An Evaluation of the Impact of External Quality Monitoring on a Higher Education College (1993–98)

With the establishment, in August 1997, of a new UK‐wide Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA), it is timely to reflect on the impact of the two principal forms of external quality monitoring which the QAA has replaced. First, the quality assessment by the funding councils, whose five‐year cycle of teaching quality assessment in universities and colleges in Scotland and Wales, which commenced in 1993, is now complete. Second, institutional quality audits of universities and colleges, conducted by the Higher Education Quality Council (HEQC) between 1993 and 1997. This paper reports the results of a five‐year action research study conducted at a college of higher education. The particular focus of the study was on issues arising from the development and implementation of a quality assurance system at the study institution, and attempts to reconcile requirements for accountability and efforts to encourage quality improvement. The paper reviews and evaluates the impact of each of the forms of external monitoring, teaching quality assessment and institutional audit, on the study institution. Results are presented using qualitative and quantitative data drawn from external performance measures, such as the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) and HEQC quality assessment and audit reports, and internal measures of staff experience and perceptions. Lessons are drawn in relation to perceived benefits, or otherwise, of external quality assessment and quality audit, and consideration is given to the implications which the findings have beyond the study institution and the Scottish higher education sector, and in particular for the newly established Quality Assurance Agency.     

高等教育全球化的挑战——学术研究者视野中的德国博洛尼亚进程

"博洛尼亚进程"是29个欧洲国家的教育部长于1999年在意大利博洛尼亚提出的欧洲高等教育改革计划,旨在保证欧洲高等教育的质量,建立统一的欧洲高等教育体系。为了应对高等教育全球化的挑战以及适应工业社会向知识社会转变的形势,德国大学围绕提高高等教育的质量推行了一系列改革措施,建立了新的质量保证和质量管理体系,调整了新的公共管理策略;重组了整个课程体系,革新教学观念和教学方式,实现了从以教师为中心到以学生为中心的教学方式和学习方式的转变;开展大学教师教学发展项目,提升大学教师的教学能力。     

多维视野下国际网络高等教育模式研究

网络高等教育的出现,产生了教育模式、体系及制度等方面的突破。从多维度分析来看,网络高等教育存在多元模式。在宏观维度上,国际网络高等教育主要有三种模式:新型远程教育模式、传统校园补充模式及完全网络大学模式;在微观维度上,国际网络高等教育模式主要有网络教学模式、网络学习模式和网络课程模式。正是这种宏观模式与微观模式的交互,勾画出了国际网络高等教育发展的斑斓景观。     

创新教学管理机制 推动教学改革发展

随着高等教育的发展和形势的变化,教学改革已朝着整体化、系统化、综合性和实践性方面发展;教学管理创新是提高教学质量深化教学改革的关键环节,从更新观念、健全体制、提高人员素质、创新方法等方面,对高校教学管理问题进行探索与思考。     

高等教育自学考试的学历检验制度及其发展前景

作为国家承认学历的高等教育,应当有国家承认的教育质量标准和学历检验制度,以确保国家高等教育的质量和水平。研究从以普通高等教育为代表的全日制高等教育和以自学考试、成人教育、广播电视大学教育和网络高等教育为代表的非全日制高等教育的质量比较入手,分析了各种教育形式的质量标准和存在的问题,从维护国家高等教育的整体质量出发,提出基于自学考试建立非全日制高等教育学历检验制度,包括体系结构和价值导向两个方面。     

Current challenges to quality in higher education

This paper considers some implications for teaching in higher education of quality assurance demands made in circumstances of financial restraint. The paper suggests that responses must be anchored in improvement in student learning. This has implications for university teaching, for the evaluation of its effectiveness and for leadership in universities. The paper commences with a discussion of an understanding of the nature of the relationship between teaching and learning in higher education resulting from an Australian investigation of student perceptions of university teaching. The understanding arising from this study suggests that, given that the environment is an educational one, both evaluation of teaching and educational leadership should be in harmony with effective approaches to learning and teaching.Paul Ramsden is Professor of Higher Education and Director of the Griffith Institute for Higher Education at Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia. He has taught in polytechnics, universities, and schools in the United Kingdom and Australia. His research field is the influence of teaching and assessment on the quality of student learning. Dr. Ramsden has been professionally involved in faculty development for over 15 years and published the textLearning to Teach in Higher Education, Routledge, New York (1992). He holds degrees from the University of London and the UK Council for Academic Awards, and a Ph.D. from the University of Lancaster.     

ASSISTING QUALITY ASSESSMENT AND IMPROVEMENT IN THE HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS OF SLOVENIA

There are two universities in Slovenia which undertake research and teaching and offer professional services. The quality of the research performed by faculty members is assured by strict quantitative bibliographical criteria employed in the faculty rank award procedure. The criteria for teaching quality are less well defined. The new Higher Education Act of 1993, organized university staff development, the appearance of an integrated information system, and student evaluation of faculty teaching performance with the aid of student questionnaires can all be regarded as extrinsic assistance to intrinsic efforts on the part of faculty, students, and their organizations. Slovenia will endeavour to broaden and deepen its co‐operation with international organizations and foundations in the field of quality assessment and improvement of higher education institutions, particularly the quality of the teaching they offer.     

Quality and change in higher education

There is increasing evidence that the pressures on British universities for greater quality and accountability, linked closely to funding, are leading to loss of quality. These governmental pressures, exerted through the Funding Councils, are wholly different from those applied in a quite separate way from another government source, the Employment Department. This article analyses the nature and effects of the two kinds of pressures in terms of change theory. This also demonstrates that the observed effects were not only largely predictable but to a substantial extent were predicted, and warns of the danger that the resulting deleterious effects may become irreversible.Lewis Elton obtained an M.A. in Mathematics at Cambridge University and a B.Sc. in Mathematics and a Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics at the University of London. He is a Further and Higher Education Adviser to the UK Employment Department and Emeritus Professor of Higher Education at the University of Surrey. His special interests are in the improvement of university teaching and learning; staff development; distance learning; and organizational change in higher education. Pat Cryer obtained a B.Sc. in Mathematics and Physics at the University of Exeter and a Ph.D. in Educational Development at the University of Surrey. She has recently resigned as Professional Adviser of the UK Universities' Staff Development Unit and is now a Consultant in Higher Education. Her special interests are in issues of quality; staff development; and teaching large classes.The opinions expressed in this paper are our own and do not commit the Employment Department.     

高等教育自学考试与高职高专教育相沟通的研究

高等教育自学考试与高职高专教育相沟通试点的开展,为高职高专的学生利用它提升自己的学历及学位提供了新的机会。它弥补了政府高等教育的成本的不足;同门课程互认充分发挥了两种教育的优势,减少了教育资源的浪费;主考院校与高职高专院校学科的联合促进了高职高专院校的学科的发展及专业水平的提升。在工作过程暴露的问题,促使我们建立更佳的管理模式;促使我们开设符合学生需求的专业;促使我们多元化的教学、助学辅导体系;同时也要求教育行政部门加强对该教育形式的评估。     

高等职业技术教育发展特点与教学质量提升研究

教学工作是每所学校教育的中心任务,教学质量的高低又是学校生存与发展的关键。突出专业特色,构建教学质量管理体系是当前我国高等职业技术教育改革的方向之一。要以现代职业教育理论和全面教学质量管理观为指导,剖析我国高等职业技术教育教学质量的现状与问题;分析问题产生的原因;寻求高等职业教育教学质量提升的途径与对策。     

Why was the QAA Approach to Teaching Quality Assessment Rejected by Academics in UK HE?

This article will review and evaluate the response of academics working in higher education institutions (HEIs) in the UK to the experience of teaching quality review. It will do so by gathering the viewpoints and opinions of academics from a particular source over a specific time period: the Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) between January and August of 2001. Before presenting and then evaluating these viewpoints, the paper will discuss the development of teaching quality assessment methodologies in UK HE within the context of the increasing importance and embededness of quality assurance and enhancement values and processes within the practices of HEIs. It is argued that this is both a recent and contested phenomenon. The article finds that the concerns of academics with the teaching quality review exercise fall under a number of headings: (1) administrative/cost burden; (2) grade inflation/gamesmanship/ organisational learning; (3) elitist bias within the system; (4) system impact of quality review; (5) reliability of the system; and (6) philosophical objections to the system. The implications of these concerns are discussed. The article's conclusion is that if academics are not convinced of, or do not actively support, the values and methodologies associated with teaching quality review, then there is little chance that these will either produce accurate or meaningful assessments of teaching quality, or act as a spur to the quality enhancement of this aspect of individual and institutional activity. This is an important point within the context of the recent review of the Quality Assurance Agency's Subject Review methodology, and the new institutional audit methodology.     

世界一流高职教育的概念和师资队伍建设

世界一流高职教育概念受到世界一流大学建设的推动。2004年,教育部《关于以就业为导向深化高等职业教育改革的若干意见》是世界一流高职教育的关键性文件,其中提出一流高职教育的最根本标准是是否培养出受社会欢迎的高质量人才,而不是国际比较,具有重要的指导意义。提高高职院校的研究水平是目前建设世界一流高职教育的急迫任务,但在此过程中要防止对教学工作产生过大的压力,实现教学与研究之间平衡。     

构建我国高等教育评估中介组织之探析

经济体制的转型促使政府职能的转变,由此带来社会中介组织的繁荣。随着高等教育的飞速发展,高等教育评估中介组织日益受到关注。高等教育评估中介组织,以其独有的中介性和社会性在高等教育质量监控体系中担负着接受委托、质量鉴定、信息反馈、社会沟通等社会服务职能,保证高等教育能够在一个基本的相当的质量标准下运作。保持高等教育评估中介组织的独立性是评估中介组织能够公正客观地进行评估的前提,不能使其成为二级行政机构,在职能发挥上决不依附于政府、代替政府行使某些行政职能。要加强中介评估组织专业化建设,便于政府的监督管理。     

关于建设我国高等教育质量保证体系的若干思考

加强科学管理,建设科学完善的高等教育质量保证体系,是高等学校提高教学质量的重要措施之一。高等教育质量保证离不开教学评估。创新高等教育质量保证体系,应在对以往本科教学评估进行科学、系统评估(元评估)的基础上进行。高等教育质量保证体系由内部质量保证体系和外部质量保证体系构成,其中内部质量保证体系是基础,外部质量保证体系是动力。面对新的形势和环境的变化,我们应努力探索新的高等教育质量评估范式。     

制约高职教育教学质量的因素分析与对策研究

近些年来,我国高等职业教育事业得到快速发展。在高等职业教育发展的过程中,还普遍存在制约高职教育教学质量的因素。对制约高职教育教学质量的因素进行综合分析,并提出提高高职教育教学质量的几点对策。     

美国高等教育的质量保障及其启示

美国高等教育在质量保障方面形成了认证机构认证、院校内部保障、社会评价、政府监督“四位一体”的比较健全、运行良好的体制机制。借鉴美国高等教育质量保障的经验,我国应高度重视高等教育质量保障体系建设,支持独立的评估机构的建立和发展,建立分层次、分类别的评估标准开展分类评估,建立健全院校自我评估的机制,建立开放的高等教育数据和信息服务平台,加强评估的国际交流与合作,促进高等教育质量的提升。     

Reconceptualizing student ratings of teaching to support quality discourse on student learning: a systems perspective

Higher Education - This paper summarizes the discourse on student ratings of teaching in higher education. It reconceptualizes student ratings within a larger process of promoting quality in...     

Teaching-for-Learning (TFL): A Model for Faculty to Advance Student Learning

In light of the widespread recognition of the enduring challenge of enhancing the learning of all students—including a growing number of students representing diverse racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds—there has been an explosion of literature on teaching, learning, and assessment in higher education. Notwithstanding scores of promising new ideas, individual faculty in higher education need a dynamic and inclusive model to help them engage in a systematic and continuous process of exploring and testing various teaching and assessment practices to ensure the learning of their students. This paper introduces a model—Teaching-for-Learning (TFL)—developed to meet this need. Clifton F. Conrad received his bachelor’s degree in History and his master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Kansas and his Ph.D. in Higher Education from the University of Michigan. He is Professor of Higher Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; and his research focus is on college and university curricula with particular emphases on program quality, liberal education, and teaching and learning. Jason Johnson received his bachelor’s degree in Comparative History of Ideas and his master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Washington. He is nearing completion of his Ph.D. and working as a Teaching Assistant in Higher Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his research focuses on rhetoric in higher education. Divya Malik Gupta received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Human Development and Family Studies from Maharaja Sayajirao University in Gujarat, India. She is currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.     

论高等教育质量的内涵

高等教育质量的内涵是一个多维、多层和变化的概念，其核心和基本方面主要体现在人才培养、教学、管理和文化等方面。高等教育的质量就是人的质量、事的质量、制度的质量、文化的质量，这就是高等教育质量的全部内涵。     

欧洲高等教育一体化进程初探

1999年6月19日,欧洲29国教育部部长聚集在意大利城市波罗格那,协商统一欧洲高等教育体系,并计划在2010年建成欧洲高等教育共同体。这所谓的波罗格那进程意味着,不同国家高等教育机构间的合作将被商业化的教育市场上的国际竞争所取代。值得关注的是,波罗格那进程将不可避免地分化高等教育理念、消解大学自治精神、弱化高等教育质量保障机制。作者认为,波罗格那进程只是个梦想。尽管如此,可以预见,欧洲高等教育共同体的构建对于全球化时代中我国高等教育的国际发展有着重要的战略意义。