäristössä. Tutkimus on osoittanut, että tarvitaan uusia viitekehyksiä e-learningin laadun varmistamiseen. Benchmarkkausta käytettäessä teoreettisen perustan valinta vaikuttaa käytännön toteutukseen ja vertailukohteiden valintaan. Tutkimus tarjoaa vinkkejä ja suosituksia, miten e-learningin benchmarkkausta tulisi toteuttaa yliopistoissa, joissa oppilaat opiskelevat avoimessa ympäristössä ja voivat työskennellä ja elää ajasta ja paikasta riippumatta siten, että heillä on käytettävissä globaalit resurssit elinikäiseen oppimiseen. Tutkimuksessa havaittiin, että suurin haaste liittyy siihen, miten e-learningin bechmarkkaus liitetään yliopistojen yleiseen laatujärjestelmään. Tätä integraatiota ei nykyisin täysin ymmärretä. Tutkimus osoittaa, että benchmarkkausmenetelmällä on merkittävä vaikutus yliopistojen yleiseen laadunvarmistamiseen. Tutkimus osoittaa, että on haastavaa integroida sisäisesti organisoitu benchmarkkaus ulkoisiin laatuauditointeihin. Laatuauditointeja järjestävien tahojen ja auditointeja sekä akreditointeja suorittavien viranomaisten tulee tehdä metodologisia muutoksia toimintaansa, jotta e-learning voidaan integroida laatujärjestelmiin. E-learningin kompleksisuus ja erityispiirteet tulisi myös ymmärtää. Varsinaiset haasteet eivät niinkään ole järjestelmässä, sen menestystekijöissä tai benchmarkeisssa vaan siinä, että päättäjillä ja käyttöönottajilla on liian vähän tietoa ja kokemusta e-learningista. Käsite benchlearning nousi esille tässä väitöstutkimuksessa kuvaamaan problematiikkaa. / Sammanfattning Högre utbildning står inför en rad stora utmaningar under det tjugoförsta århundradet. Personligt, flexibelt och öppet lärande utifrån ett livslångt lärande perspektiv är av största vikt. E-lärandet ses som en av de drivande krafterna för denna utveckling där kvalitet är av avgörande betydelse. Denna kvalitativa studie, fokuserar på benchmarking e-lärande i högre utbildning. Potentiella fördelar och utmaningar, fokuseras samt hur benchmarking av e-lärande bör integreras som en naturlig del av ordinär kvalitetssäkring. Resultaten visar på konceptuella perspektiv och komplexiteten av benchmarking av e-lärande inom högre utbildning i stretchade och gränslösa miljöer. Det finns behov av nya referensramar för kvalitet inom e-lärande. Forskningen ger anvisningar och rekommendationer för framtiden när det gäller hur man kan utföra benchmarking e-lärande i stretchade inlärningsmiljöer där studenterna kan studera, arbeta och leva oberoende av tid och rum med globala resurser till sitt förfogande i livslånga lärande miljöer. Den största utmaningen som identifieras i denna studie för att integrera benchmarking e-lärande i den allmänna kvalitetssäkring är behovet av att fullt ut förstå komplexiteten och särdragen gällande e-lärande Forskningen visar att benchmarking som metod kommer att ha betydande inverkan på ordinarie kvalitetssäkring i den högre utbildningen. Denna doktorsavhandling visar på utmaningar för att integrera extern kvalitetsgranskning och internt driven benchmarking. Studierna har också visat på behovet av metodförändringar för kvalitetssäkring och för myndigheter som utför revision och ackreditering för att integrera e-lärande i kvalitetssäkring, samt behovet av att fullt ut förstå komplexiteten och särdragen i e-lärande. Förmodligen ligger utmaningen inte i metoden som sådan eller, i framgångsfaktorer och benchmark, utan i brist på kunskap och erfarenhet av e-lärande bland de som ansvarar för implementering. Konceptet benchlearning infördes som en del av benchmarking.

From April to June 2016 a new and exclusively virtual teaching format – the international STEM1 Summer School – was provided at the University of Mining and Technology in Freiberg. The paper presents the approach, didactical design, and results of evaluation. The international STEM Summer School was developed and tested within the project „Holistic International STEMs - Learning with case studies and real-life industry experiences“. The aim was to better prepare STEM students for challenges in the current professional world that are characterized by in-ternationalization and digitalization. The project offers some ideas on how to teach the currently re-quired skills and competencies by industry in higher education. The conceptualization of the project was made possible with funding from the Donors\' Association for the Promotion of Humanities and Sciences in Germany2. The exclusively virtual collaboration is due to the different geographical distances and locations of the participating students, which generates specific challenges. On the one hand, technical conditions at the particular places of residence have an impact on virtual collaboration. On the other hand, cultural, lingual, and occupational differences, as well as the differing media literacy, play an important role. In addition, the setting of objectives and provision of incentives is decisive for the shared virtual work. The results of the first round of the international STEM Summer School indicate possible solution strategies based on the three areas of media use, interaction, and task orientation. During the Summer School, students from ten different countries solved real-life job case studies in small interdisciplinary teams. The exchange took place with the help of various e-learning tools like the virtual classroom, wiki, forum and e-portfolio. The participants were mentored by national and international industry partners, STEM professors, and e-tutors. After nine weeks work in intercultural teams they presented their results and learning outcomes during a web conference. The following article focusses on the evaluation results as well as selected insights and challenges.