Quality in higher education

Quality improvement in higher education

The primary role of a quality management system (QMS) in general, and the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA) in higher education is the assurance of quality. But, for both its own sake and in response to a competitive environment, we should also be concerned with the improvement of quality. The higher education literature notes that quality assurance (QA) and quality improvement (QI) (or quality enhancement) are not the same thing (Avdjieva & Wilson, 2002; Knight, 2006). A short-term 'tactical' response to quality in higher education may be adequate to satisfy external QA auditing bodies, but a 'strategic' approach to quality is needed for the development of an organisation-wide culture of QA and QI (Gordon, 2002).

While there is no specific international standard to provide a framework for QI that is analogous to that provided by ISO 9001 for QA/QMS, there is no shortage of available QI techniques. In the context of quality in higher education, many authors suggest (perhaps appropriately for universities) the model of the 'learning organisation' as a way to move from a culture of compliance to improvement (Avdjieva & Wilson, 2002; Hodgkinson & Brown, 2003; Yorke, 2000). A learning organisation is one that achieves both individual and collective learning through open and honest reflective practices based on objective information. In a paper that acknowledges the multidimensional nature of quality and that the emphasis in higher education quality is moving from compliance to development, (participatory) action research is presented as a quality improvement approach that embodies the learning organisation philosophy (Kekäle & Pirttila, 2006) in a methodology that would not be unfamiliar to many academic staff. The similarity between the cyclical nature of the action research model and the cyclical nature of the plan-do-check-act cycle that is the core of many QI methodologies has been noted elsewhere (Tolbert, McLean & Myers, 2002). While the application of action research in higher education can be interpreted in a range of ways (Kember & Kelly, 1993), generally, action research seeks to improve/transform practice through the considered application of actions, objective evaluation of the outcomes and the continued refinement of our understanding of the factors at play in a given situation. It incorporates the concept of well-informed action, and when applied to improving the quality of teaching and learning, challenges us to define 'quality', and to develop methods to measure this quality.

One survey of academic staff actively publishing in the literature related to quality in higher education from a range of disciplines and countries found that the most favoured definition of quality related to satisfying customers' needs, students were considered the most important customer group (followed by employers) and nearly all agreed that some form of quality measurement was important (Owlia & Aspinwall, 1996). The many stakeholders in higher education lead to a multitude of measurements (or performance indicators) for various purposes, including factors such as retention rates, research outputs, completion rates, student evaluations, staff-student ratios, and graduate employment data.

If students are key users of higher education, what are the factors in their learning that they consider important? In Australia, a large analysis of open-ended comments made by university graduates on their studies as part of the course experience questionnaire (CEQ) has recently been completed (Scott, 2006). While confirming the complex and multi-faceted nature of quality that arise from such a diverse group of users, and that it is the total university experience that counts, a key finding from the investigation was that students highly value learning methods that engage them. Student engagement has long been identified as a key qualitative measure of quality of student learning (along with assessed student results as a quantitative measure) (Trigwell & Prosser, 1991). There also exists a literature that confirms a link between student evaluation of their 'quality of teaching' (perhaps better expressed as 'experience of teaching' to avoid apparently circular, but common definitions of quality based on quality) and their approach to and engagement with their learning (Ramsden & Entwistle, 1981). This is one of the reasons why student evaluation of teaching is used as an important measure of quality in higher education.

Quality in higher education will remain a contested domain. Modern developments in the field of quality bring a semantic legacy that reveals their recent history in the production of tangible products (typically for commerce), and that automatically makes many of the associated concepts unpalatable to some in higher education. In addition to this, the wide range of stakeholders in higher education leads naturally to a multiplicity of (often competing) interpretations of quality. Regardless of this, and even if only at a very pragmatic level, student learning outcomes must be a key measure of quality in higher education. Research indicates that student learning is related to their perceptions of their teaching and learning environment. This is why student evaluation of their teaching and learning environment is one key measure that can be used as part of a continuous, action research-based approach to quality improvement in higher education.

Activity

For the program(s) that you contribute to, are you aware of any teaching quality measurements?  What are they?  Are there any other teaching quality measures that you would recommend?  If you are not aware of any, what teaching quality measures could be used?

Forward to: The Course Experience Questionnaire