Benchmarks and quality assurance for online course development in higher education

As online education has entered the main stream of the U.S. higher education, quality assurance in online course development has become a critical topic in distance education. This short article summarizes the major benchmarks related to online course development, listing and comparing the benchmarks of the National Education Association （NEA）, the benchmarks of the American Distance Education Consortium （ADEC）, the benchmarks of the American Federation of Teachers, and the benchmarks of the Quality Matters project. In doing so the author hopes to promote awareness of and commitment to quality assurance in online education.     

Professionalism,profession and quality assurance practitioners in external quality assurance agencies in higher education

This article seeks to spark a dialectic discussion on the establishment of a set of professional competencies for quality assurance practitioners who serve in external quality assurance agencies in higher education. Such a need is identified due to the shortage of relevant and sufficient coverage in the quality assurance literature. To substantiate the need, the concepts of professionalism and profession, and how these concepts are linked to the quality assurance in higher education sector, are carefully examined through a desk-top research study. References are drawn from the experiences in several other occupations. The result reveals that the development of the essential competencies for external quality assurance practitioners in higher education is valuable and essential and it will be useful for the practitioners to transform themselves into a profession in the long run.     

英国高等教育质量保证传统评述

文章主要分四个阶段对英国高等教育的质量保证传统进行梳理:1)双重制体制以前的质量保证;2)双重制体制下的质量保证;3)过渡时期的质量保证;4)QAA的质量保证.     

Path dependency and the politics of quality assurance in higher education

Abstract

National policy agendas for quality assurance in higher education (HE) are increasingly influenced by supra‐national trends and decisions. Taking Spain, Switzerland and The Netherlands as examples, the paper analyses how supranational trends are re‐interpreted at the national level and how recently formulated national policies combine the demands for cross‐national harmonisation with the long‐lasting influence of decisions and procedures run in the past in the domain of quality assurance. In this perspective, the paper argues that cross‐national policy harmonisation, a key prerequisite for the construction of the European Higher Education Area is challenged by the long‐lasting influence of national path dependent policies.     

Quality assurance in Australian higher education: historical and future development

Higher education policies related to quality assurance are implemented in many countries. The purposes of such policies are to ensure the provision for high-quality education, university accountability and transparency in the use of public funding and meeting the needs of the diverse stakeholders. The current Australian Higher Education Quality Assurance Framework was implemented in the year 2000. It can be described that the framework has been enjoyed by universities, academics and other providers in Australia. This paper provides a brief history of quality assurance, its evolution in higher education in Australia and current changes and trends in quality assurance in other developed countries. It then provides an analysis of the success and deficiencies of the current framework used in Australia and suggestions which may be helpful in the development of the new framework. The analysis includes the thoughts of the three authors based on their experience in managing quality and reviews in seven different institutions and the views of more than 40 participants who are staff members from 25 Australian universities.     

马来西亚高等教育质量保障体系浅析

自高校脱离象牙塔进入现代社会中心以来,质量问题逐渐成为社会关注的焦点。马来西亚高等教育质量保障体系由高校、政府、民间第三方机构共同组成,在马来西亚高等教育的蓬勃发展中起到了重要作用。其与我国高等教育质量保障体系存在一定差异,为我国高等教育质量保障体系的完善提供了可借鉴的经验。     

高等职业教育的规模发展与质量保证

一定的办学规模是发展高等教育的必要条件，学校和政府是保证高职教育质量提高的两个方面，建立市场化的质量评估机制，办出自己的特色，是提高高职教育质量的必然选择。     

Regulatory intermediation and quality assurance in higher education: the case of the auditors

The paper takes the external quality assurance of English universities and colleges as an example of regulation in higher education as undertaken by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA). Regulatory scholarship generally has been largely disinterested in higher education and the paper applies a ‘regulatory lens’ to higher education quality assurance. It reports the findings of a research project on the role identities and perceptions of the auditors recruited by the QAA from the academic community for undertaking institutional audits. It suggests that such a group may be regarded as ‘regulatory intermediaries’, facing both ‘upwards’ to the regulator, and ‘down’ to those being regulated. As such, they have an important function in the delivery of external quality assurance regulation and the paper reports on how they mediate and understand a range of frequently conflicting pressures.     

我国高等教育质量保证的体系结构

本文以高等教育质量保证及其实践为核心，对我国高等教育质量保证的体系结构、不同模式及其建立的关键进行了讨论。     

Impact evaluation of quality assurance in higher education: methodology and causal designs

In this paper, the theoretical perspectives and general methodological elements of impact evaluation of quality assurance in higher education institutions are discussed, which should be a cornerstone of quality development in higher education and contribute to improving the knowledge about the effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) of quality assurance. The suggested core methodology consists in comparative and longitudinal studies carried out simultaneously to the quality assurance interventions and relying on surveys and mixed methods. The methodology is applicable to any particular quality assurance procedure and any achievement area of higher education institutions. To round off the methodology presentation, an overview of causal designs, in particular causal social mechanisms, for impact analyses of quality assurance in higher education institutions and its challenges and limits is outlined and some characteristics of survey questionnaire construction are given.     

高等教育发展趋势与政策分析

近几年是我国高等教育发展最好的历史时期,是发展思路非常清楚的时期,同时也是争议颇多的时期。目前,我国高等教育面临的长期国情是:穷国办大教育、经济发展不平衡、望子成龙愿望、以发展促问题解决;新的挑战为:大众化新平台、全面建设小康社会、经济全球化大趋势、城镇化发展;新的理念有:可持续发展、和谐社会、创新型国家、终身学习。为此,我国高等教育的进一步发展必须坚持学校的多样化分类发展与特色定位,这是教育教学的根本要求;需要促进现代大学制度建设,这是高等学校内部管理保障的要求;需要加强评估对拨款的影响,这是高等学校外部的保证要求;还要引导高等学校的区域扩展,这是全面建设小康社会的教育需要。     

Trading quality across borders: colonial discourse and international quality assurance policies in higher education

Accountability and quality assurance have become central discourses in higher education policy throughout the world. However, accountability and quality assurance involve power and control. Practices and ideas about quality developed in the Global North are spreading rapidly across the Global South, leading to increased uniformity in the approaches to quality assurance. Given the significant asymmetries that divide the Global North and Global South, this article maps interdiscursive relations among key texts that influence policy development on international quality in higher education, and explores the applicability of colonial discourse as a perspective for understanding this increasing international convergence.     

高等教育的发展与政策创新

高等教育的发展与教育政策的创新有着深刻的联系。 2 0世纪 70年代末以来 ,我国高等教育的发展紧紧依托政策创新而不断向前推进。其中 ,恢复高考、体制改革和启动大众化的步伐是高等教育政策创新的突出表现。新世纪初叶我国高等教育在朝着实现大众化的方向前进 ,这种发展对于教育政策的创新有着更深切的需求。为此 ,必须进一步加强对高等教育的政策研究 ,进一步加强高等教育的政策法规建设     

The quality assurance system and market forces in Japanese higher education

This article analyzes thedevelopment of the quality assurance system andchanges in market forces in higher education inJapan. First, the article focuses on thefunction and impact of self-monitoring andself-evaluation systems as unique processesoriented towards decentralization and internalreflection. Second, the changes in marketforces in higher education during rapideconomic globalization are discussed. Third,the possibility of external evaluation by theNational Institution for Academic Degrees isintroduced as a bureaucratic approach to showaccountability in the national universitysystem. Finally, the relationship between thechanges in the quality assurance system and thechanges in market forces is addressed.     

地方高校发展与高等教育政策调整

近年来,我国地方高校在规模迅猛扩张的同时,普遍陷入了多重发展困境之中。从制度变迁的类型和路径依赖两个角度来看,这种困境产生的制度根源有两个:一是以中央政府为主体的激进式强制性制度变迁的局限性,二是对传统高等教育管理模式的路径依赖。今后高等教育政策调整必须遵循两个基本的指导思想:一是弥补激进式强制性制度变迁的局限,二是摆脱对传统高等教育管理方式的路径依赖。     

高等教育质量管理的道德危机与道德保证

基于现代性测量与排名的逻辑,质量评估加剧了高等教育领域的道德恐慌,增大了道德风险在大学里发生的概率,也促使现代大学的道德危机普遍化.在超越质量评估、走向质量管理之后,道德仍然是现照高等教育质量的重要维度.因为无论在哪个领域,质量都必须是道德的,质量管理也必须是道德的.对质量的管理绝不能也不应成为超越道德之上的制度的暴力.只有以道德保证与制度保证的结合作为高等教育质量管理的基础,现代大学才有可能在质量持续改进的基础上,超越生产力或效率的标准而成为公民社会的重镇.     

The contribution of professional accreditation to quality assurance in higher education

This article examines the extent to which the professional accreditation of professional higher education programmes can complement other quality assurance endeavours being carried out. An analysis of a sample of professional accreditation reports for pharmacy education programmes in Ireland provides insight into the priorities of the regulatory professional body with regard to preparation for the profession. The results show that the reports address issues that are of relevance for the higher education institutions’ provision of quality programmes and for their quality assurance. The article also considers the extent to which the reports hold institutions accountable against the professional standards, while also acknowledging the professional responsibility of institution staff. Catering for both of these logics is necessary so that professional accreditation can contribute effectively as a mechanism for quality assurance, including enhancement, in the institution.     

高等教育质量保证机制的国际比较

高等教育大众化在一些发达国家已成为现实，高等教育质量保证机制是确保大众化高等教育健康发展的必要途径。某些发达国家的高等教育保证机制主要有政府主导型、民间中介组织主导型和中介机构与院校的内部质量保证机制相结合型三种模式，几种模式各有利弊。我国建立高等教育质量保证机制对此应加以借鉴。