Quality assurance for higher education franchising

Although franchising is a well-established commercial practice, its extension to higher education has developed comparatively recently in the United Kingdom as institutions have sought to respond to changes in their financing and to Governmental expectations regarding an increase in the national level of participation in higher education. Although institutional rationales for franchising vary, the quality assurance of franchise operations can be conducted under a general set of principles.This article, which is based upon the author's recent experience as a senior manager responsible for quality assurance, relates educational franchising to business format franchising, and draws out from the relatively meagre extant literature and from practical experience a set of principles which provide a general framework for quality assurance. The article concludes by drawing attention to some broader issues regarding franchising which, to date, have been insufficiently explored.     

高等教育质量与高水平大学建设

高等教育质量是一个具有时代性、相对性的具体概念。高等教育从精英教育向大众化教育蜕变,其种类与性质处在不断的演化之中,标准呈现多元化多样性。高等教育的发展与经济社会发展相适应,在这个大前提下,才能获得高质量的高等教育。创办高水平研究型大学,是深圳经济社会发展的迫切需要,是提高深圳高等教育质量的必然举措。     

高等数学素质教育的几点思考

大学数学教育的灵魂是数学素质 ,其实质就是要通过系统的数学教学来启发学生的悟性 ,挖掘其潜能 ,从而达到培养能力、开发智力的目的。因此 ,在整个教学过程 ,应注意“重视基础 ,突出重点”、“精心设计练习”、“优化题型搭配”等几个要素。     

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.     

Quality indicators in Venezuelan higher education

The development and rational use of quality indicators is a priority need for Venezuelan higher education. This assertion does not mean that such indicators are not needed at other levels of the educational system, but rather that higher education does demand them as a condition for introducing accountability criteria into the system, given the magnitude of the financial resources allocated to higher education: 37% of the 1983 total budget allocated to education (CNU-OPSU, 1984).     

Quality assurance and women in higher education

This paper examines a range of positive and negative consequences for women of Quality Assurance (QA) initiatives in one Australian university. Drawing on Foucaults concepts of governmentality and power/knowledge, it is argued that the popular repressive hypothesis of power via governmentality hides a positive and potentially productive dimension of power. Following recent work by feminist political theorists, my claim here is that a corporatist managerial discourse such as QA can be used strategically for a politics of transformation in the interests of women. The paper begins with an outline of the parameters of debate about and critiques of the QA agenda in the Australian higher education sector, and highlights some potentially negative consequences for women in terms of their structural location in the university. An overview of QA audit processes then leads into a closer examination of one universitys response to QA initiatives. The culture and management style of this regional university was significantly transformed from an informal and pastoral model to one with open systems of accountability and performance targets built around equity issues. In that regard, it is argued, equity target groups including women, became the visible focus of the development and implementation of new systems designed to bring equity into the mainstream. In closing, I argue that in this particular university, the new managerialism of QA was indeed a panoptic mechanism of making visible: productivity, equity groups, procedures and outcomes. But in an institutional context where open systems were lacking and womens contributions invisible and undervalued, the QA agenda brought new opportunities not only for women but for other groups previously marginalised and silenced.     

多样化人才观下的高等教育质量

《国家中长期教育改革与发展纲要》把全面提高高等教育质量作为未来一段时间内我国高等教育的发展任务。而树立多样化的人才培养观念,改革教育质量评价体系,建立科学、多样的人才评价标准无疑是保证实现高等教育发展任务的重要条件之一。传统的高等教育质量观存在缺陷,建立新的多样化的高等教育质量观势在必行。     

Quality issues in the internationalisation of higher education

Although the quality issue has become a central preoccupation inother domains of higher education, current internationalisation policiesand practices in higher education have developed without much concernfor quality assurance. The central thesis of this paper is that we havecome to a point in the development of higher education whereinternationalisation policies and practices face the limits of theirdevelopment unless the quality challenge is addressed in all itsconsequences. The paper first provides an overview of contemporary formsof and recent developments in internationalisation in higher education.From more or less `traditional' forms such as student and teaching staffmobility, internationalisation policies and practices nowadays move intoactivities such as exporting higher education via branch campuses andinstitutional co-operation, developing transnational university networksand virtual delivery of higher education, and the harmonisation ofhigher education systems. In these recent developments several issuesand challenges arise, which in one kind or another have direct links tothe quality challenge. The quality of internationalisation policies andpractices itself is an important problem, but of more importance are theissues of the recognition of foreign diplomas and degrees and therecognition of credits and credit-transfer. This paper takes a criticalstance towards for example the ECTS, which tries to solve these issueswithout much concern for quality. The way out lies in an integration ofinternationalisation policies and general quality assurance practices atinstitutional and policy levels.     

英国高等教育质量保证署的院校审核

“院校审核”作为英国高等教育质量保证署(QAA)评估活动的新方式,旨在确保大学提供的高等教育具有合格的质量和适当的学术标准,并正确授予学位。其具体运作大致分为三个阶段,主要包括初步调查,简单调查,审核调查,提交报告及继续调查等环节。     

高等职业教育国际合作质量的基本要素分析

本篇文章从四项基本要素,既教育思维国际化、合作目标清晰化、职业能力国际化、教育资源最优化等,论述了高等职业教育国际合作质量的问题。     

Student loans for higher education

In recent years, economic circumstances have forced a wide range of governments to examine ways of spreading the cost of education. Introduction of loan schemes for higher education has been a particularly popular suggestion. Although schemes work well in some countries, however, in others they have worked poorly and have suffered from high default rates. The Hong Kong system, which was launched in 1969, operates efficiently. Many factors contributing to this are specific to the local situation, but other governments might find it instructive to examine the Hong Kong experience. In turn, others may also be able to teach Hong Kong some useful lessons.     

质量是高等教育发展题中应有之义

“质量工程”反映了高等教育基本规律的要求,体现了现代高等教育的新理念,标志着我国高等教育发展进入一个新的发展阶段。提高高等教育教学质量是一个系统工程,是高校永恒的主题。本刊特约教育部教育发展研究中心高等教育研究室主任、博士生导师马陆亭研究员撰写了《质量是高等教育发展题中应有之义》一文,以期对高等学校贯彻实施“质量工程”有所指导。     

我国近代高等教育学制与高等教育现代化

中国近代学制的建立与发展极大地推动了高等教育的现代化进程,并在此期间受到了许多西方包括日本等国影响,但学术界对其发展过程是依附还是借鉴分别持不同观点。通过分析中国近代高等教育学制的嬗变来反思中国高等教育的现代化进程,势必对高等教育未来的发展有所帮助。     

Quality assurance for public higher education: context,strategies and challenges in Kenya

Quality assurance (QA) mechanisms used to be highly dependent on national administrative traditions but nowadays there is a convergence of mechanisms. Compared to more developed higher education (HE) systems in the world, QA systems in Africa are still at an infant stage and thus confronted by many challenges. The purpose of this article is to present some of the findings derived from a study analysing the crucial issues and unique challenges facing Kenya's public HE as it struggles to develop QA mechanisms. Using purposive sampling, the researcher chose two public universities who indicated their willingness to participate and a national QA Agency (QAA). The study was done through in-depth interviews and a review of historical materials and records. Overall, respondents strongly emphasised the need for Kenyan universities to have compulsory and effective external and internal QA mechanisms. They indicated that the trends facing HE make it necessary for HE in Kenya to review their traditional QA structures and to create new systems of external QA. The numerous comments in this research indicate deficiency not only in the QAA focus and work but also in the internal QA frameworks within public universities.     

美国高等学校提高本科教学质量的七条对策

为了提高本科教学质量,美国高校在上个世纪80年代后期经过深入研究后提出了七条对策。这七条对策包括鼓励师生互动,鼓励学生之间相互合作,鼓励学生主动学习,对学生的学习给予及时反馈,合理安排学习时间,对学生给予较高的期望,尊重学生之间的差异及其不同的学习方式等。十年来,这些措施在美国大学普遍应用且成效显著,对我国高校的本科教学不无启示作用。